Location: Heidelberg West, Victoria (with fortnightly travel to Bendigo; mileage reimbursed)
Employment Type: Full-Time / Permanent
Why Join WISE? (What We Offer)
- Travel Reimbursement: Full mileage reimbursement provided for your fortnightly travel to Bendigo.
- Salary Packaging: Access generous not-for-profit salary packaging to significantly increase your take-home pay.
- Impactful Work: Experience a deeply rewarding career path where your structural support directly empowers individuals and builds inclusive communities.
- Culture & Support: Work within a compassionate, values-driven team that balances professional excellence with pure heart.
About Us
WISE is a leading not-for-profit employment services provider dedicated to the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to find meaningful work. Our Social Enterprises operate with a proud double bottom line, combining commercial viability with life-changing social impact.
- Peppergreen Farm (based in Bendigo) is a vibrant community and tourism hub offering enriching training and positions in horticulture, hospitality, and retail.
- Clean Force Property Services delivers high-quality commercial cleaning solutions with a focus on creating sustainable employment opportunities.
Together, these enterprises offer supported employment options that serve as vital, empowering pathways toward open employment.
Role Purpose
As the Employment Support Officer , you will operate as a vital, high-impact conduit between commercial enterprise leadership, external funding frameworks, and supported employees. Your core focus will be managing the end-to-end support pipeline: conducting initial suitability assessments, overseeing NDIS intake and compliance, mentoring staff, delivering specialized behavioral interventions, and managing escalated support requirements.
You are the critical link that guarantees individuals living with disability or disadvantage receive the holistic care, workplace structural adjustments, and strategic advocacy necessary to achieve their desired healthcare and employment outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
Assessment, Intake & Transition Management:
- Undertake robust assessments surrounding the overall suitability of applicants, alignment with available positions, specialized support needs, and external program eligibility criteria.
- Facilitate the seamless intake and onboarding of new supported employees, ensuring the highly accurate and compliant completion of all funding body intake paperwork.
Prepare, compile, and execute Supported Wage System (SWS) applications for eligible employees to accurately benchmark productivity and fair remuneration.
Individualized Support, Mentoring & Crisis Intervention:
- Mentor supported employees in navigating appropriate workplace relationships, fostering positive peer-to-peer relationships, and establishing clear professional communication.
- Consistently monitor and evaluate ongoing formal and informal feedback from employees regarding their day-to-day progress, workplace adjustments, and evolving support needs.
- Provide timely intervention, specialized targeted support, and direct operational management of escalated support requirements or behaviors.
- Establish and follow up on formal response processes including de-escalation, conflict resolution, prevention planning, and long-term behavioral management.
Actively assist employees to define, pursue, and successfully achieve their desired health care and long-term employment outcomes.
Cross-Functional Liaison & Communication:
- Serve as the vital communication link connecting Supported Wage Assessors, NDIS Coordinators, NDIS Support Coordinators, Property Services Workers, and frontline Team Leaders.
Liaise extensively with professional healthcare providers, families, and primary carers to ensure holistic care and coordinate access to external services as required.
Compliance, Administration & Continuous Improvement:
- Ensure the strict, confidential collection, structured recording, and secure maintenance of all sensitive files, paperwork, case notes, and individual planning documents.
- Accurately complete and submit NDIS claims, progress reviews, and relevant contractual paperwork.
- Maintain a comprehensive, up-to-date knowledge of relevant state and federal legislation, Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) legislation, and modern industry developments.
Identify, evaluate, and systematically implement innovative strategies for continuous improvement across program delivery models.
Position Requirements
Experience & Specialised Knowledge:
- Minimum 3 years' experience of dedicated case management within mental health focused services or adjacent complex community support environments.
- Exceptional, comprehensive operational knowledge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) , with particular mastery over Supported Employment service provision, legislative frameworks, financial structures, and contractual compliance.
- Demonstrated experience in structured program delivery, supporting people living with disability or disadvantage, and a deep professional conviction regarding the importance of supported employment as a crucial pathway to open employment.
Demonstrated commitment, alignment, and active role-modelling of WISE's core organizational values.
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Core Capabilities & Interpersonal Skills:
- Highly developed verbal and written communication skills, with an ability to draft clear, objective case notes and compliant reporting.
- Well-developed interpersonal skills and an innate ability to establish strong, professional rapport and trust with supported employees.
- Proven ability to communicate clearly and professionally with a diverse network of internal and external stakeholders, underpinned by a rigorous customer service approach.
- Demonstrated practical capacity to design, develop, and systematically implement operational processes and procedures.
Demonstrated personal qualities of deep empathy, integrity, and genuine compassion.
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Mandatory Credentials:
- Certificate or Diploma in Community Services, Disability, Mental Health, or an equivalent human services field.
- Current, valid NDIS Worker Screening Check.
A valid Australian Driver’s Licence.
How to Apply
If you possess the required mental health case management experience, NDIS expertise, and a passion for social enterprise, we want to hear from you. Please submit your current resume and a cover letter detailing your suitability.
