Homeless Tenancy Support Officer

Working in housing can be incredibly rewarding as you can make a real difference to peoples' lives. We are looking to recruit an experienced housing professional to provide a focus on supporting people at risk of homeless and those at risk of rough sleeping, to both prevent and to relieve homelessness across the Malvern Hills district. The postholder will be expected to provide assertive outreach to assess needs and any underlying causes that may result in the customer becoming homeless, advising on options and ensuring their needs are met. This job role will involve working with those at risk of homelessness and helping customers who are sleeping rough to move off the streets and into emergency accommodation, to create a pathway plan into sustainable housing that includes addressing barriers to re-housing. The role will also be responsible for delivering a pre-tenancy programme for those living within emergency accommodation. The postholder will be required to work in partnership to provide an integrated homeless prevention programme and to attend meetings and liaise with outside organisations as required. The post holder will work alongside the temporary accommodation officer completing housing benefit forms for anyone in emergency accommodation and helping to support customers through this process. Please note, the successful postholder will require a standard DBS check, which will be undertaken as part of our pre-employment checks. The role covers the Malvern Hills district however travel throughout both Malvern Hills and Wychavon districts will be required. Flexibility, a full driving licence and use of a car is therefore essential., The two councils have a shared Chief Executive and a joint senior management team. Whilst they retain their own political structures and distinct identities, the joint management structure allows us to maximise the opportunity to deliver a wide range of good value services to our customers and communities, and operate and develop shared services, collaborative working and partnership arrangements with each other, with other councils and with key stakeholders.

The successful candidate will:

• Be customer focused and dedicated to providing an excellent service
• Have previous experience of working in a housing or customer service environment
• Be a team player who can work well with others and is able to innovate / act on own initiative whilst being responsive to the needs of others
• Have good I.T. skills
• Be able to prioritise a varied workload
• Be able to deal with difficult situations in a calm and caring manner
• Have a sound working knowledge of housing including welfare benefits and the underlying causes of homelessness and associated needs such as mental health, substance misuse and alcohol dependency
• Be advising and assisting all customers on complex housing matters relating to homelessness with a focus on partnership working. An aptitude for working with people who may display challenging behaviour and be experiencing difficult circumstances
• Be required to travel across the Malvern Hills district to attend meetings and appointments
  
  Our staff are at the heart of what we do and are key to ensuring we deliver our We are Wychavon District Council plan (attached) to make a positive difference to our communities, our economy and our environment. We are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:
• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme
We are an employer that values face to face communication, collaboration and connection, therefore all our roles have an office-based requirement with some agile working as part of the role. Please note: Wychavon District Council does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK., Malvern Hills and Wychavon District Councils are rewarding places to work, with high levels of resident satisfaction and motivated staff who enjoy working for us. Located in south Worcestershire, both districts boast beautiful natural environments, a rich heritage and plenty to do and see. The districts are ranked the top two best rural places to live in the West Midlands and are amongst the top 30 in the country. We pride ourselves on being progressive organisations spending time, energy and investment on what we know matters to our residents and communities - things like supporting our town centres and rural communities, creating jobs, keeping the streets clean, reducing our carbon footprint, helping people feel safe and preventing homelessness. We are an employer that values face to face Communication, Collaboration and Connection, therefore all our roles have an office based requirement with some agile working as part of the role. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:
• Excellent pension scheme
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount (Based at Pershore office)
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme.
Working with you Our staff are at the heart of what we do, and as a result we are always looking to recruit and develop the very best talent we can find. That's why, as well as providing a satisfying job, we offer a range of attractive benefits, generous holiday entitlements, a pension scheme, plenty of opportunities for personal development, and discounted gym membership.