Senior Housing Options Advisor

What will you be doing?

No two days are the same in this rewarding and fast-paced role. As a Senior Housing Options Advisor, you will lead and inspire a team of Housing Options Advisors, providing expert guidance on complex homelessness cases and supporting colleagues to achieve the best possible outcomes for residents.

You will play a key role in tackling homelessness across North Northamptonshire, working closely with internal services and external partners to identify innovative housing solutions and deliver effective prevention and relief interventions. Alongside overseeing performance and managing a small caseload of complex cases, you will help shape and improve services by driving forward new prevention initiatives, developing staff, and promoting best practice. 

This is an opportunity to make a real difference, influencing service delivery while ensuring residents receive high-quality, compassionate and legally compliant support at some of the most challenging times in their lives.

• Managing the day-to-day operation of triage and casework functions, ensuring high-quality, compliant homelessness and housing advice services.
• Supervising, supporting and developing a team of Housing Options Advisers, providing guidance on complex and challenging cases.
• Allocating and monitoring workloads to ensure cases are managed effectively and customers receive timely support.
• Managing a personal caseload of complex homelessness cases, including those requiring safeguarding and multi-agency intervention.
• Coaching, mentoring and identifying development opportunities for team members to maintain excellent service standards.
• Supporting homelessness prevention initiatives, helping customers access practical housing solutions, including the private rented sector.
• Monitoring team performance, service outcomes and case quality against key performance indicators and targets.
• Building strong relationships with internal teams and external partners to prevent and relieve homelessness and protect vulnerable individuals.
• Assisting with budget monitoring and maintaining accurate financial records relating to service expenditure.
• Identifying opportunities for service improvement and helping to develop new policies, processes and best practice.
• Providing cover for fellow Senior Housing Options Advisers and deputising for Team Leaders when required, including chairing meetings and coordinating team activities.

About you

• Hold a minimum of 5 GCSE’s grade A-C, a relevant housing qualification (CIH Level 4 Diploma or equivalent) or show an equivalent capability.
• Demonstratable experience at a senior officer level (or similar) within a local authority, housing association or voluntary organisation
• Extensive knowledge of Part 7 Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, and related legislation, guidance and caselaw.
• Experience of working in a housing options / homelessness service
• Experience of handling complex cases and providing creative housing solutions for vulnerable individuals and families.
• A good understanding and knowledge of the main causes of homelessness and rough sleeping, and the barriers that people face when trying to access accommodation and support services
• Able to produce clear, concise and persuasive written reports on complex issues and interpret statistical information
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the emotional resilience to deal effectively with complex circumstances surrounding vulnerable people
• A skilled problem-solver and negotiator with the ability to develop practical and creative housing solutions with an organised and imaginative approach to work and the ability to manage difficult and sensitive situations
• Ability to work well under pressure, on own initiative, and manage and prioritise own workload and team members when needed
• Effectively work with others to achieve a positive outcome by being proactive and solution focused
• IT and keyboard skills, including the ability to use Microsoft Office and maintain accurate records and case files.
• Ability to form and develop professional and effective working relationships with colleagues, partners and service users and work effectively and enthusiastically as part of a team
• Ability to manage a varied, complex caseload, and remain focussed on performance and outcomes
• Willing to work outside normal office hours as necessary
• This post will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check

Full driving licence and access to own transport for work purposes

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• 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.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.  

Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please click here The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council

Armed Forces Community 

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)