Employment Specialist – Criminal Justice, Basildon

Hours – 37.5 hours per week

Working Pattern – Monday to Friday

Salary / Band – £25,000 – £27,000 (dependant on experience) 

Location – South Essex

Contract – Permanent

Closing date – 4th October 2025

INNOVATIVE PROJECT TO HELP PEOPLE WITH AN OFFENDING BACKGROUND TO GET INTO WORK

Do you take pride in what you do, and can you think creatively about how different organisations can work together to deliver a better service?

Are you happy to talk with employers and help match people into meaningful work?

Experience in this field would be an advantage but not essential if you can demonstrate the right skills and knowledge.

Open Road’s Employment Specialist team aims to increase the number of people moving into employment from a variety of community services with a focus on offending and other complex needs.

A day in the life

I start a typical day by checking in with the various treatment teams that I am integrated with. This can include talking to them about existing clients that I am supporting and giving them brief updates, or talking about potential new referrals and individuals who have expressed an interest in being referred.

I have two service users coming to see me this morning, one is a new referral and I aim to start her vocational profile today. when I spoke to her last week, she told me her last job was in care, but she was finding this stressful and would like to consider hospitality roles. So, I already have a few employers and locations in mind that I will talk to, from when I last did employer engagement in her area. My second client had an interview with a Halfords Auto Centre last week, unfortunately he has heard he was unsuccessful, but the manager of the Auto Centre suggested he might be suitable for a retail role and has spoken to the store manager about the client. I will help him follow up on this today and support as required. We will also conduct a general interview debrief and coaching to keep his spirits and confidence up.

This afternoon I will be doing some employer engagement; I have a second meeting with an event planning company at the local business park and on my way back from that I plan to pop into the gym to have a chat about my client who wants to restart their career as a personal trainer.

About you

• You will have some knowledge of IPS or other employment services / methods
• We would like you to have experience talking to employers and helping people into work
• We want great communication skills and the ability to build relationships with everyone from the frontline up to CEO level
• Negotiation skis and commercial acumen
• Drive, passion and commitment
• Proven ability to build rapport with people and especially understanding issues from people affected by offending or similar conditions
• Boundless enthusiasm, excellent teamwork and the ability to work in a target driven environment
• Strong written / verbal / organisational skills
• Driving licence and access to own car

 

What it’s like to work for Open Road

Open Road provides drug and alcohol treatment services and offender support services across Essex & Kent including a range of interventions that deliver mentoring, advice and information programmes. Accredited with Investing In Volunteers, our mission is to empower a diverse range of individuals, families and communities to lead healthy and more meaningful lives, free from addiction, offending behaviour and disadvantage, to ensure healthier, happier lifestyles.

Benefits to you –

• £25,000 – £27,000 per annum
• 25 days Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays plus your birthday off!
• Royal London Pension and Death in Service benefit
• Access to our in-house Organisational Training Plan, and full training tailored to your development needs

We welcome applications from candidates seeking flexible working.  Due to the client-facing and service delivery requirements of this role, regular on-site presence will be required.  Flexible working requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with business needs.

This position is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check at enhanced level.

Application

Please use the following link to complete our online application form.  Prior to starting, please ensure you have all of the relevant information to hand.  Take time to review the job pack below as the shortlisting will be carried out with the Job Description and

in mind.

Person Specification

Open Road Application Form  (online form)

Open Road Equal Opportunities Form (online form) 

Alternatively, you can use this link to complete the form via word and email to shannon.fleming@openroad.org.uk

Open Road values and respects the diversity and individual differences of our services users, staff and our volunteers.

Job Pack