Employment Specialist
Team: IES - Employment and Skills Academy
Job Family: Advising – CBG9
Salary: £34,811 - £37,562 per annum
Hours: 37 hours per week (2 positions available)
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: 08th 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 Employment Specialists 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. The Employment Specialists will use the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model to place Central Bedfordshire residents into employment, meeting individualised training needs to ensure they sustain their role. You will meet customers on a one to one basis, supporting them on their journey into employment, as well as providing support to those who are at risk of falling out of employment. The Connect to Work programme focuses on residents with complex needs, such as health, homelessness, substance misuse, and domestic voilence, therefore, this post also involves working closely with employers and other services to support residents in securing long term employment opportunities.
You’ll need to have excellent communication and organisational skills, experience using the IPS model or other similar supported employment models and show a passion in supporting others to reach their learning and employment goals.
Applicants must hold Individual Placement Support (IPS) training prior to applying for the role or be willing to undertake this as part of the induction. 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