EMERGENCY HOUSING OFFICER

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an Emergency Housing Officers to work within the Emergency Housing team and you might be exactly who we’re looking for!
The role - Ref: 24/160
EMERGENCY HOUSING OFFICER
Permanent
37 hours per week
Scale 6 (£29,777 - £31,364 per annum basic salary), plus enhanced payments for weekend and bank holiday working, on a rota basis
As an Emergency Housing Officer, you will carry out all aspects of tenancy management, within BCH’s hostels and EMERGENCY HOUSING dispersed accommodation settings.
You will be based at one of the Emergency Housing hostels within Blackpool and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the accommodation and for providing housing related support to homeless clients with a range of support needs.
You will ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of clients including carrying out needs and risk assessments, safety checks of the building and rooms, collection of charges and all necessary administrative functions. You will liaise with a variety of agencies and assist clients to access appropriate services.
The successful applicants will have experience of supporting vulnerable clients, be confident and self-motivated and have the ability to work independently with minimal supervision. An understanding of professional boundaries and excellent communication and interpersonal skills are essential.
You will possess good organisational and time management skills, be able to prioritise your own workload and be competent in the use of IT systems, particularly Microsoft Office.
A minimum of 3 GCSEs (or equivalent) to include Maths and English, at grade 4/C or above is essential, together with an understanding of customer rights and choices and how to support them. A Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) qualification, or the willingness to work towards a CIH qualification is desirable.
The post involves some weekend and also bank holiday working, as part of a rota, so flexibility is required, both in terms of working hours and also work location. There are several hostel locations and travel will be required between sites.
Applicants must have a full, UK driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes. Any offer of appointment will be subject to satisfactory clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB check).
Our services include an Operations Service providing responsive repairs to our valued tenants, empty homes management and refurbishment/capital works across Blackpool. Supported Housing; including supported living in Sheltered Schemes, Young People’s Resettlement Schemes including Care Leavers and Emergency Housing for those that find themselves homeless.
BCH is a great place to work
Every member of staff comes to work here with one vision in mind, “Inspiring People to Build Sustainable Communities” and our values help guide the way we all work towards this.
Our 5 core values that reflect the PRIDE that our workforce displays on a daily basis, also guide our conduct and our relationship with customers, partners and stakeholders:
• Positivity
• Respect and Compassion
• Integrity
• Dynamism
• Energy
BCH is a great place to work and has recently received two prestigious Awards at the 2022 Northern Housing Awards for the Best Approach to Employee Wellbeing and the Best Approach to Diversity and Inclusion.
We also offer a fantastic reward and benefits package which includes:
• Competitive rates of pay
• 26 days paid annual leave per annum, in addition to 8 bank holidays
• Attractive and flexible membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, with excellent employer contributions
• An in-house wellbeing program of wellbeing, social and charitable initiatives with BCH colleagues
• Vivup - the employee benefits scheme for discounts on various high street retailers and cycle to work
• Option to join BHSF - a voluntary salary sacrifice Health Cash Plan Scheme for help with medical costs such as physiotherapy, optical, osteopathy etc.
• Option to join the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Credit Union for preferential rates on financial services
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and access to counselling services
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay schemes
• A wide variety of training and learning and development opportunities
• Staff Suggestion Scheme
• Free annual flu vaccinations and Occupational Health Support
How to apply
This is a great time to join an ambitious, thriving and expanding organisation. If you like what you’ve read and think you’ve got what it takes to join our team then take action – apply now!
For further information on this opportunity, please contact Heather O’Hanlon, Emergency Housing Manager at Heather.o’hanlon@bch.co.uk or on 01253 476938.
To apply, please visit our website https://www.bch.co.uk/work-with-us to complete an online application, where a full job outline and person specification are available. Alternatively, CV’s may be considered if applying through an online jobs board.
However, please ensure your application/CV clearly demonstrates your suitability for this position.
Closing date for applications: Tuesday 30th January 2024 at noon*
Interview date: Thursday 8th February 2024
*BCH reserves the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date if sufficient suitable applications are received to progress to interview. Therefore, applicants are advised to apply as early as possible.

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