Homelessness & Housing Advice Officer / Senior Homelessness & Housing Advice Officer

We are looking for a customer focused Homelessness and Housing Advice Officer to join our busy team. You will play an important role in day-to-day service delivery relating to the prevention, relief and management of homelessness as well as the provision of housing advice. You will develop and maintain productive working relationships with key partners.

You will be well organised with the ability to communicate effectively with members of the public. You'll require a high level of resilience and determination in order to manage the demands and pressures of the role.

The experience you will bring

You'll have experience of working in a housing or similar field such as private rented sector lettings or welfare benefits with a customer centric approach providing a high-level quality service to customers, both internal and external, often dealing with customers in difficult & stressful situations. You'll be confident at being able to identify core issues in complex situations and varied scenarios and find innovative solutions.

Therefore, you'll need to possess the ability to remain calm under pressure and able to remain objective and impartial in emotionally charged crises and able to make difficult decisions. With a flexible attitude to work with experience of adapting to a changing environment and dealing with new situations in a positive and co-operative manner.

You'll be required to write well structured, coherent and informative letters and reports and will be a competent user of standard office systems e.g. Word, Excel etc.

With a working knowledge of housing legislation, particularly the Housing Act 1996 Parts VI and VII, the Homelessness Act 2002 the Localism Act 2011 and Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, you'll be well versed in grasping complex legal issues relating to housing & homelessness issues.

North Hertfordshire is a large rural district with approximately 125,000 residents with four historic towns, Hitchin, Baldock, Royston and Letchworth Garden City. The Council have four priorities: Thriving Communities, Accessible Services, Responsible Growth and Sustainability. The Council Plan sets out our key priorities and themes for the next five years. The North Herts Values define how we as colleagues work with each other, and we strive to be: Adaptable, Inclusive, Learning, Listening, Together.

Why work with us?

We are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in our recruitment practices and in our employment policies. We want our employees to feel safe to express themselves and we encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of talents. We are dedicated to promoting a healthy work/life balance, valuing our employees, and enabling them to make a difference to the local community.

Please note that all our vacancies require you to live and work in the UK, and selection interviews are face to face in our Letchworth offices or other nearby council sites.

£31,552 - £39,352 per annum, dependent on experience (pay award pending)