Referral & Assessment Officer

About the role

In 2018 Bridges Outcomes Partnerships co‑designed the Single Homelessness Prevention service with Brent Council following the Homelessness Reduction Act (2018). The service provides early intervention to prevent or relieve homelessness for single people who previously would not have received support, aiming to prevent the mental trauma associated with homelessness and stop individuals reaching crisis point. Our services continue to evolve into models that combine homelessness prevention, refugee support, and family stability interventions to improve life chances for vulnerable people and reduce the long‑term impacts of housing instability and child poverty. The Referral & Assessment Officer is a key role within the London Partnership; it is the first point of contact for people who have experienced trauma or are struggling to find a home.

Responsibilities

• Receive and process referrals from Brent Council, acting as the central point of access for the service.
• Review each referral against the service eligibility criteria, completing an initial triage assessment to determine the most appropriate support pathway.
• Contact clients where required to gather any outstanding information or supporting documentation needed to progress their referral.
• Develop and maintain positive working relationships with Brent Council, delivery partners and other stakeholders to support effective referral pathways and timely allocation of referrals.
• Liaise regularly with Brent Council and delivery partners to resolve referral queries, gather outstanding information and ensure referrals progress efficiently.
• Identify, record and escalate any immediate safeguarding concerns through the appropriate safeguarding procedures.
• Record client support needs, risks and relevant information on the case management system to ensure delivery partners have the information required to provide safe and effective support.
• Maintain timely, accurate and comprehensive records on the case management system in line with service standards.
• Work closely with the Programme Manager to monitor referral activity, identify issues or opportunities, and recommend improvements where appropriate.
• Ensure the service is accessible and inclusive, recognising individual communication, language, cultural and accessibility needs.
• Produce regular reports on referral activity, triage performance and emerging trends for the Programme Manager and commissioners.

This is a hybrid role. The postholder will be expected to work across a combination of home working, Bridges offices and partner locations. This will include regular attendance at Turning Point in Brent to work alongside Brent Council and partner organisations, supporting the effective management of referrals and the development of local referral pathways.

About you

At BOP we value both lived and learnt experience, and the following skills and experience areas can be discussed individually and should not deter you from applying for the role if you feel you meet the requirements due to your lived experience.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Have experience of or an understanding of trauma and best practice when working with vulnerable individuals.
• Have an empathetic, compassionate and non‑judgemental approach with the ability to adapt, build rapport and enable trusting conversations with both vulnerable adults and professionals over the telephone and by email.
• An understanding of risk and safety planning within the context of vulnerable adults and experience in applying practices and procedures.
• Experience of record keeping within a case management system.
• Excellent organisational and IT literacy skills.
• Strong communication skills with a collaborative and flexible approach to work.
• Willingness to continuously develop knowledge and skills through training.
• Demonstrates understanding of the impact of structural inequalities (e.g., racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, sexism) on experiences of domestic abuse and help‑seeking.
• Understands intersectionality—how overlapping identities (e.g., ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, immigration status, age, faith) shape the risks, barriers, and needs of survivors.
• Understanding of how language barriers, digital exclusion, or immigration status can affect access to support.
• The ability to work collaboratively within a team and wider partnership as well as independently, and can organise workload and prioritise depending on the needs of the service.
• Drive to be part of a positive change and have passion for supporting people who have experienced harm caused by domestic abuse.
• Desire to support a unique impact‑led programme with a passion to make a positive difference to people’s lives.
• Right to work in the United Kingdom.

Desirable

• Additional spoken languages, particularly those spoken in Southern Asian communities.
• Experience of working with a charity/third sector organisation.
• Understanding of vulnerable adults and best approaches to build trusting relationships.
• Knowledge of working within services which take a person‑centred approach.

Safeguarding Commitment

As part of Bridges, you will help create a safe, supportive and empowering environment for everyone we interact with. We believe safeguarding is a shared responsibility, where all colleagues play an active role in promoting wellbeing, identifying safeguarding concerns and working together to ensure these are addressed promptly and respectfully. This includes maintaining professional boundaries, reporting concerns promptly in line with organisational policies and completing all required safeguarding training. All colleagues must remain vigilant, model safe practices and contribute to a culture where people are valued, listened to and where safety, dignity and wellbeing are prioritised at all times.

Data Protection Commitment

As part of Bridges, you will play an important role in protecting the privacy, rights and personal information of the people we support, our colleagues and our partners. We expect all team members to handle data with care, respect and confidentiality, following our organisational policies and the requirements of data protection legislation. This includes using information appropriately, storing and sharing it securely, and reporting any concerns or breaches promptly. You will be supported with training and guidance to help you contribute to a culture where trust, transparency and responsible data practices are embedded in our services and decision‑making.

What we will offer you

We are a flexible employer and we will support you to ensure you achieve a healthy work life balance. You will be joining an incredibly dedicated, vibrant, dynamic and talented team of people who are deeply passionate about services which improve people’s lives and public sector reform. You will get 25 days’ annual leave plus 8 days for bank holidays plus a birthday leave day and 2 additional gifted days between Christmas and New Year. We offer a Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme with 5% Employer contribution. We offer Life Insurance, Income Protection Insurance and wellbeing benefits & resources. We also offer Private Medical Insurance on successful completion of your probation period. You will be able to access Learning and Development opportunities.

Bridges Outcomes Partnerships is an equal opportunities employer and ensures that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and will make reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process for candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role.