Connect to Work Team Leader
Team: IES - Employment and Skills Academy
Job Family: Advising – CBG11
Salary: £41,042 - £44,296 per annum
Hours: 37 hours per week
Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month
Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent
Closing date: 28th September 2025
Interview date: 07th October 2025
About the role:
The Bedfordshire Employment and Skills Academy (BESA) seeks to develop and deliver services that support adults, young people and businesses improve their skills levels, get people into work or further training, and support economic growth.
We are pleased to be recruiting a Team Leader for the new Connect to Work programme. Connect to Work is a 5-year programme, which forms part of the ‘Get Britain Working’ Government led Strategy. We will be working in collaboration with 5 other local authorities (Bedford Borough, Luton, Milton Keynes, North Northants and West Northants), to deliver the supported employment programme to residents.
It has been identified that nationally, there are 1.9 million people who would like to work, but are not participating in the labour market, often due to health, disability or other complex barriers. The funding from Connect to Work will help around 100,000 people seek and find sustainable employment each year. The programme will connect local work, health and skills support to make an important first step towards the future devolution of employment support
This is an exciting time for BESA, as we plan to launch the new Connect to Work programme. This Team Leader post will build and manage the programme, alongside line managing a team of Employment Specialists. The team will use the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model to place residents into employment, meeting individualised training needs to ensure they sustain their role. The team leader will set and monitor targets, processes and performance within the team. They will work closely with Connect to Work leads in the other Local Authorities, to network, lead and report on performance.
This post will use their specialist knowledge to work with a range of stakeholders including the Department for Work and Pensions, Job Centres, Youth Support Services, Housing, Health and other local services. This post will lead on meetings with stakeholders and residents to promote the Connect to Work programme and build referral pathways.
You must have experience of supported employment programmes, have excellent communication and organisational skills, experience in leading and/or managing people and projects and show a passion in supporting others to reach their learning and employment goals.
Individual Placement Support (IPS) training is essential for this post, as they will be overseeing the performance of the team.
Due to the nature of this role, a full, valid UK driving licence and access to your own car is essential.
Our Offer
We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.
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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.
Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.
For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Laura Dunn on Laura.Dunn@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or Donna Totman on Donna.Totman@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
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Safeguarding:
Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.
To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.
Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.
More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council