The Company
We're a housing association that provides more than 60,000 people in Sunderland with a place they can call home. We're a values-driven organisation, with a clear vision, a social purpose and a commitment to investing in people, place and property. We believe everyone has the right to live in a good quality home they can afford and invest millions of pounds every year in keeping our existing homes safe, secure, and compliant.
We're also playing our part in addressing the UK housing crisis locally, by building hundreds of new, modern and contemporary homes for rent in Sunderland - homes that meet the needs of local people. Not only do we provide vital housing - we support our tenants, residents and communities by investing in services that help people live their best possible life.
This includes helping people to work, victims of domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour, young people to live independently, as well as a wellbeing service that supports our elderly tenants and residents.
About the role:
We currently have an opportunity to join our Housing team in the role of Neighbourhood Support Assistant on a full time (36 hours), 12 month fixed term basis to cover maternity leave. The typical working week is Monday to Thursday 8.30am – 5.00pm and Friday 8.30am - 12.30pm.
Neighbourhood Support Assistants work in our Neighbourhood teams across the city of Sunderland and are responsible for supporting the teams to deliver a first-class housing management service to our customers and the wider community. In this role you will provide a great service to our customers, working as part of a team to respond to a wide range of general enquiries, both in person and on the telephone, as well as providing support to the Neighbourhood Coordinators.
This role will require a basic DBS check, paid for by Gentoo.
A full job description is available to view at
What we are looking for:
We are looking for individuals who can demonstrate excellent customer service skills, and who put our customers at the heart of what they do.
You will possess excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to quickly build rapport with tenants and external partner agencies, as well as be a great team player.
It is essential that you have excellent communication skills using a variety of methods including IT, written and verbal, as well as the ability to effectively plan your workload and be flexible to meet targets and deadlines.
Demonstrable experience of working in a performance-driven, fast paced, customer-focused environment.
Experience in providing an effective service to a range of customers.
Adaptability to meet the needs of the business, including working remotely or from any of the Group’s offices.
Ability to cover the required operating hours and travel requirements of the post, a full UK driver's license is highly desirable.
Some of our great benefits include:
31 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) with an option to purchase up to 5 additional days per year.
12.30 pm finish on a Fridays
Flexible and hybrid working.
Free Health Cash Plan, with cashback for dental, optical, physio, wellbeing therapies and more, with some free child cover.
Access to private healthcare through the Health Cash Plan.
Competitive Aviva pension scheme - Gentoo will contribute up to 10% based on your personal contribution.
Salary sacrifice electric vehicle scheme
Enhanced family-friendly leave
Car mileage allowance if you use your personal vehicle for business purposes.
Life assurance cover to the value of 3 times your annual salary.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .