Homelessness Prevention and Solutions Officer - The Guardian : Job Details

Job Title: Homelessness Prevention & Solutions Officer

Salary Range: £37,766 to £44,430 per annum

Full time, 4 permanent and 2 fixed term (36 months)

Location: Housing Customer Services Centre, 90 Putney Bridge Road, SW18 1HR

Objective of role

We are a London borough providing a very busy statutory homelessness advice service who are looking to recruit four Prevention and Solution Officers to work with us. In this role you will work with all types of people who approach us as homeless or are about to be. They may have become street homeless, or perhaps an individual has been asked to leave home. Maybe someone is being evicted from their tenancy and cannot remain there any longer or you may find that a family must leave their home due to violence. In this role you will work proactively with individuals and families to help support them in their homelessness journey and adhere to legislative guidance as well as policy and procedures set out for you to conduct your role effectively.

Within the Prevention and Solutions Service, you will provide tailored advice and information to customers and provide interim accommodation where required. You will work within a hybrid model keeping a focus on the needs of our customers and supporting your work life balance. In addition to this, you will also provide an holistic approach and make the relevant referrals for clients who have complex needs that are not always immediately apparent. Your contribution and support will help those clients to stay in their current home or find a new home by delivery of key prevention techniques and options whilst managing expectations. You will enjoy partnership working, collaboration and have a keen motivation to meet objectives and importance of working towards targets.

About the role:

• Prevent and alleviate homelessness by providing housing advice and options to those who present as homeless.
• Conduct and review homelessness needs assessments and complete personalised housing plans to help empower individuals to sustain and secure accommodation.
• Work collaboratively with various stakeholders and manage expectations.
• Demonstrate an excellent customer centred approach and participate in Duty rotas.
• Be able to issue out statutory homelessness decision letters aligned with Homelessness legislation in a timely manner.
• Ability to take on a caseload and manage this effectively.
• Utilise IT systems to accurately update and record information.

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

• Be aware of the reasons for why people become homeless and have a good working knowledge of a range of housing prevention techniques and options to try to alleviate homelessness.
• Have an ability to interpret and explain complex legislation and guidance.
• Be able to work in a busy fast paced environment.
• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Have strong organisational and record keeping skills.
• Have a vast experience of working with complex customers and an understanding of their needs.
• Be resilient and possess the ability to work as part of a team as well as individually.

Closing Date: Sunday 16th February 2025 (23.59).

Shortlisting Date: W/C 17th February 2025.

Interview Date: TBC.

Test/Presentation: A written test will form part of the interview process

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.