Housing Prevention Officer

Housing Prevention Officer

£23,426 - £27,803 per annum (pay award pending)

37 hours per week

12 month maternity cover

Cirencester

Do you have experience in giving advice to customers with complex problems?

The Housing Team are looking for a proactive and self-motivated person to work within the Team to provide advice to people who are in housing crisis on a fixed term 12 month maternity cover.  You will be working with other dedicated Housing Professionals:

• In a fast paced, professional environment
• Providing advice and support to our customers
• With the aim of preventing homelessness where possible

About the role…

The aim of the Housing Prevention Officer is to provide comprehensive homelessness prevention advice to customers with a range of housing related issues.  The Prevention Officer will work with applicants to find solutions to their housing difficulties and thereby prevent homelessness occurring.

The role will include implementing the provisions of our Choice Based Lettings scheme and the Homelessness Reduction Act by working closely with the customer and a range of partner agencies to prevent homelessness occurring.

You will be required  to travel in this role.

This is a replacement role covering the Forest of Dean, Cotswold and West Oxfordshire District Council areas, but is primarily based in the Cotswold District famous for quintessentially English market towns and villages built from honey-coloured stone. With a range of gently rolling hills and the largest area of outstanding natural beauty in England making it a perfect base for walking and cycling, you will have this right on your doorstep.  With our agile working ethos: you will be spoilt for choice.

You will need…

• Ability to communicate at all levels to give advice to customers with complex problems
• Experience of managing a caseload of customers
• Able to work with complex IT systems
• Experience recording and dealing with data accurately and effectively
• Experience of working in a Housing, Supported Housing or Homelessness focused service is preferable but not essential

For more information about this role please see the Job Description/Person Specification.

Special Conditions

• Full UK Driving Licence / Use of a car for work purposes
• BPSS

Who are we… 

Publica is a unique place to work – we’re a local government organisation with a twist! Publica wants to transform the way local services are delivered. To help do this we have started to fundamentally rethink the way we design our services in the digital era so that Publica is a customer focused organisation driven by real user needs.

What can we do for you… 

• Agile working allowing a mix of home and office working
• Flexible working arrangements (depending on the role)
• 27 days paid annual leave (pro rata if you are working part time) plus bank holidays and an extra two volunteering days off a year for you to support a charity of your choice
• Renewed again for another year there is a Health cash plan giving you cash back on health, dental and eye care
• Pension scheme with a good employer contribution of 5% of your earnings
• Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, providing positive, preventative and supportive advice and counselling to deal with everyday events and issues
• Cycle to work scheme
• Salary sacrifice car lease scheme with significant tax and NI savings to be made on electric cars
• Generous sickness cover above statutory entitlements
• Additional income protection, covering 50% of your salary for potentially a further five years if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury
• Life assurance, currently four times your annual salary

These are just a handful of the benefits that you can enjoy when you join us!

To apply for this position please click on "apply now" within this page to complete an application form and supporting statement together with your CV. Please tell us about your skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience and how they meet the criteria listed above and in the job description/person specification. It’s important that we’re a good fit for each other, so let us know what’s important to you and why you want to work for Publica Group Ltd.  Your CV will not be available to the hiring manager unless you are shortlisted for interview to assist with our non-biased screening process so please ensure you complete the application form in full.

It is important that our staff reflect the diversity of our community, and we therefore welcome and encourage applications from people of all genders and sexual orientation, those from Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic backgrounds, and those with disabilities.

Accredited of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies - Please state this within your covering statement or in a separate email. 

Safer recruitment practices are applied to all job vacancies. Successful candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment medical questionnaire; provide references;  proof of identity; nationality and immigration status; three years’ employment or education history (if applicable) and, in some cases, verification of criminal record.