Pre Release Key Worker

We are excited to advertise a new post for our growing employment and learning support service - The Greater Manchester Education, Training and Employment Service (GM ETE). Our delivery will support the Probation Service’s service users into quality learning and employment opportunities.

If you have experience of working with disadvantaged people, people on probation or prison leavers - we would love to hear from you.

The job will involve working with people in prison to engage them in learning, training and employment opportunities, both through one-to-one and group work. You will be based in both HMP Hindley and Forest Bank.

Salary from £26,485 - £30,012 - Full time and fixed term until 31st March 2025 (potential to extend)

1x Pre-Release Key Worker (HMP Hindley and Forest Bank). (Some travel may be required to other probation sites across Greater Manchester)
 

You’ll need to be:

• Proactive, 
• A good communicator and 
• Able to manage your own caseload. 

The successful candidate will have:

• Experience and/or skills to deliver group work to people who have faced disadvantages.
• You will be effective at working with partner organisations to ensure the best results for our participants. 
• Recording of accurate information on participant plans is an important part of the job, so you’ll need to be comfortable working on databases and systems and have a strong attention to detail.
• Together with the prisoner, you will set an action plan, arrange ETE goals for custody and appropriate plans for when he/she is released.
• You will make plans with the community-based Key Worker for a handover, arranging for a 3-way meeting upon release in their local probation office, which might be in any of the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester. You will be paid for any accrued travel expenses.

Essential job duties

• Complete initial assessment appointments with all new referrals.
• Create action plans outlining activities to be undertaken with service users.
• Motivate service users to engage with the programme and attend appointments.
• Effectively case manage service users.
• Deliver interventions as outlined in the action plan.
• Signpost service users to specialist support organisations for further support.
• Tailor support to suit service user needs and learning styles.
• Effectively liaise with Probation Practitioners and prison staff.
• Attend a prison several days a week, engaging with potential new participants.
• Liaise with the prisoner’s Probation Practitioner, asking for a referral via HMPPS case management system.
• Attend the prison resettlement boards.

We are especially looking for applicants who can connect with people to help move them forward, can network with partner organisations and research new opportunities for the people on your caseload. As well, you will have the skills to work towards individual performance outcomes.

We’ll give you all the training you need to do the Employment Support Key Worker job and provide you with support to get established in the new role.

Employment is subject to successful Enhanced Level 1 clearance via Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), which is the vetting required of all probation and prison-based staff. This will be arranged with you.

Your package

Our full-time staff enjoy a reasonable 35h working week and we also offer flexi-time, so when we ask our staff to do extra, we always make sure they’ve got those hours to take back another time. It’s a great benefit of working for Career Connect. Full time and part time available.

Employment Keyworkers are paid on a scale up to £30,012 and you will be reimbursed for any additional travel, beyond your main base of work. Our holidays start at 25 days + Bank Holidays and we give up to an extra 6 days a year for staff with longer service.

You will work with great people and a growing charity committed to making a difference focussed on social mobility.

You will have access to:

• Training
• Career Progression
• Birthday Leave
• Perkbox
• Green cycle to work scheme.

A full job description can be downloaded from here Pre-Release Programme Key Worker JD - 24.pdf