Homelessness Prevention Advisors
This is a fantastic opportunity for two passionate Homelessness Prevention Advisers to join the Supporting People Directorate. The role will involve preventing and assessing homelessness by providing the highest standard of housing advice and assistance with appropriate housing options in accordance with the homelessness accommodation strategy, placement policy and homeless legislation.
You will be involved in preventing and assessing homelessness in line with the Housing Act 1996, Part VII (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Localism Act 2012). You will be responsible for meeting challenging targets for homelessness prevention through provision of first class housing advice and the widest range of housing options. You will ensure through casework with applicants and landlords/agents and along with external organisations that tenancies set up via Camden’s PRS access schemes are sustainable. You will making complex legal decisions therefore need to have good investigative skills in order to extract required information.
You will prevent homelessness at an early stage to help people to avoid needing temporary accommodation and to leave it as quickly as possible, so that Camden continues to have one of the lowest rates of households living in temporary accommodation in London. You will have excellent negotiation, customer care and IT skills and have an adaptable and resilient personality that thrives under pressure and are able to go the extra mile to achieve outstanding results.
We are recruiting to a fixed term post for 12 months and a fixed term post for 6 months.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require an Enhanced DBS.
About you
To be considered for one of these exciting opportunities the successful candidates will have one of the following, at least one year’s experience of helping people with housing problems, experience in an equivalent customer service focused role, someone looking to change direction or be a graduate with the ability to show a commitment to a career in local government, initially within the homelessness sector evidenced by skills gained in related studies, employment or voluntary work. You will demonstrate adaptable skills, knowledge, and commitment as required to meet the demands of the key accountabilities. The ideal candidate will possess a detailed working knowledge of Housing Act 1996 Parts VI and VII along with the ability to draw upon case law.
You will be highly organised, have excellent IT skills and customer care skills demonstrating a trauma informed approach to supporting families and singles with complex needs in crisis and have the ability to absorb and apply legislation in decision making. Additionally you’ll be able to demonstrate the Camden Way and drive us to continue to excel with innovative approaches to homelessness prevention during this exciting time of implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act.
About Camden
Camden’s main offices are located in modern, award-winning offices at King’s Cross. You can expect an exceptional range of benefits including discounted access to the onsite leisure facilities with swimming pool, recognition and reward for high performance with progression and pay increases, flexible and agile working hours and access to a leading pension scheme.
Camden is proud to be the country’s first Timewise council and as part of this accreditation, we work to help parents balance work with childcare. This fits in with our aim to be leaders in innovative, flexible and part-time working that allows for different patterns of care and for parents to share childcare responsibilities.
Click HERE to see the full details of our excellent benefits
Make it work for you. Make it your Camden.
Discover and Diversity
To “discover” more about Camden and our commitment towards diversity, equality and safeguarding, please visit our recruitment website
If you want to find out more about what it’s like to work at Camden to help you decide whether we’re a good fit for you, please click HERE to complete our online scenario based questionnaire. Please note, this does not form part of the application and will not be used as part of the selection process.
Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard
Camden are very proud to be accredited to the level of excellence for the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard. The Mayor’s Good Work Standard sets the benchmark for the highest employment standards and demonstrates that as an employer, Camden is contributing to a fairer and more inclusive London. These good practices are also an important step in attracting and retaining a diverse, talented and productive workforce.
How to apply
To apply for this job please follow the "Apply" link. In the ‘Why you?’ section of the application form you will be expected to explain how you meet the key requirements for this role listed in this Job Profile attached at the bottom of this Advert. When explaining how you meet each of the requirements, please give examples that clearly demonstrate your skills, knowledge and experience. When writing your examples give a brief description of the situation or task but focus on the actions you took and the result of your actions.
Camden is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as inclusive as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for people who have a disability or long-term health condition. If you would like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process, or provide any information in an alternative format, please contact us on 020 7974 6655, at resourcing@camden.gov.uk, or post to 5 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG.
Closing dates for applications: Sunday 8th December 2019
Interviews to be held: Week commencing 16th December 2019
Please quote reference: 190000TW
Camden welcomes new employees on a monthly basis; next available dates for induction are Monday 13th January 2020, Monday 17th February 2020 & Monday 16th March 2020