Involvement Officer

Closing date: 4 August 2019 at 11.30pm

We're looking for a results-driven individual with experience of delivering service user involvement or volunteering projects, to join us as an Involvement Officer and provide vital support to our services staff.

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain 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.

Our Involvement Team helps Shelter staff to deliver volunteering and Service User Involvement (SUI) programmes in their area. SUI activities involve working alongside our clients and people affected by housing and homelessness issues, to influence and inform our work and make improvements to the services we provide. The team's aim is to ensure that clear pathways and frameworks are in place for all volunteering and involvement activities at Shelter, ensuring that volunteers and service users can be fully engaged and supported to get involved in our work. You'll play a big part in making sure that happens.

About the Role

Your challenge? To help staff in your region to deliver a consistent, quality Involvement programme. That involves providing guidance, coaching and support to staff, as well as sharing best practice and ensuring that organisational policies and procedures are followed. Identifying and promoting volunteer opportunities within Shelter by contributing to recruitment campaigns will be important too. And, when it comes to assessing the learning and development needs of people involved in our work, as well as delivering Involvement inductions, again, we'll count on you. Supporting corporate and cultural change, establishing links with key internal teams and external bodies, managing risk and helping to evaluate our involvement programmes - all are aspects of this challenging role.

About you

We're looking for someone with a track record of delivering service user involvement or volunteering projects and providing support and development to service users, volunteers and colleagues. With the ability to encourage, promote and support the involvement of volunteers or service users in the design and delivery of services. What's more, you're used to building relationships with a variety of external agencies and professionals and adept at presenting information and writing reports. Proficiency using office IT systems to record and analyse data is also essential, as is a proactive, customer-focused approach and an interest in, and understanding of, how homelessness and housing issues can affect people's lives.

Benefits

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

Shelter helps millions of 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. We're here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter 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.

At Shelter, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them.

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