Job Description
East Kent IPS Employment Service Manager
Location: East Kent (Thanet, Folkestone, Hythe & Romney Marsh, Canterbury, Dover, Deal, Ashford)
Hours: 21 hours per week (0.6 FTE)
Contract: Permanent
Work type: Field based
Reporting to: Head of Area
DBS: Enhanced Disclosure with Adults Barred List
Who we are
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe everyone severely affected by mental illness should have a good quality of life. We listen, we work together, and we challenge inequality — always putting people at the heart of what we do.
Our Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Employment Service helps people with mental health challenges find and sustain paid employment that matters to them. We’re now looking for a passionate and experienced IPS Employment Service Manager to lead and develop our East Kent service.
About the role
As Employment Service Manager, you’ll lead a small, dedicated team of Employment Specialists delivering high quality, recovery focused employment support across East Kent. You’ll ensure the service meets contractual requirements, achieves positive outcomes for people we support, and reflects Rethink’s values in everything it does.
Working closely with the Head of Area, you’ll provide day to day leadership, oversight of performance and quality, and strong external partnership working — all while championing innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
You’ll manage four part time Employment Specialists and play a key role in shaping how the IPS service responds to local need.
What you’ll be doing
• Leading, supporting and developing a dispersed staff team to deliver safe, effective and person centred services
• Ensuring strong performance against contract targets, quality standards and reporting requirements
• Embedding safeguarding, data protection, equality and health & safety into everyday practice
• Providing regular supervision, coaching, appraisals and performance support
• Building effective relationships with commissioners, referrers, mental health services and community partners
• Managing recruitment, staff resourcing, budgets and operational processes
• Promoting service user involvement and ensuring voices of lived experience shape the service
• Identifying opportunities for service improvement, innovation and local engagement
Who we’re looking for
You’ll be a confident, values driven leader with experience of managing services in health, social care or a related setting. You’ll bring a collaborative approach, a commitment to recovery focused practice, and a genuine passion for supporting people affected by mental illness into employment.
You’ll need:
• Experience of managing and supporting staff teams, including supervision and performance management
• Knowledge of mental health, recovery approaches and best practice
• Experience of safeguarding, incident reporting and regulatory compliance
• Strong organisational, communication and partnership working skills
• Ability to plan, monitor and evidence outcomes and service impact
• NVQ Level 3 / QCF Diploma (or equivalent) in a health or social care related subject
• Good IT skills, including confidence using Microsoft Office
We’d love it if you also have:
• Lived experience of mental ill health or using mental health services
Why join us?
• Be part of a values led organisation making a real difference
• Work flexibly and autonomously with strong leadership support
• Access learning, development and career progression opportunities
• Join a caring, inclusive workplace where equity, respect and openness matter
Interested?
If you’re ready to lead a service that changes lives through meaningful employment, we’d love to hear from you.
Rethink Mental Illness is committed to creating a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from people with lived experience of mental illness.
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:
• Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
• Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
• Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
• Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
• Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
• Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle-to-work schemes.
• Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.
