Senior Employment Specialist (Team Leader) – Thanet, Dover & Folkestone/Hythe

Location: Thanet

Salary:  From £32,500

Vacancy Type: Permanent

About The Role

Are you ready to lead a team that transforms lives through work?

We’re looking for a Senior Employment Specialist (Team Leader) with a background in employability, recruitment, or health-related line management to join our Connect to Work service.

This is a full-time role (35 hours per week), delivering high-quality Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for people with mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and long-term health conditions.

Due to the nature of the role, all applicants must hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a vehicle. 

What You’ll Do

• Lead, supervise, and develop a team of IPS Employment Specialists, promoting best practice and IPS fidelity standards.
• Manage a small caseload (10–15 clients), showing what great IPS support looks like.
• Coach your team on employer engagement, job development, and personalised vocational planning.
• Build strong partnerships with local employers, NHS teams, training providers, and community organisations.
• Drive continuous improvement through staff training, co-production, and performance monitoring.
• Co-manage budgets, maintain compliance, and produce monitoring reports for stakeholders.

Who You Are

• Experienced in IPS, supported employment, or employability services, ideally with line management experience.
• Confident in employer engagement and partnership building.
• An excellent coach and communicator with strong organisational skills.
• Committed to empowering clients, fostering resilience, and delivering measurable employment outcomes.

You’ll be leading a motivated, dynamic team in a supportive environment where your leadership and expertise can directly shape people’s futures. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a range of partners, develop your team, and drive innovation in employability services, making a real, tangible difference in the lives of the people we support.

If you have the drive to inspire, lead, and deliver impact, apply now and help people achieve their employment goals!

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits:

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. 

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness.

When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know. 

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.

If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follow safer recruitment practices and support a culture of openness and accountability.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please proceed through the following link to be redirected to our website to complete your application.

https://careers.forwardtrust.org.uk/vacancies/564/senior-employment-specialist-team-leader--thanet-dover--folkestone-hythe.html

Contact information

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