Team Leader – Welcome Hackney – Adult Services

1 year Fixed Term Contract/ Secondment Opportunity

The role:

Hackney has a longstanding reputation of being open and welcoming to migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum – both as a Council and a community. The London Borough of Hackney is committed to ensuring people arriving in Hackney feel welcome and safe, and can access the support that is available.

Currently 800 people are seeking asylum in Hackney, and Welcome Hackney provides access to timely and effective support while they await the outcome of their claim. Hackney has also welcomed over 400 Ukrainians since 2022, as well as a number of Afghan families through the UK’s resettlement schemes.

This role sits within the Welcome Hackney (Refugee, Migrant and Asylum Seeker) Service. The postholder will manage three support workers who provide direct support to refugees, migrants, and people seeking asylum in Hackney. The purpose of the role will be to ensure that migrants in Hackney have access to timely and effective support, to coordinate workload allocation across the three support workers, and ensure that we are providing a service that is trauma-informed, strengths-based, and aligns with anti-racist practice. The postholder will also lead on the delivery of our Welcome Hub, a weekly drop in open to all migrants in the borough, including coordinating support provision, overseeing logistics of hub operations, and involving internal and external stakeholders.

Skills & experience:

• Experience working with refugees, migrants and/or people seeking asylum, and of the challenges that can be faced – particularly with experience of homelessness prevention and alleviation
• Experience of developing and managing teams that advocate for, and takes account of, the needs of diverse stakeholder groups.

• Working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including partner organisations, in order to ensure effective and timely support for residents.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences including internal stakeholders, partner services, and external agencies
• Experience developing effective cross-service working relationships with managers, commissioners and staff involved in projects

About us: 

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 residents, please click on the apply button below.

The recruitment process is anonymous. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CVs.

When applying, there will be a number of questions relating to the post on the application form. It is essential that you complete the application questions, responding to each using examples of your skills, knowledge and experience.

We will not accept applications where Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used to assist with completing the competency questions or any part of the application form.

This application process replaces a supporting statement.

Closing date for applications:  03 November 2024

Interview date: TBC

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 age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. 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