Annual salary: up to £28,917.00
Position: Welfare Support Officer
Location: Derry/Londonderry (Travel across Northern Ireland to 10 other sites may be required)
Contract: Full time – 6 month fixed term contract, 40hrs per week, Monday to Friday
Benefits: Including company vehicle and fuel card or £3,500 company car allowance
Mears provides temporary accommodation to asylum seekers whilst their claim is being assessed in three regions: Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. At the end of May 2021, Mears had over 19,000 service users across these regions. Mears works in partnership with central and local government, registered providers, tenants, landlords, and investors to find solutions to homelessness, provide more social and affordable housing, and create specialist housing for people with care needs.
About the Role:
Due to contract expansion, we are seeking a Welfare Support Officer to join our team. This is an exciting position that works exclusively to support asylum seekers going through their right to work asylum application process with the Home Office. The ideal candidate will be resilient, trustworthy, caring, a people person, and extremely empathetic to others. As a Welfare Support Officer, every day is different, and although this role comes with challenges, it is an extremely rewarding role.
Main Duties:
* Ensure service users are supported at various stages of their asylum application process, including safeguarding and welfare issues.
* Provide practical and emotional support to service users.
* Monitor service users’ wellbeing and support needs.
* Ensure all records are updated and accurate for Home Office audit purposes.
* Maintain boundaries and resilience to ensure a professional and well-defined service is provided to meet the needs of service users.
Role Criteria:
* Experience of working with vulnerable and diverse client groups.
* Experience and understanding of safeguarding.
* Ability to identify individuals' and families' needs and recognize the required support packages to maintain independence.
* Experience working with mental health and/or challenging behavior.
* Effective communication with colleagues, local authorities, and service users.
* Experience with record keeping and risk assessments.
* Ability to work under own initiative.
* Resilient.
* Supportive, trustworthy, a good listener, approachable, and empathetic to others.
* Flexible and happy to travel.
* Full UK driving license.
All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK; Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship.
Benefits we can offer you:
* 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
* Annual Mears Fun Day - A massive thank you from the Executive team for all the hard work!
* Volunteering Leave - Mears supports employees to undertake paid volunteering in the community, in support of our social value commitment.
* Staff perks with Mears Rewards - discounts of up to 10% on weekly groceries, holidays, eye test vouchers, Share save scheme, plus much more.
* Family-friendly policies.
* Company Vehicle and Fuel Card.
* Access to EAP Counselling sessions.
As part of the recruitment process for this role, we will carry out a DBS & BPSS check, as well as Security Clearance. For these checks to be completed, we will require from you the relevant identification, including Proof of Address, References, a valid passport, and proof that you have lived in the UK for the last 5 years.
If you feel you have the skills and experience needed, please apply via the link below. If you have any questions regarding this role, please contact Beth at beth.dunford@mearsgroup.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
To drive a Mears vehicle, you must be aged over 21, have held your license for over 3 months, and have less than 9 points.
Mears Group is a Disability Confident employer and recognizes our people as our greatest asset. We hire individuality, recognizing and valuing everyone as individual and ensuring equal access to opportunities for all, regardless of social economic background or individual makeup.
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