Prevent Community Engagement Officer - Req24827

Job title:          Prevent Community Engagement Officer

Salary:             PO2 £37,335.96 - £40,221.00

Hours:             37

Contract:        This post is fixed term until 31/03/2025 but may be extended subject to funding

Location:        Merrion House, hybrid working offered

As a Prevent Community Engagement Officer you’ll thrive on building relationships and engaging with people. Enjoyment of training and upskilling people to raise awareness of Prevent is vital as is working in partnership, being able to work at pace and on your own initiative.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a Prevent Community Engagement Officer you will bring to the role:

• Knowledge of the issues and challenges associated with the delivery of the Governments Prevent Strategy
• An ability to engage with diverse communities which empowers, enables, and develops them to achieve results
• An ability to develop new areas of work providing challenge and support to colleagues
• Experience of working effectively with others to deliver cross sector or cross service projects
• Experience of producing and implementing plans, monitoring, and evaluating plans against objectives

About the role 

This role is vital to the delivery of Prevent in our communities and supports Leeds City Council in meeting its statutory duty on Prevent which aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.  It’s an exciting and challenging role but provides a high degree of job satisfaction.

As a Prevent Community Engagement Officer you’ll be working with a wide range of partners including the voluntary, community, and faith sector.  This will be through engagement visits, partnership meetings or scheduled training sessions.  You will need to be creative, and able to explore innovative opportunities to develop new engagements and activity.  Communication skills along with knowledge of IT applications are vital when promoting this area of work and informing the sector on new guidelines, policy or areas of risk. You will also support our community Prevent funded projects tracking their progress on delivery and ensuring key outputs are met.

The role is integral to our Prevent team.  We are a small busy team of 5 members of staff dedicated to safeguarding communities within Leeds from radicalisation and the risk of terrorism. It is a very supportive team which encourages development, new ideas and is always seeking to improve. Other key areas of the team include supporting education establishments and working with our statutory partners and services internal and external to the Council.

Funding for the team is provided through the Home Office on an annual basis. However, we have received funding for this post on a recurring basis over the last 9 years.

There are many opportunities within the role for expanding your knowledge and understanding in this area including meeting with other Prevent Community Engagement Officers from other funded areas to share experience and good practice.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application. 

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Julia Holden, Leeds Prevent Coordinator – julia.holden@leeds.gov.uk

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds. Leeds City Council is ranked 70 on the Stonewall Equality Index 2023. We are also an age-friendly employer, a Mindful Employer and a Disability Confident Leader.

All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six-month probationary period.
 
This role is based in the UK. Employment is conditional on confirmation of the right to work in the UK - either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. If you do not have the right to work in the UK and the role does not meet eligibility for sponsorship, please consider carefully whether you meet the eligibility to apply.

Job Profile

Job purpose 

The Prevent strategy aims to safeguard people from becoming terrorists and supporting terrorism.  The council has a statutory duty to ensure that it is delivering the strategy effectively and this post will support the work of the Prevent team in delivering a high-quality service to partners and communities.

This post will contribute towards the delivery of the Leeds Prevent Partnership Plan within targeted communities across the city and support the implementation of associated activity and initiatives in partnership with key statutory partners and other key local services providers and community organisations.  This will involve leading on the delivery of locality-based Community Engagement activities and initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the Leeds Prevent Partnership Plan, increasing community confidence in the Prevent agenda, and mitigating key risks and vulnerabilities identified within the Counter Terrorism Local Profile (CTLP).

Responsibilities 

• To play a key supporting role in the development and implementation of the Leeds Prevent Strategy within targeted communities. 
• To deal with sensitive and confidential information on issues of current, local and national security linked to the current threat of terrorism.
• To provide updates and progress reports to Community Committees and other key local groups e.g. community forums, on the development of Prevent related interventions within localities.
• Be responsible for monitoring and evaluation of area based Prevent activities.
• To contribute to the production of an area-based programme of Prevent work and to take responsibility for its implementation in the area, including the development of training packages and other resources.
• To co-ordinate and participate in the organisation of joint working arrangements to progress the development and monitoring of area-based Prevent activities. 
• To contribute to an improved understanding and intelligence of the target communities. 
• To produce internal and external reports on the performance and development of Prevent related activities within targeted communities.
• To support the preparation of proposals and funding bids to support the delivery of Prevent activities. 
• To organise and take part in local consultation, evaluate responses and initiate appropriate action as required.
• To develop, manage, and progress area based Prevent community projects.
• To facilitate the Prevent Provider Network Meetings for Prevent funded projects.
• To identify, monitor and evaluate activity that will contribute to the delivery of the Leeds Prevent Partnership Plan and determine good practice.
• To work closely with Police Prevent staff, Police Strategic Engagement Officers, Neighbourhood Policing teams, locality-based staff and other key service deliverers to build resilience within the most vulnerable communities and support local organisations to build capacity. 
• To provide appropriate advice on Prevent issues to the Prevent Coordinator, Elected Members, council officers and partners so as to manage risk and support them in their respective roles.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in an area relevant to post or with commensurate operational experience

Essential requirements 

It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

• Ability to engage with diverse communities which empowers, enables and develops them to achieve results
• Ability to develop new areas of work, providing challenge and support to colleagues
• Ability to manage and monitor performance effectively and set clear objectives 
• Ability to make an effective contribution to internal and external meetings 
• Ability to take forward initiatives and policies from development to implementation
• Ability to prepare clear and objective reports for a range of audiences 
• Ability to improve service quality and support a culture that drives up standards and performance.
• Ability to resolve conflict
• I.T. competencies to undertake a range of tasks.
• Ability to manage competing priorities whilst delivering on a range of projects and adapting to changing circumstances and priorities
• Understanding of equality and diversity issues which effect local communities
• Knowledge of the issues and challenges associated with the delivery of the Governments Prevent Strategy 
• Knowledge of Community Safety issues locally and nationally
• Understanding of community involvement, cohesion and community relation issues.
• Understanding of local government political systems            
• Knowledge of Safeguarding Policies and Procedures
• Knowledge of Confidentiality Policies and GDPR framework
• Experience of working on locality-based issues
• Experience of working effectively with others to deliver cross sector or cross service projects
• Working on community safety/neighbourhood issues
• Experience of community development, using a range of different techniques, which build the confidence and capacity of communities. 
• Working on community / neighbourhood issues to achieve prescribed objectives.
• Working in a multi-agency setting to achieve shared objectives.
• Experience of working with diverse communities and promoting dialogue with harder to reach communities.
• Producing and implementing plans, monitoring and evaluating plans against objectives.
• Experience in a service or operational area relevant to the area of service delivery in the remit of the post – e.g., community development 
• Contributing to the development of projects and funding bids / packages of support.
• Collating and analysing data to monitor service delivery and identify local needs.
• Experience of responding to customer or community needs.

Essential Behavioural and other Characteristics 

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
• Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
• Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities. 
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade. 
• Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
• Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.
• Prepared to undergo Home Office/ Police vetting and due diligence checks