As a Job Coach at Ashford college, you will play a key role in supporting young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to develop the skills, confidence and independence they need to secure and sustain paid employment.

This is a practical, workplace-based role. You will work alongside interns in real employment settings, getting to know the individual, the job and the employer so that you can identify the right support and help each intern become a valued and increasingly independent member of the workplace.

About the role

No two days as a Job Coach are the same. You will:

You don't necessarily need to come from a teaching background. We are looking for someone who can see potential, build relationships and find practical solutions.

You will need to be adaptable, patient and able to communicate confidently with a wide range of people. Most importantly, you will believe that young people with learning difficulties and disabilities can and should have the opportunity to achieve meaningful paid employment.

You'll need to know when to step in and provide support and, just as importantly, when to step back.

As part of our Supported Employment team, you will contribute to our ambition of improving employment outcomes for young people with additional needs and ensuring that our interns leave their programme with the skills, experience and opportunities they need for their next step into employment.

As a Job Coach, you will be a positive and enthusiastic person who believes that young people with learning difficulties and disabilities can succeed in the workplace and have the right to access meaningful paid employment.

You will be an excellent communicator who can build positive, professional relationships with interns, employers, colleagues, families and other professionals. You will be confident working independently in a range of workplace environments, while also contributing effectively as part of the wider Supported Internship team.

You will be able to get to know each intern as an individual, recognising their strengths, aspirations and support needs and adapting your approach to help them learn and succeed at work. An understanding of autism, ADHD, learning disabilities and social, emotional and mental health needs would be beneficial, but just as important is your ability to listen, observe, adapt and focus on what an individual can do.

You will be practical and solution-focused, with the ability to break workplace tasks down into manageable steps, give clear instruction and identify strategies or reasonable adjustments that can help an intern succeed. You will understand that effective Job Coaching is about building skills and independence, knowing when to provide support and, importantly, when to gradually step back.

You will be comfortable working directly with employers and workplace colleagues, understanding the needs of the business as well as those of the intern. You'll be able to build confidence on both sides, respond positively to challenges and help create the conditions in which an intern can become a valued and increasingly independent member of the workplace.

You will also understand the importance of health, safety and positive risk management in the workplace, and be able to identify potential barriers or risks and work with others to put appropriate support in place.

Above all, you will bring high expectations. Rather than focusing on what someone cannot do, you will look for their strengths, identify opportunities and help them move towards the ultimate goal of securing and sustaining paid employment.

There is no need to spend time updating your CV. Simply click and complete our short application form. You can save your progress as you go, and we'll review all applications and contact candidates after the closing date.

If you have any questions before applying, please contact jobs@ekcgroup.ac.uk.

Outstanding Ofsted Provider

East Kent Colleges Group is an Ofsted Outstanding rated provider. It is proud to be the first General Further Education college organisation in the country to have received the Outstanding grade against each of the strands under the new Ofsted inspection framework. An inclusive provider, our colleagues place our students and the communities we serve at the heart of everything they do across EKC Group and this is illustrated in our ‘Strong’ skills grading by Ofsted.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and we ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for upholding these principles.

As a designated establishment, we are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore have an obligation to carry out checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults. These checks include conviction/caution self-declaration, Enhanced DBS check and obtaining sufficient referencing.

It is a criminal offence to apply for a post which involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to children if you are barred from doing so.

If you are successful in being shortlisted to interview, your suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults will be explored as part of the interview process.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

East Kent Colleges Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of our communities. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our staff body and encourage applications from candidates where there is underrepresentation in our workforce.

We are proud to hold the Positive About Disability Award and are a Disability Confident Employer. This confirms our commitment to interviewing all applicants who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. With any successful candidate, we will explore any reasonable adjustments to a role due to a health needs or disability.

Similarly, we have a commitment to Care Leavers (Care Covenant Pledge) and to current or previous Armed Forces personnel (Armed Forces Covenant Pledge) with a commitment to interview applicants who meet the positions essential criteria and who have declared this on their application.

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

We do not engage with agencies for permanent staff and have an in-house recruitment team.