Resettlement Officer

Organisation
- Dorset Council
- Location
- Dorchester
- Reference
- 61051858
- Occupational group
- Housing
- Salary details
- £27,852 - £32,020

Job term
- Full Time
- Appointment type
- Permanent
- Contact
- Ashleigh Johnston
- Contact telephone
- 01202 228816
- Closing Date
- 06 January 2023 11:00 PM

**Resettlement Officer**:
**37 hours per week**:
**Salary £27,852 - £32,020**:
**County Hall, Dorchester, combined with home-working**:
**What’s in it for you**:
Are you looking to make a positive impact?

Are you able to motivate people to take steps to help themselves?

Do you have good negotiating skills together with knowledge around the private rented sector?

If so Dorset Council is seeking a Housing Resettlement Officer to work with our customers to secure accommodation within this sector.

Whilst you will be expected to work across the Dorset Council area this post will be predominantly based in the west of the county.

**What you can expect to be doing**:
As the Resettlement Officer you will be actively assisting customers and in particular those who are residing in Bed and Breakfast and Temporary Accommodation to seek housing via private landlords. As some customers may lack confidence this may mean making the first contact with letting agents and coaching customers how to make the right impression.

You will also be working with customers to ensure that there aren’t any obstacles which may prevent them from securing accommodation and this may include sourcing relevant documentation to demonstrate that they have a Right to Rent as well as submitting proofs for any claims made.

Once customers have been successful and have moved into new accommodation you will work with them to ensure that payment methods have been established for rent and other relevant household expenses. You will be responsible for ensuring that those customers who may require a little more support have been linked in with relevant agencies before signing off after a six week period.

You will be expected to listen to the concerns of the landlords and what their expectations are to help Dorset Council develop and maintain good working relationships with this sector.

**About you**:
Do you have experience working with people in difficult circumstances?

We need applicants who can be sensitive to difficult situations whilst having the ability to negotiate and investigate individual client circumstances. There will be occasions when you may need to provide challenging advice to clients in stressful circumstances.

Are you able to learn new skills?

Our successful applicants will need to demonstrate their ability to learn new skills and legislation and work with clients with complex needs and issues.

Applicants will need to be computer literate, and have a flexible, organised approach to their work to cope with a challenging and varied case load.

Do you develop positive and professional relationships?

We need people who can work in partnership with other agencies to assist and support our clients. The successful applicants will need to maintain and develop professional relationships with colleagues, landlords and a wide range of agencies.

Are you customer focused with good communication skills?

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

**Dorset Council: A great place to work**:
We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

- provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
- have ambitious aspirations
- are excited about our future
- care about Dorset and all the people who live here
- know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

- have access to a range of employee benefits
- be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
- have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply.