Employment Officer

About NOW Group NOW Group is an award-winning social enterprise that supports individuals with learning difficulties, autism, and neurodiverse conditions into meaningful jobs with a future. Our focus is on transforming lives by delivering outcomes that improve health, education, and employment opportunities for those most disadvantaged.

Through the SkillSET project , funded by UKSPF in partnership with seven regional disability organisations, we provide targeted support to individuals with disabilities and health conditions who face barriers to employment. The Role As Employment Officer you will provide our participants with the highest quality support to enable them to secure the job they want and keep it.

The post holder will have a particular focus on securing jobs for participants while promoting learning and work experience to ensure they achieve their individual goals. The Employment Officer will engage effectively with parents, carers and employers in a professional manner to ensure the optimum opportunities and outcomes can be achieved by the participants.

Key Responsibilities

1. Mentor and support participants throughout their individual journey towards employment, providing person-centered support to help them achieve their goals. This will include organising job clubs, sourcing work placements, support with job searching, applications and interviews to gain paid and voluntary jobs.
2. Support participants to achieve their learning goals through motivation and encouragement to participate in training and soft skills sessions.
3. Ensure effective induction of participants, carrying out initial and formative assessments and completion of quarterly Outcome Star reviews and associated action plans.
4. Develop and maintain strong working relationships with a network of employers to secure employment opportunities for participants.
5. Develop links with potential referral agencies for future participants eg. Job Centres, Schools, Colleges.
6. Represent and promote NOW Group in the relevant geographical areas through development of links with statutory agencies/local community networks and appropriate stakeholders.
7. Contribute to the achievement of targets within the Organisational Scorecard and NOW Group’s strategic objectives.
8. Promote the NOW Group brand and tell our story through social media engagement, attending events, use of marketing materials and other key communication tools.
9. Take part in regular quality audits to ensure compliance with organisational and funder guidelines.
10. Comply fully with NOW Group's 'Organisational Approach to Safeguarding.’ This job description is not definitive and may be subject to review as the duties and responsibilities determine.

What We Offer

Generous Leave: 25 days annual leave plus 12 statutory days (pro-rata). Health Cash Plan: Available after successful probation. Wellbeing Support: Confidential counselling and financial advisory services. Pension Scheme: 5% employer contribution. Flexible Work Initiatives: Including the Bike-to-Work scheme and holiday purchase options.

Additional Information Employment is subject to an Enhanced AccessNI Disclosure check. NOW Group is committed to fair recruitment practices. Policies on safeguarding, recruitment of ex-offenders, and data protection are available upon request. Join NOW Group and help us create a society where individuals with learning difficulties live, work, and socialize as valued citizens.