Community Support Officer

Job Advert

**Immediate team Community Support - Migration**

**Salary and grade**: £36,032 - £42,576 Grade 5

**Duration of role**:Fixed term contract to 31 March 2025 (initially)

**Hours per week**: 37

**Location**: The designated office base is Abbey House, Abingdon. The councils operate in a truly flexible, and hybrid way where the focus is on outcomes not where you work. On-site attendance across the districts is also likely to be required.

**Closing Date**: 22/09/2024

**About the role and what we’re looking for**

We have established an exciting new service to provide accommodation and support to families under our Refugee Accommodation Programme. The programme involves the acquisition and management of transitional accommodation along with community integration support to enable refugees to settle in the UK.

The role of the Community Support Officer is to support incoming families in their transition to living independently in settled accommodation. The remit is to support families in accessing education, healthcare, training, ESOL, employment by signposting to and by accessing main-stream and bespoke services. It also helps families resettling in the districts with cultural and social integration.

If you would like to further develop your transferable skills whilst working in a fast-paced, ever-evolving and rewarding environment, please keep reading. If you have any questions about the role, please do get in touch. We really look forward to hearing from you.

**MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES**:

- Provide ongoing practical and integration support to families accommodated under the migration schemes.
- Work closely with the housing needs team and other colleagues to ensure co-ordinated package of support is offered to families to settle them into initial short term and ultimately long-term accommodation.
- Assist those newly-arrived in the country to set up bank accounts, households accounts, like utilities
- Assist families to register with GP and dental services.
- Work with families to develop Personal Independence Plans for their integration into UK life.
- Support migrant families to settle and integrate in the districts.
- Facilitate and liaise with specialist services and providers (statutory and voluntary) to offer opportunities to resettling families to aid their integration and maximise their support to families.
- Assist formal and informal support groups to understand the programme and provide the best support to hosts and guests in their own community.
- Attend events and activities to listen to and share with hosts and guests
- Attend and participate in meetings and training events as required

**About you**

Your essential skills, knowledge and experience
- strong personal commitment to delivering to provide support and advice confidently, tactfully and sensitively.
- experience of dealing with vulnerable and at times distressed people
- ability to maintain empathetic but strong boundaries
- effective negotiation, communication and interpersonal skills
- experience of community working
- experience of face to face contact with customers
- good oral and written communication skills
- understanding of confidentiality and GDPR
- flexible approach, ability to pick up new tasks quickly
- full driving license and use of a car insured for business use
- ability to achieve targets and deadlines
- strong and clear oral and written skills

**Your essential qualifications**
- 5 GCSE’s or equivalent level of experience
- If you have the following experience or qualifications - it’s a bonus
- experience of working with refugees or asylum seekers
- high levels of written and speaking skills in Pashto, Dari or Ukrainian
- knowledge of welfare rights
- familiarity with the districts
- experience of working in local government
- knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures such as Child Protection, Safeguarding Adults and MARAC

**The benefits we offer**
- A basic 25 days annual leave per annum, rising to 30 days after five years. You also have all the bank holidays to look forward to and time off between Christmas and New Year.
- Flexible working and annualised hours - a flexible approach to work that our employees love
- Salary pay awards - most jobs give scope for a pay increase after six months or the following April (depending on your start date) and we also review salaries each April.
- A generous career average pension scheme which includes life insurance of three times your salary
- The opportunity to purchase a bike through Cyclescheme (cheaper than directly through a store) so that you can cycle to work
- Various schemes to keep you healthy (reduced gym membership, free swims, free eye tests for DSE users and more)
- We give you two days per year to volunteer within the local community.
- A range of resources, support, and activities to help you maintain your wellbeing including a monthly wellbeing hour in addition to annualised hours (the ability to work flexibly as lon