About Us

We are looking to recruit  three ambitious early intervention officers to help support our main homeless prevention and solutions team in undertaking initial assessments and assessment of needs for families and individuals who are likely to be homeless or threatened with homelessness, with the aim of referring them on to specialist homeless prevention and solutions officers for prevention/ relief work. 

To be successful in this role you will need to be person centred, proactive, able to work quickly and have a keenness to help families and individuals facing homelessness.

Whilst previous experience of working in a homelessness or other busy front-line public-sector role would be advantageous, it is not essential. 

To succeed, in this role, you will need to:

• Be emotionally mature and confident to work with people facing homelessness for various reasons.
• Be a good listener and able to apply what you hear to the legal framework in which we work.
• Be organised and proactive in your work and keep on top of changing priorities 
• Be proficient with IT systems, ensuring that all client information is logged and updated accurately.
• Be able to engage and work collaboratively with families and individuals who require housing assistance
• Be able to discuss, negotiate and persuade families and their landlords to prevent and relieve homelessness.
• Be able to produce case notes and assessments of  a high standard in preparation for cases being passed on to homeless prevention and solutions officers. 
• Be a motivated and engaged team player 

We are especially interested in your transferable skills in particular your ability to assess information, understand and accurately apply the assessment criteria, problem solve and communicate effectively with applicants, colleagues, and agencies.

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders, and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed and other arrangements. In these roles you would typically work in hybrid way with 2/3 days in the office and 2/3 days working from home each week. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 40 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline:

Closing Date: Sunday 08 October 2023

Shortlisting Dates: W/C Monday 09 October 2023 

Interview Dates: TBC – The interviews will be held in person

Useful Information:

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. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

The application process for this campaign will be anonymised.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils