Progression Coach

Reed in Partnership has been delivering public services since 1998. We are a British, family-owned company, whose mission has always been to positively transform people and their communities. This is reflected in our services, which we deliver to help people from all backgrounds and circumstances to change their lives for the better.

Pay Range

£30,000 to £31,500

Working Hours/Pattern: 

Full-time, although we would be happy to consider applicants who are looking to work on a part time basis. If you would like to explore this further please discuss this with the talent partner for this role. Please note our ability to accommodate flexible working arrangements will vary from role to role, dependent on business requirements. 

Job Description

Are you passionate about making a difference and helping others? 

Would you like to work in a role that puts the customer at the heart of everything we do, making a genuine positive impact? 

Then consider the role of a Progression Coach at Reed in Partnership! 

This role is office based, but will involve travel across Cambridge & Peterborough also. 

Please Note, these roles are expressions of interest only at this point. We are currently working on a number of exciting opportunities within this area and are looking to build a pipeline of talent to allow us to work quickly upon contract award. We will be in a position to be able to begin the formal recruitment process in the coming weeks and we will be in touch to discuss the next steps of your expression of interest as soon as possible. 

Who we are:  

Reed's Employability Division aims to positively transform lives by helping individuals who are unemployed, economically inactive, or facing challenges such as health conditions, disabilities, or caring responsibilities to find sustainable employment. Through a wide range of tailored support services including one-to-one careers guidance, CV writing, interview preparation, and skills training, we have supported over 250,000 people on their journey into work.   

The new Confident Futures programme, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is designed to support Universal Credit claimants with long-term health conditions. It is a voluntary programme focused on helping participants move closer to work by improving confident, wellbeing, skills, stability and readiness for work.  

What is the role about? 

A Progression Coach is responsible for the attraction, registration and progression of Participants to achieve placements. A Progression Coach will use a variety of techniques including effective diagnosis, individual coaching and training, action planning and Health & Wellbeing Support to provide intensive personal support to a caseload of up to 25 Participants. Progression Coaches will deliver our services both in fixed Reed in Partnership locations, co-location sites and where appropriate within community venues, to ensure our services are accessible to all. 

Just some of your day-to-day responsibilities will include: 

Attraction & Enlisting 

• Pitches and sells Reed in Partnership as the partner of choice in Welfare to Work. 

• Develops own knowledge of Reed in Partnership and the relevant programme in order to enlist Participants. 

• Builds and maintains relationships with the Job Centre Plus and other relevant Partners through regular telephone contact, visits and newsletters as appropriate to ensure Participants are aware of our services and to allay any concerns they may have with accessing or utilising our services.  

Engagement and Diagnosis 

• Provides a good customer service to Participants including meeting and greeting Participants in a professional way. 

• Explains our service offering (details of the programme) including ensuring the Participant understands their rights and responsibilities (e.g. complaints & feedback process), whilst registering the Participant in accordance to contractual obligations and eligibility criteria. 

• Ensure Initial Assessments focus on getting to know the participant, understanding their motivation for joining the programme (if voluntary participation) and exploration of their aspirations and needs.  

• Identifies and utilises various approaches where appropriate such as visionary goal setting, and applicable financial incentives to sell the benefits of the programme and to adequately diagnose first level barriers. 

Participant Progression 

• Develops and manages Participants job goals using creative techniques and deep level questioning as necessary for the Participants needs, to assist with diagnosis and progression. 

• Motivates, encourages and empowers Participants, identifying barriers, realistic job goals and social training needs, referring as appropriate to relevant support functions 

• Collaborate with local and specialist partners to provide wraparound/holistic support that addresses multiple/complex barriers (e.g. finance, housing, caring responsibilities). 

• Engage with local employers to source suitable work experience/volunteering opportunities and support inclusive recruitment/job-carving. 

Training Delivery 

• Engage and empower Learners whilst delivering training sessions, with the aim of progressing them to achieve sustainable employment.  

• Awareness of and ability to adapt to a diverse range of learners and their learning needs and styles. 

• Follow lesson plans and activity guidance provided. 

In Work Support 

• Conducts into work meeting to ensure appropriate support is in place to support Participant to commence and sustain in work e.g. childcare. Agree preferred in-work support contact e.g. frequency and method, and in-work action plan. 

• Mentors the Participant through new employment, including providing support with general work issues finances and tax credits. 

What’s in it for you? 

A generous base salary (pro-rata for part time), and great flexibility with your working schedule, we offer training, development and progression opportunities. You will have access to the range of Reed in Partnership benefits, which include: 

• 25 days annual leave (pro-rata for part time) plus statutory bank holidays 

• Reed Pension Scheme 

• Award Winning Management & Leadership training 

• Professional & Personal Development Funds 

• Bi-annual pay reviews 

• With the chance to dramatically make a difference to the local community, this role offers immense job satisfaction 

• Plus much more that can be found on our website  

To be successful in this role, we are looking for someone with: 

• Experience of working in a customer facing environment, e.g. Customer Services Assistant, Retail Assistant 

• Practical experience of working directly with similar client groups. E.g. those with moderate to severe disabilities, mental health issues, severe barriers to work 

• Experience of working in a performance target driven environment.  Examples of such experience may include working on a similar contract, being a Recruitment Consultant or experience of Business Development roles, sales targets in a retail business or call centre etc.   

• A minimum of 2 A-Levels or an equivalent Level 3 Diploma 

• GCSE English Language at a minimum of a Grade B (or equivalent Level 2 qualification). OR achievement of a Level 2 in Literacy Assessment at interview stage 

Essential Criteria:  

• A passion for supporting candidates with additional needs, driven by an inherent belief that such candidates can and do achieve 

• Progression Coaches attributes include Achievement Orientation, Accuracy Orientation, Advice and Guidance, Challenge and Resilience, Flexibility and Adaptability, Empathy and Empowerment, Honesty and Integrity, Planning and Decision Making, Selling and Influencing, and Team Orientation. 

• Technical skills include strong administration skills, good computer/technology skills, basic numeracy skills and good written communication/record keeping skills 

• Knowledge of disabilities and health issues 

• Personal interests include interest in people and willingness to learn 

• Personal circumstances include willingness to travel locally (e.g. to meet Participants/Employers) 

• Willingness to work flexibly and ability to travel across a large region 

• Strong interpersonal skills, specifically around listening, questioning, building relationships, motivation and demonstrating initiative  

• Influencing skills that promote commitment and action to improve teamwork with all parties involved 

Desirable Attainments: 

• Experience of working in a fast paced environment.  

• Experience of and exposure to client groups.  These client groups may include incapacity benefit claimants, single parents, those with criminal records, mental health groups, ex-services, specific ethnic minority or faith groups and those with specific disabilities 

• Direct previous experience of a similar role. Roles considered to be similar include the role of Employment Adviser on a welfare to work contract or a publicly funded service 

• Level 3 or 4 NVQ in Advice & Guidance or equivalent 

• Fluency in community languages. Community languages may include Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Somali, Vietnamese, Dari, Yoruba, Turkish, French, Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Guajarati, Polish, Serbian and Greek (Dependent on programme) 

• Personal circumstances including willingness to work flexible hours. 

• Other desirable criteria including pre-existing network of employer contacts in the Regional Employer Manager area; the ability to use qualitative mechanisms to deliver continuous improvement to service delivery; a pro-active 'can-do' attitude; a track record of driving positive change and the ability to work under own initiative and think outside the box. 

We aim to ensure that no candidate or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity.  We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria.