Connect to Work Employment Support Officer

Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield Leicester LE3 8RL (plus travel across the county as required).

Salary: £32,070 - £34,359 per annum (Pro rata for part time) pay award pending

Working Hours: Full time (37 hours per week)

Contract Type: Fixed term until 30th June 2029

Closing Date: 28th June 2026

Interview Date(s): Tuesday 7th, Thursday 9th or Friday 10th July

Are you passionate about improving the lives of Leicestershire County residents? Do you want to work on an exciting new project – Connect to Work, which aims to support Leicestershire residents into employment? At the Leicestershire County Council Adult Learning Service, we’re passionate about creating inclusive and accessible programmes which ensure all Leicestershire residents are supported to reach their full potential.

Your role will be to deliver front-line, person-centred support through Connect to Work and the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF), working directly with adults across Leicestershire to help them move into and thrive in employment.

About the Role

Connect to Work aims to support disabled people, people with health conditions and individuals facing other barriers to move into and maintain employment. We’re looking for experienced professionals who can build trusted relationships with participants, understand their individual strengths and challenges, and help them develop person-centred action plans that lead to sustainable employment. You’ll be engaging directly with adults facing complex barriers – such as learning disabilities, neurodiversity or being care experienced – and working closely with employers to match people to suitable roles using the ‘place, train and maintain’ model. You’ll also be supporting participants in the workplace, helping them settle in, build confidence and thrive.

We are recruiting for up to four people at this time and we’re particularly keen to hear from people who have local experience of delivering high-quality employment programmes and working in partnership with agencies across social care, health and employment. You’ll need excellent communication skills, a creative and problem-solving mindset, and the ability to coach and motivate others. This is a varied and rewarding role where no two days are the same – from developing local delivery plans and liaising with employers, to supporting participants with vocational profiling and training. If you’re passionate about inclusive employment and want to make a real difference in Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a full-time role. There is some flexibility in how you work your hours (to be discussed at interview stage). Your base will be County Hall, with the option of flexible working at home or our other centres. There may be the occasional requirement to travel across the county for meetings/events.

In this role, no two days will be the same, but some typical responsibilities will include:

• Building trusted relationships with participants and supporting them to engage in structured plans to find and sustain employment.
• Completing and updating vocational profiles, identifying individuals’ skills, experiences, needs and employment preferences.
• Developing person-centred action plans that lead to sustainable employment, following the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF).
• Engaging with local employers to find paid employment opportunities and match participants to suitable roles.
• Supporting employers to adopt inclusive recruitment practices.
• Providing in-work support to participants, helping them settle into roles, build confidence and integrate into the workplace.
• Working in partnership with agencies across social care, health and employment to design effective referral and progression pathways.
• Maintaining accurate records for audit and performance monitoring, including eligibility checks and employment outcomes.

An enhanced DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

The Connect to Work Employment Support Officers will have:

• A minimum Level 3 qualification in a relevant subject (or able to demonstrate equivalent experience). L2 Eng and maths (or equivalent experience, demonstrated through application process).
• Recent experience of successfully delivering high-quality employment programmes.
• Experience of working with adults facing complex and multiple barriers to employment (e.g., learning disabilities, neurodiversity, care leavers).
• Strong understanding of Supported Employment and the challenges faced by target groups in accessing and sustaining work. Plus, the ability to keep accurate records to contribute towards service assessment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to coach, mentor and motivate others.
• Creative problem-solving skills and the ability to develop person-centred action plans based on vocational assessments.
• Experience of engaging with local employers to create inclusive job opportunities for people facing barriers to employment. Plus, the ability to work in partnership with a range of agencies and tailor communication to different audiences.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

Claire Smith, Connect to Work Project Manager or Andrew Day, Senior Adult Learning Manager - Skills

Telephone: 07710 202109 or 0116 305 3620

Email: claire.e.smith@leics.gov.uk or andrew.day@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Applysection on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us