Community Advice Officer in Sheffield

The Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind

Job Description: Community Advice Officer

Hours: 22.5 hours per week. We are happy to be flexible about how these hours are worked across the week, within our usual office hours of Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.

Salary: £17,365 (FTE £28,943)

Background Information: Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind (SRSB) provides a range of services and facilities to support people with sight loss in Sheffield, including a residential care home (Cairn Home). We also support people with sight loss and/or hearing loss in Rotherham. Our services in Rotherham are delivered under the name of Rotherham Sight & Sound (RSS). Our overarching aim is to promote people’s independence through advice and subsequent referral to other services, both our own and other agencies.

General Information: Reporting to the Community Services Manager and working as part of a team of people dedicated to providing a high-quality Community Advice Service for the visually impaired people of Sheffield and sensory impaired people of Rotherham. Comprehensive vocational training will be given.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Covering all areas of Sheffield and Rotherham, visiting clients in their homes to offer support and advice on a variety of topics, including, but not restricted to:

• Choice of suitable aids to assist with everyday tasks, some of the aids being free issue by Social Services and others that the client purchases.
• Liaising with Social Services and/or other agencies to secure appropriate services for our clients.
• Assisting and completing benefit application forms including Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance and when required supporting clients through the appeals process.
• Formal Specialist Needs Assessment of visually impaired people on behalf of Social Services in Sheffield.
• Specialist Needs Assessment of visually impaired people in Rotherham
• Respond to referrals from a variety of sources.
• Completion of appropriate internal report forms following contact with clients, updating our database etc.
• Assistance with social/leisure activities and other occasional events.
• Staying up to date with changes in legislation, policies or procedures which could impact upon our clients.
• Attend staff meetings, supervisions and appraisals.
• Undertake appropriate training as and when required.
• Other ad-hoc duties as may be required from time to time.

The list of specific duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive and a suitable candidate must be able to work flexibly assuming many different roles and responsibilities.

Person Specification

Experience and Qualifications

• Experience of working with/supporting vulnerable people Essential
• A basic knowledge of welfare rights or the willingness to learn Essential
• Experience of working with/supporting people with a sensory impairment Desirable
• Experience of working in the voluntary sector Desirable
• Experience of producing written and electronic based reports Essential
• Commitment to own continuing professional development and attendance at further training Essential

Skills/Attributes

• Adaptability, able to respond to a varied workload and different challenges Essential
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a structured way with a range of individuals, both verbally and in writing Essential
• Ability to communicate with staff in a professional manner - to develop and maintain appropriate positive relationships with a range of stakeholders Essential
• IT literate and competent in use of Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel and Outlook, or equivalent Essential
• Experience using CRM (database) software (this is Microsoft Dynamics) Desirable
• Ability to work on own initiative and liaise with colleagues as and when required Essential
• Ability to prioritise and manage own workload Essential
• Honest & Trustworthy Essential
• You should have, or be able to develop, a good understanding of the needs of people with a sensory impairment Essential

Qualities and Competencies

• Self-motivated Essential
• Personal commitment to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices Essential
• Ability to motivate and support others Essential
• A good sense of humour Essential
• Conscientious and thorough in record keeping, data collection and data protection Essential

Other Requirements

• Ability to travel for events such as training, forums etc Essential
• This post may require some very occasional UK travel and may include occasional overnight stays Essential
• Appointment is subject to an Enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references, including a reference from your current/most recent employer Essential
• Due to the nature of our work, guide dogs and hearing support dogs will regularly be present. Hence, it is necessary that the successful applicant does not have any unmanageable allergies to dogs and does not object to them accompanying their owners Essential

Essential Car User Allowance:

This is paid in addition to a mileage allowance for business mileage.

Understand and comply with all relevant legislation and

Confidentiality of information relating to clients, volunteers and staff is of paramount importance.

To bring to the attention of the CEO any serious problems or areas of concern.

Work as part of a team for the benefit of our clients. Staff are expected to be conscientious, adaptable and flexible in their duties.

Actively promote the work of

Undertake appropriate training as and when required, some of which will be Health & Safety related and some of which will be skills related.

This year we were delighted that we were able to acknowledge our 165 anniversary with another Sheffield institution, Hendersons Relish, that is 140 years old this year

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