Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
An extremely well organised and pro-active individual who thrives in a challenging environment, I have over 20 years experience of working in the employability, welfare to work and charitable sectors. As a naturally warm and empathetic person, I am able to create rapport and forge strong working relationships with clients and colleagues alike and am an excellent team player. I gain great satisfaction from helping others and from seeing their confidence and self-esteem develop. With the ability to motivate and encourage others, I consistently put my natural enthusiasm and energy into work efforts in order to achieve the mutually beneficial targets of the personal goals of clients and exceptional business performance.
Our commitment is to support veterans with either physical, mental or social injuries on their journey to long term security, independence and employment post military service.
In this role I worked on the Links to Work contract and provided appropriate support, challenge and guidance to a caseload of 80+ customers across Newcastle and Northumberland so as many as possible secured appropriate, long term, sustainable outcomes. My duties included; Managing a caseload of customers to ensure appropriate and effective contractual activity was undertaken by all customers according to their level of job readiness Addressing customer’s personal constraints to employment, providing challenge, advice and guidance where appropriate to develop customer’s capability in the recruitment process ensuring they have the necessary skills and confidence to secure employment. Identifying, structuring and recommending vacancy and training solutions, working in close consultation with EST Consultants and Tutors, to meet the specific needs of customers and employers. Providing advice, guidance and support for customers during their initial weeks of employment, supporting their transition from welfare to employment to maximise the potential for customers to sustain employment in the long term. Developing relationships and networks with key stakeholders including employers, Job Centres, provisions and funding providers to ensure smooth operation of all processes Maintaining IT files and customer records to a required quality standard to ensure the customer journey was documented Identifying employment and other work related opportunities with employers through marketing candidates directly into employers
In this role I was responsible for supporting the operational delivery of the North East Mental Health Trailblazer programme (which followed the IPS model) and managed a team of 21 externally based Employment Coaches covering the NECA area from Berwick to Bishop Auckland. My duties included; Supporting the Project Manager in all day to day delivery tasks in line with ESF requirements, deputising as required. Ensuring a high quality of service was provided to clients and partners Driving staff performance to meet target outcomes and standards by leading, motivating and supporting staff to achieve required performance levels Identifying any performance issues, supporting staff and addressing under performance Maintaining relationships with delivery partner organisations, acting as the key point of contact with service managers Developing and implementing training for staff to ensure they follow correct processes Designing and delivering quality assurance procedures to ensure the needs of internal and external customers are met and the service is delivered to a high quality standard Leading a schedule of team meetings and continuous improvement workshops to discuss performance, funding and quality issues affecting delivery Planning and delivering case conferences, observations and regular individual performance meetings with Employment Coaches Developing and managing good working relationships with key stakeholders, primarily Jobcentre plus and IAPT health providers to ensure effective operational performance
Working for a national welfare to work provider, I was responsible for monitoring the quality of provision across 30 delivery sites across the North East, North West, Midlands and Wales to ensure that all DWP and Ofsted requirements were achieved and maintained. My duties included; Ensuring all Quarterly Quality Reviews were completed with Senior Management and produced and submitted accurately and within set deadlines Maintaining effective working relationships and buy in to the quality process with all internal departments (Skills and Employability) and the Company’s Senior Management Teams Analysing and reporting on management information relating to programme performance, quality, compliance and service delivery Preparing organisational Self-Assessment reports and ensuring Quality Improvement Plans were produced and updated for all areas of the Skills and Employability divisions Supporting the Head of Quality and Curriculum to maintain relevant external quality marks (Ofsted, DWP, Merlin and Matrix accreditation). Assisted in the implementation of robust systems to monitor and improve learner and customer outcomes including success / achievement rates, attendance, punctuality and value added Involving learners, employers and stakeholders effectively in quality improvement and evaluation activities such as workshops, forums and CPD sessions Carrying out individual and paired Observations of Job Coaches and Assessor / Tutors graded in line with the Common Inspection Framework Giving constructive feedback to staff members that had been observed and submitting Observation reports to the Senior Management Team within set deadlines
In this role I was responsible for supporting a caseload of 200+ customers in receipt of JSA and ESA along with specialist customer groups such as NEET, Ex IB, Prison Leavers, MAPPA customers and ex-offenders into sustainable employment. My duties included; Completing inductions, paperwork and diagnostic tools with new customers Setting an individual action plan for each customer with SMART targets to aid progression Sourcing employment opportunities, sifting CVs and subbing customers to internal vacancies from the Employer Engagement Team Running awareness sessions to pre screen customers for vacancies, giving feedback to customers and prepping them for interview Assisting customers with writing CVs, job search, job applications, cover and spec letters and sourcing apprenticeships, training and support from external partners Deputising in the Managers absence leading a team of 13 staff members, authorising customer funding, forecasting, running MI reports and tracking job outcomes Facilitated Daily Buzz meetings to run through all performance statistics for the team
Duties were as above for the Job Coach role at PeoplePlus Consistent Gold Performing Advisor and ICT, Quality and Compliance champion for the flagship branch in Newcastle