Homelessness Triage and Support Officer

Overview

The Homelessness Triage and Support Officer role is the first point of contact for all customers that are at risk of homelessness. You will be expected to deal with customers, usually over the phone, in an empathic manner, providing a triage-based service. You will gather important information from the customer about their circumstances before allocating the case to a homeless officer for assessment. You will also provide general administrative support to the homelessness advisers and the wider housing team as and when required.

About us

You will be working as part of a friendly and busy multidisciplinary housing team whose main objective is to prevent and relieve homelessness where possible for everyone in our community. The post holder will be required to work 37 hours per week covering the duty hours of Monday to Thursday 8.45 to 5.15 and Friday 8.45 to 4.45. You will also be required to work in the office 2 days per week.

By working with us, you are part of something bigger. From supporting residents who are at the heart of what we do, to shaping our county for now and future generations – as a Buckinghamshire Council employee, you contribute to the local community and really make a difference!

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

About the role

 

As a Homelessness Triage and Support Officer, you will be dealing with a variety of customers from all different backgrounds, often in crisis. You will often be the first point of contact and will have to deal with customers who are in a distressed state. You will be expected to ask probing questions and gather important documents and be able to make an assessment about whether a case is urgent and in need of a priority referral to a duty homeless officer. It is crucial that you can demonstrate empathy and always remain calm. You will ensure that our customers are treated fairly and will provide a first-class customer focused service.   

The main tasks are:

• Dealing with customer enquiries over the telephone taking down all the relevant information required for a housing assessment
• Gathering documents from clients and then uploading these to the case work system.
• Allocating emergency/duty cases immediately to a homeless officer using the referral trackers
• Allocating less urgent cases using the referral trackers
• Dealing with a range of housing enquiries from the busy housing mailbox daily
• Issue letters
• Issue requests for documents
• Sign posting to other help agencies or internal council departments
• Making referrals to partner agencies

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

 

About you

You must have an empathetic approach to customers. We are also looking for someone that has good administrative skills and is proactive in terms of getting on with the job. You must be able to work as part of a busy team and be supportive to your colleagues. You will need good literacy skills as you will be required to maintain accurate record on Locata. This is a customer facing role and the post holder is required to speak to members of the public, the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.

Other information

This is a permanent, full time role.

Please see the attached job summary for further information on the role and person specification requirements.

For an informal chat about this role in more detail, please contact: Olu Adeyemi, Assistant Housing Manager (DA &Triage) Email: [email protected]

Interviews: TBC

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Our Planning, Growth and Sustainability directorate works with partners to help shape the future of Buckinghamshire.  We deliver services on planning, economic growth, regeneration, strategic infrastructure, transport and property.

 Our key priorities include developing the economic narrative for Bucks, creating more jobs and delivering the right infrastructure to help businesses and residents thrive. We also aim to provide a proactive planning service that is responsive, whilst making the best use of the Council’s land and property portfolio. This will in turn support community services and create housing, jobs, regeneration and income to support public services.

 It’s a great time to join one of our teams. As part of the Planning, Growth and Sustainability function you will not only get to help shape the economic future of Buckinghamshire; you’ll also be involved in delivering high-profile development projects and work on some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK. You will support us to deliver the results that our local residents and businesses deserve.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/