Housing Officer - The Access Point in Edinburgh

An exciting opportunity has arisen to have a key role in reducing rough sleeping in Edinburgh. The post of Housing Officer (link worker) is a unique position as the person will be employed by City of Edinburgh Council, managed as part of the housing team in The Access Place, but will have extremely close ties with all Rapid Access Accommodation providers, Bethany Christian Trust’s Welcome Centre and Streetwork/Cyrenians outreach services.

This post will involve carrying out homeless assessments in various settings and meeting people who are rough sleeping. It is a physically demanding job that can take place in all types of weather outside, but will mostly involve meeting people indoors. Outside work will be undertaken primarily with the Streetwork street outreach team to find routes/solutions for people out of rough sleeping.

The post requires a person who has the energy and enthusiasm to make a significant contribution to the work of our multi-disciplinary (Housing, Social Work, Health, Third Sector) service in working directly with people who are homeless in Edinburgh. You will manage cases for people who have multiple/complex needs which involves carrying out homeless assessments, personal initial support/actions plans, accommodation and service referrals and any other case management requirements for the people you are working with. Many (but not all) of the people you will be working with have experienced trauma and also have histories of using legal and illegal substances, mental and physical health issues, behavioural issues and a history or current experience of rough sleeping.

An understanding of homelessness in general, but within Scotland in particular is essential, including an understanding of the Scottish Code of Guidance on Homelessness (2019).

It is expected that you will have excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, an ability to work in a focussed way, an ability to prioritise workload demands, the ability to work well with on and off-site partners from different disciplines and the ability to record all casework electronically. The Access Place is working towards becoming a trauma informed service within a psychologically informed environment.

It is very important that you read the attached person specification for Housing Officer (link worker), The Access Place as that is not a generic job description and it specifically relates to the role you are expected to undertake if successful. Your application should detail why you meet all of the Essential criteria.

This post is regulated work with children and/or protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The preferred candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check. Where an individual has spent a continuous period of 3 months or more out with the UK in the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. An unconditional offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of both these pre-employment checks being deemed satisfactory.

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone feels valued and able to be their best. We particularly encourage applications from women for senior roles, as well as people from minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities or neurodivergent people, care experienced people, carers and LGBT+ people across all levels of the organisation, all of whom are currently underrepresented. All applicants will be considered fairly based on skills and experience. Disabled and care-experienced applicants who meet the minimum job criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

As part of our goal to improve organisational culture and create a great place to work together for the people of Edinburgh, we want to make sure we're recruiting the best people. We’re interested not only in your skills and experience but also in your approach to work. Therefore, part of our interview process will be an assessment of how you would bring Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility into your ways of working.

You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page.

Our salary range typically reflects the initial starting salary and annually increases until it reaches the top of the range. Happy to talk flexible working.