Senior Key Worker in Wolverhampton

Role Description

Title: Senior Key Worker

Reports To: Team Leader

Salary: £31,000 – 33,000 per annum depending on experience

Hours: Full time (35 hrs per week)

Flexible working is available can be considered.

This is a fixed term contract until 31st March 2029

Mission and values

The Good Shepherd has a long history of supporting the most disadvantaged people in Wolverhampton. Our mission is to end homelessness, support recovery, and create pathways out of poverty. Our core values are hospitality, compassion, and respect. We recognise each person’s dignity and potential for growth and deliver services in a personcentred way.

Role Purpose

The Senior Key Worker will play a central role in delivering Good Shepherd’s enhanced homelessness prevention and tenancy sustainment project. The postholder will provide direct support to people who are homeless, rough sleeping, vulnerably housed or at risk of homelessness, while coordinating day-to-day activity within our day centre offer.

The role combines frontline key working, partnership coordination, tenancy stabilisation support, peer navigator development and practical crisis response. It will ensure people receive timely, joined-up support that addresses immediate needs while helping them move towards accommodation, stability, wellbeing and community connection.

Key responsibilities

Hold and actively manage a caseload of clients, alongside delivering flexible, personcentred 1:1 support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Carry out initial conversations, triage and needs-led assessments to identify immediate risks, priorities and practical next steps.

Develop and review support plans that focus on accommodation, tenancy sustainment, wellbeing, safety, income, debt, health and community integration.

Support people to access accommodation, prevent tenancy breakdown and address issues before they escal..

• Coordinate day-to-day activity within the enhanced day centre, including use of consultation rooms, group spaces, breakfast provision, showers and crisis response facilities.

Work closely with Citizens Advice Wolverhampton to ensure people can access specialist housing, benefits, debt and related advice.

Work alongside Changing Lives and other partners to ensure people with multiple and complex needs receive appropriate support and referral pathways.

Support the development, coordination and supervision of peer navigators, volunteers and lived experience roles.

• Help peer navigators provide befriending, engagement support, early identification of issues and links into positive activities.
• Use the flexible welfare fund appropriately to address small but essential barriers such as ID, travel, pet-related housing costs or other practical needs where no other funding is available.
• Connect people with health, mental health, addiction, wellbeing, education, employment and community services.
• Maintain accurate records, case notes and outcome monitoring information in line with organisational procedures and funder requirements.
• Contribute to project reporting by evidencing outputs, outcomes, case studies, learning and areas of unmet need.
• Promote a psychologically informed, trauma-aware and welcoming environment where people feel safe, respected and able to engage at their own pace.
• Work within safeguarding, risk management, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety and lone working procedures.

Person Specification

Qualification

Essential

• Good standard of general education, including English and Maths, or equivalent experience

Experience, knowledge and skills

Essential

• Experience of working with people experiencing homelessness, rough sleeping, insecure housing, poverty, exclusion or multiple disadvantage.

Experience of providing 1:1 support, advice, advocacy or case coordination in a community, housing, advice, health, social care or voluntary sector setting.

Good understanding of the causes and impact of homelessness, including trauma, mental ill-health, substance use, poverty, domestic abuse, debt and social isolation.

• Ability to build trusting, professional relationships with people who may find it difficult to engage with services.
• Ability to assess need, manage risk, agree support plans and take practical action to resolve barriers.

Strong partnership working skills, with the ability to coordinate input from different agencies and avoid duplication.

Good communication skills, including clear written records, professional conversations, advocacy and report contributions.

• Ability to work calmly and confidently in a busy frontline environment, responding to crisis while maintaining boundaries.

Commitment to safeguarding adults, confidentiality, equality, inclusion and antidiscriminatory practice.

• Ability to maintain accurate records and monitor outcomes for project reporting.

Good organisational skills, with the ability to manage a varied workload and prioritise competing demands.

Confidence using IT systems for case recording, communication, reporting and basic digital support.

Experience, knowledge and skills

Desirable

Experience of tenancy sustainment, housing options, supported accommodation, outreach or resettlement work.

Knowledge of welfare benefits, housing rights, debt advice pathways or local homelessness services.

• Experience of supervising, mentoring or coordinating volunteers, peer mentors or people with lived experience.
• Experience of working in a psychologically informed or trauma-informed service.

Experience of delivering or supporting group work, drop-ins, client activities or community engagement sessions.

• Understanding of local services and referral pathways across Wolverhampton and the wider area.

Personal qualities

• Compassionate, respectful and non-judgmental in approach.
• Resilient, calm and solution-focused when responding to crisis or complex situations.
• Practical and proactive, with the ability to turn conversations into clear actions.
• Collaborative and able to build positive relationships with colleagues, volunteers, partners and people using the service.
• Reflective and willing to learn from feedback, lived experience and project outcomes.
• Committed to Good Shepherd’s values and to supporting people to move towards stability, dignity and independence.

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