Accommodation Procurement Officer
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Directorate: Place
Grade: SO2
Salary: £37,443 - £39,264
Retention Bonus/ Market Supplement: N/A
Contract Type: Permanent / Full time
Working hours per week: 36 Hours
Weeks per year: 52 Weeks
Closing Date: 04/10/2024
Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC
Reference:1435
** INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY **
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
About the role:
Responsible for negotiating and the procurement of good quality accommodation of suitable type, size and location across the private sector to meet the Council's duties to homeless households. These includes accommodation for use as emergency / long term / discharge of duty. To procure accommodation if required for use by other Council services responsible for the provision of accommodation to customers meeting qualifying criteria (i.e. careleavers, `no recourse to public funds' households, etc.) To ensure all properties acquired comply with property standards and statutory requirements and are as cost-effective as possible in line with Pan London Rates as applicable. .
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Key Responsibilities:
- Commitment to high standards of customer care and the ability to deal sensitively with a wide range of customers
- Ability to communicate effectively to a broad range of stakeholders
- Ability to produce complex correspondence and reports
- High level of IT skills working with a data base and software applications to produce letters and reports effectively, and to use workflow systems to reduce hand-offs and minimise transaction costs
- Knowledge of private sector housing law, health and safety rating system and other health and safety regulations (gas, electrics and energy efficiency) and legislation relating to the letting of private sector tenancies.
- Experience of working effectively with private sector landlords and/or within a homelessness context Good knowledge and understanding of the government's welfare reform and its implications on the private rented sector & individuals
- Excellent current knowledge of private rented sector housing market and contracts, particularly the issues affecting private rented sector customers and landlords
- Ability to inspect properties, assess their suitability against a set of standards based on the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and clearly identify defects and works necessary to achieve the required standard
- Ability to work across service boundaries and to deliver a consistent and cost-effective approach to procurement for the full range of accommodation duties accepted by the Council
- Working knowledge of procurement principles, homelessness legislation, and the Council's duties towards children in need and households with no recourse to public funds
- Ability to engage effectively with private sector landlords and agents and to promote the benefits of working in partnership with the service to meet housing need Ability to work constructively with other services and agencies and to negotiate successful outcomes for customers
Qualifications and Requirements:
- T5 GCSE's or equivalent qualifications including Maths and English
- Hold a valid UK driving license and access to a car.
Terms and conditions:
The below terms and conditions apply to this role:
- Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
- Satisfactory declaration of interest;
- Satisfactory DBS check;
- Continued professional body registration;
- Suitable driver's license;
- This post is politically restricted therefore the post holder is disqualified from undertaking certain political activities under the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990.
How to Apply:
** INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY **
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Yasmin Hussain, Accommodation Procurement Manager at Yasmin.Hussain@walthamforest.gov.uk or 0208 496 5349.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.
The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.