To promote and enable effective resident and leaseholder participation, ensuring good resident representation and accountability. To work alongside the senior resident engagement officer to take forward the actions and priorities within the Resident Engagement Strategy and housing service plan. To encourage and promote the involvement of residents in the decision making process of the Local Authority. The post holder is required to organise and prioritise their own workload, and make their own recommendations ensuring that any complex or contentious issues are discussed with the senior resident engagement officer in the first instance. The nature of the role will require the post holder to adopt a flexible attitude to working hours as evening and weekend work will be necessary. Specific duties and responsibilities include: The Resident Engagement Officer will be recruiting, inducting, training and monitoring the work of tenant volunteers. These volunteers will be engaged in a range of functions including forming an editorial panel for the tenants newsletter, acting as reporters on the publication, tenant housing board member or HAP tenant scrutiny The post is an important one in implementing the agreed resident engagement strategy. As such the postholder will be using their experience and expertise to innovate ways of involving tenants that have not been tried before by this Council, and creativity and innovation will be essential. The involvement of tenant volunteers in particular is pushing the boundaries of existing policies and has significant service implications, particularly around their involvement in producing the tenant magazine. To be responsible for and take the lead role for your designated area in promoting and supporting mechanisms for residents to participate in decision making affecting their homes and communities. This will involve traditional as well as new and innovative structures for participation, working with existing residents groups and LHPs and encouraging the formation of new ones. To help establish an Involvement Register. To support and enable tenants to take part in forums such as Area Boards/Partnerships, Wiltshire Housing Partnerships and any corporate arrangements such as the Tenants Panel or Housing Board. This will require you to be able to recognise through tenant contact who would benefit from some gentle encouragement and persuasion in getting involved with decision making to ensure we comply with the resident engagement statutory framework To work directly with the tenants, leaseholder and sheltered housing forum panels to enable the smooth running of these groups, through effective chairing and taking control of tenant meetings and help to influence discussions whilst trying to seek to maximise their independence and sustainability. Enabling residents to influence decisions relating to housing policy and service delivery. To hold and manage relevant budgets currently £5k an officer in relation to resident involvement as directed by the System support, performance & engagement manager To verify and recommend authorisation of routine claims for payment of expenses and subsistence by individuals and groups in connection with resident involvement. As well as organising and setting up regular resident group meetings and LHPs you will be required to prepare agendas with clear topics for discussion for all residents groups in your area and take and distribute minutes of those meetings, ensuring that all actions are taken forward and reported back to the group. To take part in area board and partnership events, which often take place in the evening, to be the housing link between the area board and the housing service, ensuring that tenant views are discussed or issues raised put forward for consideration by the board To assist with the production and editing of the Housing Departments quarterly housing magazine Housing Matters and oversee the production and distribution of the magazine to all tenants and leaseholders. To assist in writing the magazine content ensuring that it is relevant to the reader base and that the content is accurate, timely, well written and well presented. To maximise tenant participation in your designated area, you will be required to review the areas/estates with little or no tenant involvement and then look to set up and facilitate the establishment of newly forming tenant and leaseholder groups including the provision of guidance and practical support to ensure formal recognition by the Local Authority. To ensure all work is carried out in line with the tenants regulatory framework and highlight any areas of risk or concern if this standard is not being met To develop a yearly training programme for residents and tenants within your designated area to help expand knowledge and understanding to enable more robust and effective engagement and organise and facilitate training within agreed budgets. Training plans should be discussed with the senior to see if they can enhance options and opportunities in other areas and link plans to try and create any efficiencies To identify courses and conferences that would be of direct relevance to the work of resident representatives in your area and organise travel/attendance and accommodation as appropriate. To undertake consultation with residents and stakeholders in connection with the Local Authorities policy and strategy reviews and to undertake tenant satisfaction surveys, establish whether services are meeting tenants needs and expectations. Developing new and relevant ways of undertaking such surveys. To collect and analyse data from consultation exercises, producing reports and recommending action and review procedures. To assist in writing the Housing Departments Annual Report, ensuring that all statistics are accurate and oversee the production and distribution of the Annual Report to all tenants and leaseholders ensuring the content is accurate, timely, well written and well presented. To write the Housing Departments annual tenants status/satisfaction survey ensuring the content is accurate, timely, well written and well presented.