About the role
For people living with mental health challenges, stopping smoking can feel particularly difficult. While many people want to quit, factors such as stress, anxiety, long-term habits and life circumstances can make taking that first step, and sticking with it, much harder. This role exists to help address that.
As a Stop Smoking Advisor, you'll support people to make positive changes to both their physical and mental wellbeing. Through regular conversations, practical guidance and a personalised approach, you'll help people build confidence, overcome barriers and work towards becoming smoke free.
This is an opportunity to use your experience of supporting people through change in a role where you can see the impact of your work over time. Working as part of a supportive Public Health team, you'll help residents improve their health, increase their confidence and achieve goals that can have a lasting impact on their lives.
This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Children and Adults Barred List check. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
What will you be doing?
At the heart of this role is conversation. You'll spend your time supporting people who want to stop smoking, helping them take the next step, stay motivated when things get tough and recognise the progress they're making along the way.
You'll build relationships with residents over a number of weeks, providing ongoing support through telephone and face to face clinics. Using behavioural support techniques and motivational interviewing, you'll help people set goals, work through challenges, manage setbacks and find practical ways to stay on track.
Many of the people you'll support will be living with mental health challenges or facing circumstances that can make change more difficult. Taking the time to understand what's important to each individual, you'll adapt your approach to their needs and provide support that feels realistic, achievable and personal to them.
Alongside your one-to-one work, you'll run drop in sessions within a range of mental health organisations, helping people access support in settings they already know and trust. You'll also work closely with partner services across West Northamptonshire, building strong relationships with mental health organisations and raising awareness of the support available.
As part of the role, you'll keep records and appointments up to date, ensuring people receive the support they need and that information is recorded accurately. Whether you're supporting someone through a difficult period, helping them prepare for their quit date or celebrating their progress, you'll play an important role in helping people improve both their physical and mental wellbeing.
Why join us
There aren't many roles where you get to see someone's confidence grow over time. In this role, you'll support people through a significant change in their lives and share in their successes as they reach milestones they may not have thought possible.
You'll join a friendly and experienced team who support one another, share ideas and genuinely care about the people they work with. The role offers plenty of variety, opportunities to work with different communities and the chance to develop specialist skills in mental health, behaviour change and public health.
Alongside a rewarding career, you'll benefit from:
• Flexible, hybrid and family friendly working arrangements that help you balance work and home life
• Generous annual leave entitlement, with the option to buy additional leave
• Enhanced maternity, adoption and family leave provisions
• Access to our car lease scheme, making it easier to find a vehicle that suits your lifestyle
• A competitive Local Government Pension Scheme to help you plan for the future
• A wide range of employee benefits, discounts and savings on everyday spending
• Learning, development and career progression opportunities to support your growth
• Health and wellbeing support, including resources to help you look after your physical and mental wellbeing
About you
This role is likely to suit someone who already has experience supporting people with their mental health, wellbeing or recovery.
You might work in mental health services, wellbeing support, social prescribing, substance misuse services, social care, healthcare, community support or a similar environment where helping people navigate change is a key part of what you do.
The people who thrive in this role are those who can build trust quickly, listen without judgement and adapt their approach to different people and situations. They'll understand that progress isn't always straightforward. Some people will be ready to take action immediately, while others may need time, reassurance and encouragement before they feel ready to move forward.
You'll also be comfortable using IT systems as part of your day to day work. Managing appointments, maintaining accurate records and navigating different systems will all form part of the role, so confidence using technology and keeping information up to date is important.
You don't need to have worked in a stop smoking service before, but you'll have experience of working with people and supporting them in some way. Whether that comes from mental health, social care, wellbeing, recovery services or another similar environment, you'll understand how to build rapport, offer encouragement and help people work towards their goals. We'll provide the training and support needed to help you develop the specialist knowledge required for the role.
Our benefits
You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council
About us
At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.
Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.
We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner
The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.
If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.
Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
West Northants Council, where careers thrive.
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