Aids and Adaption Officer

Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Church of England Pensions Board provides retirement services set by the Church of England for those who have served or worked for the Church. We are a charity which provides retirement accommodation and services to people who have given a lifetime in ministry. We are not a registered social housing provider, and do not operate as one. Our vision is to deliver a professional, high quality and efficient service to our customers, respecting their needs and the needs of those who provide us with the resources to do this.
As Aids and Adaptations Officer, you will plan and coordinate all aspects of Aids and Adaptation works across Church of England Pensions Board properties, from enquiry to completion.

You will manage a caseload of aids and adaptations and provide a mutually beneficial customer liaison service between residents and contractors, before, during and after, maintenance projects in domestic dwellings. You will also support and assist with Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) applications to local authorities and financial assessments.

You will need the ability to engage and communicate effectively with a diverse range of people and an understanding of DFG works and how they integrate with our service as a charitable landlord. Experience of delivering Aids and Adaptation requirements in a similar environment is essential, ideally gained within housing or property services.

IT Literate and competent in Microsoft products, you will be used to using systems to help you work efficiently and prioritise and meet deadlines. Flexible, approachable and self-motivated, you will enjoy working independently and with others, confident in your ability to negotiate, influence, and make informed decisions.

On occasion, you will visit residents in their homes to discuss proposed works and to meet with others including occupational therapists, contractors or surveyors.

This role will be offered on a fixed term contract, expected to last until July 2021.

First stage interviews will be held w/c 14th December 2020 remotely using Zoom.

In return we offer a unique environment with opportunities for continuous learning, generous annual leave for work life balance, season ticket loans and a range of benefits including discounted entry to attractions and what we feel is a market leading package when it comes to our pension scheme.

The Role

• Be responsible for the day to day management of adaptations schemes, assessing customers’ needs for adaptations in conjunction with an occupational therapist and processing appropriate solutions.
• Assess the eligibility for DFG support liaising with customers and Local Authorities to obtain grant funding wherever possible.
• Responsible for making contact with residents where planned adaptations works are to be carried out and ensuring any special needs are identified and as far as possible catered for.
• Ensuring that contractors take account of residents’ needs.
• Assisting in problems of access or other social problems such as hoarding which the contractor has to refer to us for action.
• Where there may be an element of customer choice, discuss, advise and/or take note of choices made and ensure these are passed to the contractor for action.
• Advise, counsel and support residents to resolve their difficulties by frequent contact with them, both in their homes, and on the telephone, and assisting them with external agencies including Social Services, Primary Care Trust (PCT) staff, etc.
• To deliver aids and adaptations projects to specification ,time and budget.
• Liaison with other Housing colleagues to resolve any wider housing issues which may arise, support technical colleagues when dealing with customer welfare situations.
• Deal with on-site issues as they arise and be available to customers on a day to day basis, whilst work is being carried out in their homes.
• Process referrals from Occupational Therapists and other Health professionals for adaptation; raising orders, processing invoices and checking works.
• Develop a holistic service in conjunction with other agencies for vulnerable clients: developing robust policy and procedure in line with current legislation.
• Ensure we meet our duties for customers being discharged from hospital and other priority issues.

The Requirements

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Engagement and communication skills including negotiation and persuasion.
• IT Literate and competent in Microsoft products and using a housing system.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Experience of delivery for all Aids and Adaption requirements including liaison with local authorities.
• An understanding of Disabled Facility Grant (DFG) works and how they integrate with our service as
• a charitable landlord.
• Substantial experience of working within a similar organisation, particularly in the Housing or
• Property Services environment.
• Experience of delivering a customer focused service.
• Experience of providing support to residents/tenants.

Education:

• A Level qualification or equivalent skills and/or experience.

Personal Attributes:

• Ability to work with minimal supervision, whist being organised and self-disciplined.
• Excellent people skills.
• Flexible and approachable.
• Confident and responsible when making decisions and being accountable.
• Ability to cope with competing deadlines, to prioritise and set targets, working in a structured manner.
• Self-motivated, with initiative and a record of achieving agreed objectives within time and resource constraints.
• Adaptable and innovative.
• Ability to relate well to a variety of people and create, maintain and enhance working relationships.
• Willing to learn new concepts and open to change.
• We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over
• England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

Excellence, Respect, Integrity

We follow these three values in everything we do, whether we are of Christian faith, another faith or no faith. To learn more about working for National Church Institutions and our benefits, please click here

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.

As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination. We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves..