Homeless Relief Officer

Homeless Relief Officer

£31,017 - £32,508 per annum (pay award pending)

37 hours per week

Permanent

Witney

Do you have experience in the housing sector or a passion for helping the public?

Do you want to be part of empowering individuals to find their own solution to their housing crisis? This may be the job for you!

You will provide a comprehensive homelessness service to customers with a range of housing related issues on behalf of Publica and involved with assisting in the day to day running of Publica’s Homeless Hostel’s.

About the role…

Creating individual housing plans for every applicant which fully reflects their needs and circumstances, whilst managing and resolving caseloads for those currently experiencing a housing crisis. Sourcing appropriate short term and long term accommodation to assist the council in discharging its duties, whilst maintaining accurate records both written and electronically and ensuring they are captured and recorded accurately.

You will be required to represent the section/department at meetings/working parties/case conferences as appropriate and maintain a thorough knowledge of Housing and related legislation, including the Housing Acts, case law, the Homelessness Reduction code of guidance and good practice in the implementation thereof.

If you have excellent communication skills are self-motivated, customer focussed and work well with others, whilst exercising absolute integrity and respect in all confidential matters then we would love to hear from you.

Please note you will need to be in the Witney offices 2 – 3 days a week and have the ability to travel within Oxfordshire as required.

You will need…

• GCSEs (5 A-Cs or equivalent, including Maths and English) Please confirm what qualifications as not clear on JD
• Experience of working with vulnerable people
• Experience of working with people with complex needs
• Communicates effectively at all levels (excellent verbal and written skills)
• Full UK Driving Licence

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

Special Conditions…

• Use of a car for work purposes
• BPSS
• Expected to work reasonable additional hours in line with the needs of the service

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 and submit your CV and supporting statement. 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.

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.