The Role
Manage a frontline IPS Employment Specialist team supporting people with mental health conditions into sustainable employment. Responsibilities include staff supervision, appraisals, complex-case support, stakeholder relationships, KPI and client-data management, compliance checks, commissioner reporting, and maintaining a small client caseload while following the IPS model.
Summary Generated by Built In
Location: Brighton and Hove
Hours: 37 hours per week
Base Salary: £34,800 per year
Technical Premium*: 5% additional to salary of £1,740 per year (based on base salary) effective from 1 April 2026 - reviewed annually.
*The technical premium is paid in addition to the base salary in recognition of the external benchmarking for the role. Conditions apply.
Who We Are:
Hours: 37 hours per week
Base Salary: £34,800 per year
Technical Premium*: 5% additional to salary of £1,740 per year (based on base salary) effective from 1 April 2026 - reviewed annually.
*The technical premium is paid in addition to the base salary in recognition of the external benchmarking for the role. Conditions apply.
Who We Are:
Southdown is the largest not-for-profit provider of care, support, and housing in Sussex. We’ve been helping people access stable accommodation, mental health and care services since 1972, now counting over 900 people as part of our team
What you’ll be doing:
- Building and maintaining stakeholder relationships by representing the service at provider events and forums and contributing to contractual performance monitoring meetings with commissioning teams.
- Provide excellent line management support to a frontline team of Employment Specialists, including delivering team meetings, appraisals, supervision, support with complex cases, and managing performance.
- Lead contractual performance by reviewing and updating KPI and client data, coordinating compliance checks and sending data to commissioners and partners to ensure contractual obligations are fulfilled.
Perks and benefits:
- Health cost cash-back scheme: access to our health insurance scheme which covers dental, optical, physical therapies and other medical treatments with the option to add greater levels of cover.
- Interest-free loans: assistance with larger costs that arise such as tenancy deposits, season travel tickets or buying a car.
- Access to the Easit Network: discounts and incentives on train, bus and car journeys such as 15% off eligible daily and season rail tickets.
- Blue Light card: access to discount services for the social care sector with savings across thousands of online shops, restaurants, and high-street vendors.
- Free advice and counselling service: confidential emotional support and practical guidance from our independent telephone service.
- 25 days paid holiday plus bank holidays.
Knowledge, skills and experience
What you’ll need for the role:
- A good understanding of all aspects of supported employment and vocational services (including Southdown’s IPS and Retention Framework Models)
- Proven experience managing a team of staff working with complex/vulnerable client groups
- Experience of developing and maintaining professional joint working relationships with external, statutory and voluntary agencies.
- Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which will be paid for by Southdown
- Proven experience in managing performance against KPI’s
What would be nice:
- Broad knowledge/awareness of Mental Health Services
- Skills in supervising and co-ordinating a dispersed team.
Training:
Our award-winning in-house training team will help you to gain valuable qualifications, continually develop your skills and build a great career with the largest provider of housing, care and support in Sussex.
How to apply:
Please click on the ‘Apply Now’ button and fill out our simple one-page application form.
The application closing date is 21st September 2026
The application closing date is 21st September 2026
Please note, if we receive a large number of applications then this position may close before the advertised application closing date. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.
About
Contact information:Our online careers page has a list of helpful FAQs that you can view here. If you have any further questions, please get in touch with recruitment via email at [email protected] are a Disability Confident Employer and are fully committed to supporting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and welcome applications from all candidates that meet our job specifications. If you feel there is a barrier that potentially prevents you from applying, do get in contact with us, as we are always happy to discuss (or arrange a discussion with the recruiting manager) to explore if any reasonable adjustments can be made to support your application.
Skills Required
- Excellent literacy skills for writing reviews, reports, policies, appraisals, references, and correspondence
- Understanding of supported employment and vocational services, including IPS and retention frameworks
- Proven experience managing staff working with complex or vulnerable client groups
- Experience developing and maintaining relationships with external statutory and voluntary agencies
- Standard Disclosure and Barring Service check
- Understanding of contract requirements and performance indicators
- Proven experience managing performance against KPIs
- Broad knowledge or awareness of mental health services
- Experience supervising and coordinating a dispersed team
- Employment support background
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The Company
What We Do
Southdown is the largest not-for-profit provider of care, support, and housing in Sussex, supporting over 11,000 people annually. Its mission is to make a positive difference in people's lives by offering specialist housing, care, and community support services to enable people to live well.
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