Project Officer (Financial Resilience) in Blackburn

Are you passionate about fostering independence and building strong communities? Newground Together is seeking a dedicated Project Officer to help empower residents facing financial crisis in and around the Blackburn area. We value collaboration, respect, and the drive to champion equality, diversity and inclusion. You'll use your excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills to engage residents in crisis, quickly build trust, and provide vital support. Your advocacy, negotiation and problem-solving abilities will be key in agreeing affordable repayment plans, preventing escalation of debt, and constructively challenging unsustainable spending habits.

As a Financial Inclusion Officer, you'll manage intensive short-term caseloads, prioritising urgent needs while maintaining accurate records and personalised action plans. You'll also have the opportunity to facilitate group-based financial capability or cost-of-living sessions, and contribute to monitoring and evaluation by capturing both hard and soft outcomes for residents.

Who we are: Newground Together is a registered charity and part of the Together Housing Group. Our mission is simple yet powerful: to empower people to create sustainable communities that are connected, resilient, healthy and prosperous. We do this by supporting job and training opportunities, engaging with young people and families, providing memorable outdoor experiences, and offering activities that promote health and wellbeing.

As an organisation we are committed to having a Diverse and Inclusive workforce. We would therefore welcome applications from candidates with any of the nine protected characteristics. We are also proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Please note that this role is a FTC until June 2027.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct home visits and provide financial inclusion support to vulnerable households, helping to address financial hardship and wider aspects of poverty.
• Offer practical guidance on budgeting, accessing benefits, and improving overall financial resilience.
• Work collaboratively with partner organisations and internal teams to provide holistic support tailored to individual client needs.
• Manage client referrals and maintain accurate, up-to-date records on management information systems.
• Deliver community-based advice sessions and training to frontline staff on financial inclusion and poverty-related issues.
• Raise awareness of poverty issues and promote available support services.

Essential Requirements:

• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Experience working with vulnerable customers and delivering advice or support services.
• Knowledge of budgeting, benefits, and managing complex or sensitive financial situations.
• Understanding of fuel poverty, its indicators, and effective interventions.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills.
• Proven ability to work towards targets and manage time effectively.
• Knowledge of safeguarding principles and practices.

Benefits:

• Starting salary of £30,476 per annum.
• You will be covering the Blackburn area.
• 27 days holiday (rising to 32 over 5 years' service) + bank holidays.
• A flexible working environment, with a range of family friendly policies.
• Your normal working hours will be 37hrs per week Monday - Friday with occasional evening work.
• Working arrangements are flexible in line with our Smart Working culture so that we deliver an excellent and accessible service for customers.
• Wide range of technical, professional, and personal development training opportunities.
• Attractive pension scheme.
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to GPs.
• A range of financial and lifestyle benefits including cycle to work, vehicle leasing and financial advice.
• We have a range of staff support networks, including menopause, culturally diverse, LGBTQ+ and disability.

To view the full range of our award winning benefits click on the THG reserves the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient numbers of applicants are received. Therefore, please apply without delay!

Please ensure you fully answer the questions on the application form. Due to the nature of the role involving work with vulnerable members of society, this post is subject to a Basic Criminal Disclosure, which will be carried out when a conditional offer is made.