Senior Practitioner

Salary: £33,417 per annum

Location: North, East or West of Scotland and flexible working

Contract: Fixed term until 31st March 2026

Hours: 37.5 per week

Closing date: 12th February at 11.30pm

Has your experience of advice work given you a good understanding of money and debt support, the ability to supervise and support others and a real desire to progress your specialist level knowledge? Then join Shelter Scotland as a Senior Housing Rights Worker and you could soon be playing a vital role in helping to build the financial resilience of people in Scotland with poor financial health.

About Shelter Scotland

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet over a million people in Scotland struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change, with individuals, in communities, across society, and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

At Shelter Scotland we are united by our purpose to defend the right to a safe home. Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. We believe that to win that fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement for change. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, fair, equitable and transparent.

We have committed to combat racism both within and outside Shelter Scotland and welcome you on our journey to becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

About the Team

We recently launched a new 3-year partnership with a leading UK bank, with a strategy centred on building the UK’s financial resilience. Together we aim to break the vicious cycles that leave people with poor financial health which may negatively impact their housing situation. The project aims to improve and challenge financial resilience by delivering specialist advice and interventions and gaining evidence and insight into the issues.

In our Community Team, we identify, investigate and intervene in housing and homelessness issues. We are engaged in our local communities to understand the housing issues people are facing, and we apply our expertise to work toward solutions. Lived experience of the housing emergency informs everything we do.

About the role

You’ll be responsible for providing money and debt advice, advocacy and casework to clients, focusing on homelessness prevention and financial resilience. We’ll also rely on you to devise a programme of housing and financial health/resilience workshops, and to deliver these to a variety of audiences, including clients and their families, local professionals and volunteers.

You will act as a leader within the project and the wider Communities Team to help deliver and evidence our strategy at an operational level. We will count on you to line manage, supervise, coach and mentor a housing rights worker.

About you

To succeed, you’ll need to have experience of working with, and influencing, a range of internal and external stakeholders and enjoy collaborating with people from other teams and organisations. You’ll also need great time management skills, an enthusiasm for delivering workshops and presentations and a willingness to challenge practice and hold people to account. A flair for leading and motivating others and enthusiasm for defining the delivery of the project as it continues to evolve. Adept at engaging with individuals and communities, you enjoy gathering evidence and identifying insights, issues and trends. What’s more, you present information and arguments in a clear and compelling way and have excellent problem-solving skills. Proficiency using IT like Word, Excel, email, internet and in-house CRM systems is also required.

How to apply

Please click ‘Apply for Job’ below. You are required to submit a CV and a Supporting Statement. Your supporting statement should include responses to the 'About You' points outlined in the job description of no more than 350 words each. Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate how you address the behaviour below throughout your responses:

• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive and open mindset

Any applications submitted without a supporting statement will not be considered.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter Scotland helps over half a million people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter Scotland please visit our website. Apply to be part of our  team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.