Job Description
Homelessness Money Advisor
Fixed Term Contract/Secondment until 31st March 2026
Salary: Band 7 - £31,067 - £35,235 p.a.
37 hours per week
Portsmouth City Council's Housing Needs, Advice & Support Service works directly with customers to help deal with housing issues and prevent homelessness in the city. We are a busy front-line service dealing directly with customers, many of whom are vulnerable and/or facing homelessness. The service assesses and advises customers on the Housing Needs, Advice & Support available to them, provide support services to vulnerable people and rough sleepers, provide temporary accommodation and link with providers to help people move into more permanent accommodation.
We support our customers to solve their problems and meet their responsibilities, which includes paying their rent. In supporting our residents, we seek to maximise their income, prioritise outgoings and resolve debt. If you believe you can make a valuable, positive contribution to our team then please read below for more about the role. Please take the time to read the instructions carefully to ensure your application is not disregarded.
What's in it for me?
The salary band for our Money Advisors is £31,067 to £35,235. You will be entitled to 26 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays). The Council also offers a generous Pension Scheme and other staff benefits including free eye tests, discounts at local venues and childcare vouchers!
We value our employees and want them to reach their full potential. Although there is an induction period, you will be expected to learn on the job with the full support of the management team and your peers. Additional training is available if appropriate and as necessary.
What is the job?
This is not a traditional Money Advisor role. Working as part of the Housing Needs, Advice and Support team there are two parts to the role. Firstly, you will work with our residents that have made homeless applications and work with private sector tenants and landlords. The role will also be assisting with the Rough Sleeping pathway and assisting families into the private sector. By maximising income, reducing debt, and agreeing payment plans you will look to support residents to secure housing, seek to sustain tenancies and prevent eviction. The second part of the role is sharing your expertise in welfare benefits, debts, and budgeting to develop the skills of others to deliver appropriate advice.
You will support customers to deal with the common financial issues that they face - offering the right support and advice in relation to finances and debts in a sympathetic and non-judgmental manner. You will aim to ensure that our customers have all the information they need to make informed choices that allow them to cope financially and develop their skills and confidence to manage their financial affairs independently into the future.
Please clickHERE for the full job profile, which provides full details about what the role will involve!
Who is the Person?
Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points below through descriptive examples from work / personal experience which clearly illustrate what you did and where appropriate the outcome achieved.
You need to:
If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please call Janice Davis PRS Access Manager on 07940537769.
If applying as a secondment you will need permission from your current line manager releasing you for this secondment. Please state you have this on your application form.
Closing date: 22nd November 2024.
When completing the application form, please thoroughly tailor your application to the 'Who is the Person' points with the use of examples from your experience and attach this as a cover letter in the Supporting Documents section. This is really important or you are likely not to be shortlisted. Please click HERE for the full job profile!
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.u
Homelessness Money Advisor
Fixed Term Contract/Secondment until 31st March 2026
Salary: Band 7 - £31,067 - £35,235 p.a.
37 hours per week
Portsmouth City Council's Housing Needs, Advice & Support Service works directly with customers to help deal with housing issues and prevent homelessness in the city. We are a busy front-line service dealing directly with customers, many of whom are vulnerable and/or facing homelessness. The service assesses and advises customers on the Housing Needs, Advice & Support available to them, provide support services to vulnerable people and rough sleepers, provide temporary accommodation and link with providers to help people move into more permanent accommodation.
We support our customers to solve their problems and meet their responsibilities, which includes paying their rent. In supporting our residents, we seek to maximise their income, prioritise outgoings and resolve debt. If you believe you can make a valuable, positive contribution to our team then please read below for more about the role. Please take the time to read the instructions carefully to ensure your application is not disregarded.
What's in it for me?
The salary band for our Money Advisors is £31,067 to £35,235. You will be entitled to 26 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays). The Council also offers a generous Pension Scheme and other staff benefits including free eye tests, discounts at local venues and childcare vouchers!
We value our employees and want them to reach their full potential. Although there is an induction period, you will be expected to learn on the job with the full support of the management team and your peers. Additional training is available if appropriate and as necessary.
What is the job?
This is not a traditional Money Advisor role. Working as part of the Housing Needs, Advice and Support team there are two parts to the role. Firstly, you will work with our residents that have made homeless applications and work with private sector tenants and landlords. The role will also be assisting with the Rough Sleeping pathway and assisting families into the private sector. By maximising income, reducing debt, and agreeing payment plans you will look to support residents to secure housing, seek to sustain tenancies and prevent eviction. The second part of the role is sharing your expertise in welfare benefits, debts, and budgeting to develop the skills of others to deliver appropriate advice.
You will support customers to deal with the common financial issues that they face - offering the right support and advice in relation to finances and debts in a sympathetic and non-judgmental manner. You will aim to ensure that our customers have all the information they need to make informed choices that allow them to cope financially and develop their skills and confidence to manage their financial affairs independently into the future.
Please clickHERE for the full job profile, which provides full details about what the role will involve!
Who is the Person?
Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points below through descriptive examples from work / personal experience which clearly illustrate what you did and where appropriate the outcome achieved.
You need to:
- Demonstrate a good working knowledge of welfare benefits preferably with experience of supporting and advocating for customers.
- Have experience of supporting customers with budgeting advice and advising on priority and non-priority debts, you may hold a relevant qualification, though applications are also welcomed from those without formal qualifications.
- Be approachable, supportive, and non-judgemental, and able to foster positive working relationships with customers, colleagues and other professionals.
- Be able to listen well and use effective questioning skills to drill down into the root causes of customers' problems.
- Be competent at understanding complex information and relaying to customers in clear and simple terms to ensure the best outcome for the customer.
- Have strong written and verbal communication skills to enable effective negotiation with creditors or other professionals where appropriate.
- Have experience of developing others in performing effectively in their role, with the confidence to reflect with them on the quality of their interactions.
- Be self-motivated with the ability to work without support and with a willingness to keep your knowledge up to date through your own research.
- Understand the wider social issues that affect our tenants and customers. To have an awareness of the current schemes of people coming to the UK from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
- Be competent with using Microsoft software including Excel, Word and Outlook and be able to use IT systems to keep clear, accurate, concise, and methodical records.
- Be flexible as you may be required to work from any of the 7 area housing offices to cover periods of sickness and annual leave. You may be required to carry out visits outside of normal working hours.
- Ideally have a current driving licence and daily use of a vehicle; however, this is not essential to the role.
If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please call Janice Davis PRS Access Manager on 07940537769.
If applying as a secondment you will need permission from your current line manager releasing you for this secondment. Please state you have this on your application form.
Closing date: 22nd November 2024.
When completing the application form, please thoroughly tailor your application to the 'Who is the Person' points with the use of examples from your experience and attach this as a cover letter in the Supporting Documents section. This is really important or you are likely not to be shortlisted. Please click HERE for the full job profile!
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
- A generous pension scheme
- Up to 31 days annual leave per year pro rata + bank holidays
- We offer flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
- A range of retail discounts via our reward portal offering discounts at retailers including IKEA, Currys, Tesco
- Free Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellbeing support
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships
- Potential to purchase additional annual leave
- Business travel support and initiatives, including bike loans
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.u