Outreach Worker – Benefits and Housing Needs Officer

12 month Fixed Term / Secondment Opportunity

Hackney Here To Help (formerly known as Hackney Money Hub) is an easily accessible, resident-facing, multi-disciplinary service that brings together benefits advice with assessment for a range of discretionary grants, in a delivery model that has data-led, active community outreach at its heart.

One of our core goals is increasing residents’ income by tackling benefits under-claiming in the borough. For 2025, we will be focussing our work on supporting residents in temporary accommodation or who need homelessness support.

The Outreach Team is one of four teams within Here To Help. Rather than requiring residents to come to us, we work with community organisations to do outreach work in different settings. As an Outreach Officer, you will go to these places every week and provide advice and support to residents on how Hackney Here To Help can help them.

You will report to the Income Maximisation Lead.

Two Outreach Worker posts are available. One post needs to be full time but there is scope for the other post to be offered on a part time basis.

Key accountabilities

A main area of work will be to complete benefits checks with residents, identified through outreach work and through inbound work, and identify under-claiming. You will be delivering a mix of:

-Community-based outreach work, running and attending events at a range of venues.

-Assessing in-coming applications for advice

-Phone-based data led uptake campaigns

In order to be successful in this role you will be able to work in a holistic, and empathetic way, to overcome mistrust in council services, stigma and ignorance around benefits. You will use your professional curiosity to explore unmet needs. You will also be able to work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure a wide range of needs are met.

Skills and Experience

– Be comfortable working directly with residents and taking a holistic, empathetic approach.

– Understand eligibility and help apply residents apply for the relevant benefits.

– Able to navigate relevant systems including Academy, Comino, Jigsaw and LIFT

– Comfortable working with community partners to deliver joined-up support for residents

– Able to be flexible, work independently and take a problem solving approach when working with residents and on different types of cases

– Have excellent communication verbal and written communication skills

More information can be found in our attached supporting documents.

There is no better place to work in London than Hackney; we have great pride in our borough, our communities, and our services. Hackney is one of London’s most vibrant and diverse boroughs. It’s one of the most sought after areas to live in London with good schools, parks and local amenities, as well as great transport links and vibrant and diverse communities.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our businesses and residents and the opportunity of working here excites you, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

This application process replaces a supporting statement.

Closing date for applications: 09 February 2025 (22:59)

Interview dates: currently scheduled for wc 17 February 2025

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk