Careers

Why work for Community Links?

We believe in being a good place to work for, so whichever part of Community Links you join, you can be assured of a warm welcome. We only recruit the best people so you can be sure of working with colleagues who are as motivated and passionate as you are.

The aim of Inspire North is to make coming to work a pleasure, not a chore!

Check out our employee benefits along with some useful information for your application in the tabs below.

Employee Benefits

Pay: Our pay is always competitive!

We are a Real Living Wage Employer.
Training: We invest a great deal in supporting you to thrive and be yourself at your best. Whether that’s helping you to fulfil your full potential in your current role or help you aim even higher, we’ll work with you to make sure it happens.

If you want to progress into management, we have a Management Mentoring Scheme and a Future Leaders Programme.
Cycle To Work Scheme: Our cycle to work scheme means a big discount on a new bike, paid back through pre-tax salary over a 12 month period.
Health Cash Plan: We offer various health care cash plans that cover private consultations, therapy treatments and access to practising GPs to discuss health concerns and receive advice.
Flexible Holiday: We offer 33 days’ holiday, rising to 38 with increased length of service. We include Bank Holidays in our holiday allowance, giving you control over when to take time off. We also offer holiday buy which allows up to an additional 5 days off.
Flexible/Hybrid Working: We also operate to a hybrid working model and a flexi time scheme for the majority of roles to help you balance your work and home life
Wellbeing: We prioritise the wellbeing of you and have invested in a variety of programmes. We have a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme which includes help and support for you with a helpline, counselling, financial and legal support. As well as access to an online GP service.

As part of our commitment to ensuring your health and wellbeing we have adopted a “take 10” initiative which enables you to take 10 minutes each day, in work time, to practice mindfulness.
Feel Valued: We don’t let great work go unnoticed. Our ‘WOW Moments’ recognition scheme is open to all our colleagues - it’s all about celebrating people who’ve really brought one of our values to life. Nominations come from all across the organisation it’s a great way to say thank you.
Culture: We are a collective group of friendly and supportive people. You’ll feel a part of the team in no time, supported by your colleagues, in an encouraging environment where you can be your true authentic self!
A Place to Express Your Voice: We want everyone at Inspire North to feel like they belong, you can bring your true self to work and have access to our employee Networks including BAME, LGBT+, Mental Health and Wellbeing etc.

Diversity and Inclusion

People are the ‘heart and soul’ of Community Links, we want everyone to have the opportunity to thrive as part of our team.

Everyone is Welcome!: Our culture celebrates individuality, inclusion and belonging as we believe in an organisation where everyone feels valued, included and most importantly, can be their authentic self.

We are committed to recognising and celebrating the valuable and enriching contribution that people from all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, races, genders or gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, disabilities or other characteristics and experiences bring.

We promote and drive equality within our workforce to create an environment free from prejudice, racism, sexism, harassment, bullying and any other form of marginalisation.

Our Inclusion & Diversity Forum is formed of employees of all backgrounds and levels of seniority from various parts of our organisation, dedicated to facilitating discussion, driving positive progress and enhancing resources to improve awareness; it is also an open forum for feedback.

Having a freedom of voice is embedded into our culture as we recognise, we are not perfect. We are constantly listening, learning, evolving and adapting as we put people at the core of everything we do and work together to build a more inclusive future.

Equal opportunities are key to our recruitment strategy but also to helping our people build long lasting and successful careers. We ensure we provide a level playing field from which everybody, without exception, can thrive. All recruitment panel members are required to complete training. Hiring decisions are made by a diverse panel and decisions are based on the successful candidate demonstrating our values, transferable experience, skills, and potential.

We are proud of the work we have already done and are committed to driving even more action over the coming years particularly with our anti-racist action plan. We know that by empowering and enabling everyone to flourish we can change lives together.
Supporting Disabled Employees: We are committed to recruiting and supporting people with a disability or mental health condition and we are proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Leader status by the UK Government’s Department of Work and Pensions.

You may recognise the logo from our job adverts. The scheme is designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with health conditions. The Disability Confident scheme has taken over from the previous Two Ticks Positive about Disabled People scheme.

What this means for you?

We encourage everyone working at Inspire North, Community Links, Foundation and Bridging the Gap or thinking about joining us, to tell us what support and adjustments they need to be their best at work.

We are committed to ensuring we:

Actively look to attract and recruit candidates with a disability
Provide a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process
Offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job
Be flexible when assessing people so applicants with a disability have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job
Make reasonable adjustments as required
Provide Diversity and Inclusion training to all colleagues
Promote a culture of being Disability and Mental Health Confident
Support colleagues to manage their disabilities and health conditions
Ensure there are no barriers to the development and progression of employees with a disability or mental health condition
Ensure line managers are aware of how they can support colleagues who are sick or absent from work or support those needing medical appointments
Value and listen to feedback from colleagues with disabilities and mental health conditions

We endeavour to ensure all candidates who are living with a disability or mental health condition receive the support and adjustments they need so if you’re currently in the application process, then you’re welcome to contact our People Team hrteam@inspirenorth.co.uk to discuss any reasonable adjustments that you may need to the recruitment process or the role.

How to apply

You can download a job description, person specification and access our online application form from the job advertisement. All correspondence with you will be via email, so please use an email address you view regularly.

Guidance on using the e-recruit system

We've prepared a guidance document to help you submit your job application via our e-recruit system.

If you experience any problems you are unable to resolve, please don't hesitate to contact us on 0113 273 9660 or recruitment@commlinks.co.uk

When will you hear from us

If you have not heard from us within four weeks after the closing date, please assume you have not been shortlisted.

If you are invited to an interview the email we send to you will provide you with details of what to expect on the day and what documents you will need to bring with you.

Interviews

You’ll hear from us at least a week before your interview date via email. The email will have all the information you need including details of who to contact if you have any questions.

As we only recruit the very best people we'll want to know all about your background and whether your skills match our person specification and the role for which you're applying.

Of course, interviews work two ways, so you'll be encouraged to ask questions about Community Links in return.

After the interview

We aim to notify all candidates of the outcome of their interview on the same day. The person interviewing you will be able to provide you with more information about timings.

If you have not been successful you will receive a phone call however please note it is our practice not to provide feedback.

If you have been successful the recruiting manager will make you a conditional offer of employment. You will also receive an email within 2 working days of your interview confirming the conditional offer including details of the conditions.

Receiving a conditional offer

Congratulations! You’ll soon be joining a remarkable award winning organisation and colleagues who are unique, enthusiastic and highly motivated.

Before you can start working for us we will undertake the following checks:

Receipt of references, which satisfy Community Links

Receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

Confirmation of your eligibility to work in the UK

Proof of your stated qualifications

Only once each of the above pre-employment checks have been completed and all of the relevant accompanying documentation has been received and verified by Community Links, will we confirm the unconditional offer of employment. This can typically take 4 – 6 weeks. We will keep you updated and let you know when it is done.

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