Housing Solutions Officer

Join to apply for the Housing Solutions Officer role at Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.About The BoroughFound in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.About The Role And Our Ideal CandidateYou will be the frontline professional delivering a first class, modern and flexible service to some of the most vulnerable people in the Borough. You will fulfil the council’s statutory housing and homelessness assessment and decision making function, with particular focus on preventing homelessness. Candidates are normally appointed to the first point of the grade and will progress through the grade range with an annual increase (to the maximum point). Exceptionally, appointments may be made above the first point of the grade, for example if you have significant experience of delivering statutory homelessness services.About YouWe are looking for someone with housing knowledge, especially the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, plus an understanding of the importance of homelessness prevention within social and welfare needs of households. Previous experience is welcomed, however we are looking for candidates that demonstrate an understanding of the needs of households when assessing and determining the statutory duties involved with homeless applications, as well as an ability to understand and comprehend sometimes complex situations.About UsThis is an exciting time to be joining the Community Housing Service in Kingston. We have recently restructured all services with a renewed focus on managing our housing challenges particularly around prevention and temporary accommodation and we are seeking highly motivated and enthusiastic individuals who want to get the very best of outcomes for residents of the Borough. You will be joining a busy and hardworking team during a time of transformational change where every day offers an opportunity to make a positive difference.Our Offer To YouAs an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.BenefitsEmployees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro‑ra­ta if part‑time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leaveThree volunteering days per year in KingstonHybrid working (dependent on the role)Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google ChromebooksLearning and development portal offering a range of coursesDiscounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centresInterest free season ticket loansLocal Government Pension SchemeBicycle loan facilities and cycle to work schemeZip car schemeConfidential health & wellbeing and counselling supportApplication ProcessApply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.Additional InformationWe are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case‑by‑case basis. #J-18808-Ljbffr