Vacancies

Resettlement Community Development Officer

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

About the role

Do you want be part of a team that inspires change and has the interests of the community at its heart? Seeking a new challenge to help shape and develop a new team in the delivery of refugee resettlement services? Then North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has a great opportunity for you to join us as one of our Resettlement Community Development Officer!

Who we are:

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we provide a wide range of services to its residents and the growing number of businesses based locally. As a Council, we are passionate about providing high quality services to our communities, residents, and businesses. This means we need to employ and retain the most talented and dedicated people. As a new unitary authority, we are excited with the opportunity we have in building the Council of the future with our local communities. The Council is creating a “one team” culture which will be central to our future approach and will build the solid foundations needed to drive future service improvement.

What will you be doing?

The resettlement team offers and provides a range of specialist support to meet the needs of families and individuals resettled or those looking to resettle in North Northamptonshire through various refugee resettlement programmes, such as, Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Homes for Ukraine.

Your main focus will be on building strong partnerships with communities, agencies and services to support people resettled or hosted in the UK. As well as being an active participant within the service, ensuring that individual and families resettled or hosted in the UK receive targeted advice and assistance regarding their situation to enable them to carry out their responsibilities, understand their rights and adapt to life in the UK.

About you

We are looking we are looking to recruit an enthusiastic and forward-thinking Community Development Officer with drive, initiative and confidence. Reporting to the Communities & Wellbeing Project Manager you will help to create our new Refugee Resettlement Team and this is a truly unique opportunity to be part of this exciting journey of service transformation across North Northamptonshire. This is a wide-ranging role which will require you to work with directorates throughout the Council and beyond, including community groups and organisations, and voluntary sector partners.

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

• experience of working with refugees or other vulnerable groups and an understanding of the difficulties faced by newly arrived refugees.

• a sound working knowledge of the principles and practice of community development

• experience of working with communities to bring about positive change

• have outstanding communication skills, both written and oral

• possess an abundance of drive and determination

It would also be nice for you to have:

• experience of communicating with customers, where English is their second language

• knowledge of the difficulties refugees have in accessing services in the UK and the role refugee community organisations, agencies and the wider voluntary sector have in addressing these

Where you will be working:

The team is currently based in Kettering, but NNC has a flexible working policy and supports hybrid and home working options. The ability to travel between sites across North Northamptonshire is essential to this post. There may also be occasions where you will be required to work outside of normal office hours.

Next steps:

If you like what you have read and want to know more about the role, then please contact Karan Singh on 07775 723446 or email karanvir.singh@northnorthants.gov.uk

Closing date for applications is 12’noon Monday 16th January 2023.

Provisional interview date will be Monday 30th January 2023.

Our benefits

We offer:

a competitive salary
a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
generous leave entitlement (27 days, rising to 32 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

About us

We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary councils in the country.

Our priorities are:

helping people live active fulfilled lives
caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
enabling a thriving and successful economy
leading on a green and sustainable environment
ensuring our communities are connected do they can shape their lives and where they live
providing modern public services

We are undertaking consultation with the Trade Unions on terms and conditions and the future NNC pay structure and during this time are appointing new employees on interim spot salaries. You will be advised of the outcome and any impact on your role once this work is complete.