Employment Coach

Prison Employment Coach/ IAG Adviser HMP High Point (Suffolk)

Starting Salary: £23K - £27K (depending on experience)

The Forward Trust is a fast growing Matrix Standard accredited, Information, Advice and Guidance, vocational training, skills and employability provider. We deliver IAG services in 9 prisons nationally and provide impartial and independent careers advice to prisoners in custody.     We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic and committed Advisor/Coach to oversee and deliver this exciting service.

You will be working with prison learners to undertake inductions, preparing and reviewing Digital Personal Learning Plans, helping to allocate learners to right educational courses and prison jobs, undertaking employability workshops, supporting careers fairs, the work of the Employment Hub and helping prisoners prepare well for jobs/apprenticeships in the community, upon release. We will expect the IAG Advisors to work to high quality standards set out in the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.  We are looking for someone who will go above and beyond and deliver a high quality IAG Service.

We are looking for an energetic, enthusiastic, go getting and very practical individual who is committed to providing high quality independent and impartial IAG and Careers Advice.  This must in accordance with the Matrix Standards, as well as the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework. We want people who genuinely care about the people they are supporting and not just going through the motions or ticking a box. 

We value the dedication and commitment of our employees by rewarding them with market-leading pay and benefits. We provide comprehensive training e.g. the Level 4 Employability Practitioner Apprenticeship Standard and opportunities to progress in the Employment Services Directorate.

• Training and development opportunities
• Flexible working 
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (Optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

• Experience in providing careers advice/IAG services on a one to one and  group work setting
• Experience of working in prisons and working with HMPS and other external providers e.g. JCP
• Experience of working to targets and quality standards in the skills, education or employability sector
• Motivating, inspiring and enthusing clients/learners to progress in life
• The ability to multitask and manage a diverse case load of clients or learners
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to motivate and inspire others
• Good working knowledge of the Matrix Standard, Ofsted EIF
• A tenacious approach and an understanding of how employers recruit and select based on talent
• Good administration, IT and organisational skills with good experience of using MS office software and management information systems e.g. NOMIS