This is a full time permanent role and will be office based in Chatham with travel across Kent.

Main purpose of job:
SCDA has secured funding through the Big Lottery and ESF to provide intensive and ongoing practical employment support for disadvantaged people with long term health issues or disabilities to move into sustainable volunteering, education, training or employment. The project will follow the principles of social prescribing to enable SCDA to engage with those who will benefit from it the most. Effective relationships with the medical and health sectors are central to the success of the project.

Overview of the Role & Team:

The Community Connector is responsible for providing intensive 1:1 information, advice, guidance and support to an allocated caseload of participants to address employability skills and secure sustainable volunteering, work trials and employment, including supported employment. Also to support the participants re/engagement with their community through signposting, referral and, when appropriate, accompanying them to the activity in line with their individual support plan.

Liaising with Project Navigators and the Project Manager to ensure the support provided is led by the participant and their support plan. To ensure referral to other services is aimed at meeting the participant’s needs and is moving them towards re/engagement with the community or into employment.

Key Responsibilities:

Encourage and promote partnership working:

Liaise with a range of statutory, voluntary, and private sector agencies and organisations to improve participants’ access to services and maximise their choices in particular to source employment opportunities for participants.

Work in partnership to identify potential participants:

Build and maintain effective working relationships with appropriate referral agencies, organisations and relevant professionals (e.g. Medical and Health Centres, Local Authority Health Teams, CCG Link Workers, Jobcentre Plus, Family and Children’s Services and other SCDA projects), to identify areas of need & people facing barriers to work, learning or volunteering

Establish needs of each individual participant:
•Conduct confidential, one to one interviews offering information, advice or guidance, as appropriate, on the range of work and learning opportunities available locally
•Enable participants to develop the opportunity to exercise individual choice and the pursuit of their own options for work and learning, and support them in these choices
•Assist participants to access and attend appropriate work and/or learning opportunities and community activities
•Use a range of resources to help participants identify their skills, including SCDA, project and online assessment tools
•As appropriate, offer intensive support where individual need has been established (specific to their disability and/or health need)
•Recognise and work appropriately within challenging situations
•Support individuals to access services as provided such as job club and training programme for personal development

Your work would also include:
•Keeping up to date with occupational and labour market information
•Giving talks and leading discussions
•Updating records and completing other administration tasks
•Assisting potential participants to engage with the project and explain what the service can provide
•Recognise and work appropriately within challenging situations

Signposting and Referral:
•Communicate confidently with colleagues, partner agencies, individuals and Project Navigator and Manager, to identify appropriate learning and work placement providers, to meet individual participants’ needs.
•Maintain awareness of and signpost to a range of local providers to meet participant needs.

Follow up agreed actions:
•Ensure the necessary support structures are in place to maintain the volunteering, learning or work placement of each participant
•Track participants to ensure up to date information is held at all times

Management reporting:
•Keep accurate participant records and assist in the preparation of written and statistical reports as required.
•Maintain appropriate administrative and recording systems.
•Work with others to contribute to the delivery of projects so that they are on time, to target and within prescribed budgets
•Collaborate and contribute to funding bids as required
•Update systems as required accurately and on a timely basis within 1 working day
•Maintain an accurate caseload management sheet at all times
•Report and record achievement of all project outcomes within the month they occur to maximise contract target performance
•Provide one good news story per month reflecting participant progress and/or success

Other:
•Meet regularly with the Assistant Project Manager or other designated supervisor for supervision and project reviews and to take responsibility to follow through agreed areas of work.
•The varied nature of the role may require flexibility to undertake other appropriate and relevant duties as they occur.
•Attend team briefs, meetings and RBLI staff meetings.as required
•Promote and comply with RBLI’s policies and procedural requirements

Working Environment:
•To be able to travel to various locations in and around South East LEP area easily and economically
•Work from outreach centres as required throughout South East

Personal Attributes:

•Able to work effectively as part of a team and on own initiative
•Be confident in dealing with participants, partners and funders and be able to respond at all levels
•Tact, diplomacy
•Resilience to withstand peaks in workload
•Emotional resilience to work objectively and professionally with vulnerable people
•Understanding of or willingness to learn about the needs of a wide range of socially excluded people.

Skills & Experience Required:

Essential:
•·Minimum two years’ experience, paid or unpaid, working with individuals accessing opportunities, ideally relating to work and learning
•·Experience working with clients who are facing barriers to work and learning (specifically long term health issues and disabilities, including learning disabilities.)
•Experience of working to prescribed targets for delivery in terms of job outcomes achieved and sustained etc
•·Able to maintain accurate records for participants and monitor progress
•Able to communicate effectively at all levels
•Able to make assessment of need on a one to one basis
•Organisational, IT and time management skills of a high order
•Able to develop an approach to your work which displays a good understanding of equal opportunities
•Able to gain a rapid understanding of all partners services, and promote their vision, aims and values in a positive manner
•Accustomed to multi-tasking
•Full driving licence and access to own vehicle for travel to outreach centres

Desirable:
•Appropriate professional qualification or degree
•Level 3 or equivalent qualification in “Advice”, or willingness to undertake this qualification and commitment to study in own time where necessary
•Knowledge of the benefits system
•Experience of lone working policies and practice
•Up to date knowledge of good employment practices which support the placement of clients with barriers to work e.g. disability discrimination, flexible working.
•Familiarity with routes into, and the opportunities available, within Adult Education

Benefits:

RBLI offer 25 days holiday per annum pro rata, a Group Flexible Retirement Plan and Life Assurance.

To Apply:

If you wish to be considered for the above role, forward your CV and covering letter including a supporting statement. * RBLI reserves the right to remove a vacancy at any time prior to the published closing date. RBLI is an equal opportunities employer.

NO AGENCIES PLEASE