CONNECT TO WORK CAREERS
Careers in Connect To Work
Understand Connect to Work, the Supported Employment models behind it and the skills, opportunities and career pathways emerging across this major employment support programme.
What is Connect to Work?
Connect to Work is a major Supported Employment programme designed to help disabled people, people with long-term health conditions and people facing specified complex barriers to employment find and sustain work.
The programme is voluntary and locally led across England and Wales. Participants do not have to be receiving benefits, and support can be available both to people looking for work and eligible people who are already employed but at risk of losing their job because of their condition or circumstances.
Connect to Work forms part of the government's wider approach to bringing employment, health and local support closer together. Rather than relying primarily on conventional job-search support, it uses evidence-based Supported Employment to provide intensive and personalised help.
How Connect to Work Works
Connect to Work follows a “place, train and maintain” approach to Supported Employment.
Rather than requiring someone to complete a lengthy sequence of work-readiness activities before employment is considered, the programme focuses on understanding the individual, identifying suitable employment and providing the support needed to help them obtain and sustain it.
Employment Specialists work with participants to understand their aspirations, strengths, circumstances and support needs. Support can include vocational profiling, job searching, employer engagement, job matching and assistance once employment begins.
Connect to Work also includes in-work retention support for eligible people whose existing employment is at substantial risk, helping them retain their current role or move into more suitable employment where necessary.
Who Does Connect to Work Support?
Connect to Work is designed for people who are likely to need more intensive and personalised support than standard employment provision can offer.
This includes disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, alongside specified disadvantaged groups experiencing additional complex barriers to employment. Participants must also be suitable for the Supported Employment approach and motivated to work once they understand the offer.
Support can be provided to people who are economically inactive or unemployed as well as eligible people struggling to sustain existing employment.
For Employment Specialists, this means working with individuals whose circumstances can be complex and whose employment needs may intersect with health, housing, skills, social care or other support services.
The Supported Employment Approach
Supported Employment is based on the principle that people facing significant barriers can succeed in competitive paid employment when the right job and the right support are brought together.
Connect to Work uses a five-stage Supported Employment approach built around client engagement, vocational profiling, job finding, employer engagement and on-and-off-job support.
The focus is therefore not simply on achieving a job start. Practitioners work to understand the individual, identify appropriate opportunities and provide personalised support that helps employment become sustainable.
Employer engagement is an important part of this process. Employment Specialists need to understand both the participant and the employer so that opportunities provide a strong and realistic match.
IPS and SEQF in Connect to Work
Connect to Work delivers Supported Employment through two models: Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF).
IPS integrates employment support with health and other services and focuses on helping people move towards competitive employment through personalised employment support.
SEQF provides a deeper level of support for people with more complex needs and can involve greater support for both the participant and employer. It is particularly relevant for groups including people with learning disabilities and autistic people, alongside others with complex support needs.
The appropriate model is determined by the participant's individual circumstances. Current DWP guidance states that where the appropriate model is unclear at the initial stage, IPS should be the default.
For professionals working on Connect to Work, understanding the differences between IPS and SEQF is therefore an important part of effective delivery.
Fidelity and Quality
Fidelity measures how closely a service follows the Supported Employment model it is intended to deliver.
Connect to Work has a national Fidelity Assurance system covering both IPS and SEQF. Services are assessed against the relevant fidelity scale, with reviews identifying good practice and areas for improvement.
This matters because stronger adherence to the evidence-based models is associated with better outcomes. Fidelity therefore influences everyday delivery, including caseload management, employer engagement, integration with other services and the quality of participant support.
For Team Leaders and managers, maintaining fidelity can involve reviewing practice, coaching Employment Specialists, monitoring caseload quality and using assessment findings to drive service improvement.
Working in Connect to Work
Working in Connect to Work combines participant support, employer engagement and partnership working.
An Employment Specialist may spend part of their week meeting participants and developing vocational profiles, another part approaching employers and identifying opportunities, and another working alongside health, local authority or community services.
Caseloads are deliberately designed to allow intensive support. DWP guidance specifies an average maximum active caseload of 25, while Employment Specialists delivering only SEQF should generally operate an average maximum of 20.
The work can therefore be highly varied and requires strong organisation, communication, relationship-building and the ability to provide genuinely personalised employment support.
Local Delivery and Partnership Working
The boundary between employment support and health support is becoming increasingly connected.
One of the defining features of Connect to Work is that it is locally led rather than delivered through one national provider structure.
Services are organised through local delivery areas, with lead Accountable Bodies responsible for establishing or commissioning provision and working with local partners. Delivery can therefore involve local authorities, employability organisations, Supported Employment providers, health services and voluntary and community organisations.
Official statistics identify 49 Connect to Work delivery areas across England and Wales, although Greater Manchester is using its funding for a separate Prevention Demonstrator. By the end of March 2026, 43 areas had begun referrals.
For professionals working within Connect to Work, partnership working is therefore particularly important. Successful delivery can require effective relationships across employment, health and wider local support services.
Connect to Work Careers
The expansion of Connect to Work is creating opportunities across frontline Supported Employment, employer engagement, leadership, quality and programme management.
Job titles vary between organisations and delivery areas, but opportunities may include Employment Specialist, Supported Employment Specialist, Employer Engagement roles, Team Leader, Service Manager, Operations Manager and partnership or quality roles.
Relevant experience can come from employability, Supported Employment, recruitment, employer engagement, health and wellbeing services, local government and community services.
Useful skills include:
Person-centred employment support
Employer engagement and job development
Caseload management
Vocational profiling and job matching
Partnership and stakeholder working
Supporting people with complex barriers
Coaching and performance management
Understanding Supported Employment and fidelity
For people already working in employability, many existing skills can transfer well into Connect to Work, while knowledge of Supported Employment, IPS and SEQF can help strengthen applications.
The Growth of Connect to Work
Connect to Work represents a significant expansion of Supported Employment across England and Wales.
Referrals began in April 2025, and the programme has continued to roll out through locally led delivery areas. The current funding period runs through to 31 March 2030.
The scale of the programme means demand extends beyond frontline Employment Specialists. Delivery also requires people with expertise in employer engagement, leadership, partnerships, service quality, fidelity and programme management.
For employability professionals, Connect to Work is therefore an important programme to understand. It reflects a wider move towards personalised, evidence-based employment support that connects employment with health and wider local services.
Developing knowledge of Supported Employment, IPS and SEQF could become increasingly valuable for professionals looking to build their careers across employment and work-and-health services.
Search Live Vacancies
Explore current opportunities across the UK employability sector.
Search by role, location and salary
Discover your next career opportunity
Explore current vacancies
Search Live Vacancies
Join the CareerPath Talent Network
Join our specialist employability talent network.
Be considered for opportunities
Stay connected with CareerPath
Hear about new roles
Join the Talent Network