Housing Support Specialist - Outreach and Move On Worker (Social Care)

Southdown; St Leonards; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading housing support organization is seeking a Housing Support Specialist to help clients transition away from homelessness. You will provide outreach and tenancy support while addressing diverse needs including mental health and substance dependency. The role requires flexible working hours, a driving license, and a commitment to a personalized care approach. Join a team with a strong focus on empathy and change.

Benefits

Health cost cash-back scheme

Interest-free loans

Access to discounts and incentives (Easit Network)

Blue Light card for social care sector discounts

Free advice and counselling service

25 days paid holiday plus bank holidays

Rough Sleepers Allowance - £800 per year

Essential car user allowance - £1,000 per year

Unsociable hours allowance - an extra £4.40 per shift

Qualifications

• Available to work unsociable hours including early morning shifts.
• Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check required.
• Full driving licence and access to a vehicle essential.

Responsibilities

• Support individuals experiencing homelessness with positive, lasting changes.
• Provide early morning outreach and tenancy support.
• Offer flexible, trauma-informed support to clients.

Skills

Empathy

Understanding of homelessness

Communication

Personalized care approach

Driving licence

Job description

Overview

Location: Office base in St Leonards on Sea

Salary: £27,942 per year, plus £1,000 Essential Car User allowance, plus £800 Rough Sleepers Allowance, plus Unsociable Hours shift allowance

Hours: 37 per week. The working pattern includes two early morning shifts, starting at 5.00am (Summer) or 6.00am (Winter) Monday – Friday. Other working days are 9.00am – 5.00pm Monday – Friday.

What you’ll be doing

Are you passionate about ending the cycle of rough sleeping for people who are experiencing homelessness? Are you interested in a career in housing support, mental health recovery and wellbeing development? Southdown’s Outreach and Move On teams support those who are rough sleeping to move away from homelessness by accessing accommodation options.

As a Housing Support Specialist you’ll work alongside a multi-agency team, supporting people who have experienced the trauma of homelessness, to make positive and lasting changes in their lives. You’ll provide early morning street outreach to people sleeping rough in St Leonards on Sea, combined with move on / tenancy support as your clients take steps away from homelessness and into accommodation.

You’ll provide flexible, trauma-informed support, focusing on ending rough sleeping by identifying the support each person needs. This may include support with substance dependency, mental and physical health needs, domestic abuse, current or historical offending.

We welcome applications from candidates with previous experience in roles such as Support Worker, Outreach Worker, Community Specialist, Case Manager, Social Worker, Housing Support Worker, Social Care Prescriber, Community Health Worker, Community Outreach Coordinator or Care Coordinator. However, this is not essential and we will provide a full induction and training programme for all successful candidates.

Perks and benefits

• You’ll be joining one of the largest providers of care, support and housing services in Sussex, which we’re proud to say we’ve been doing for over 50 years!
• Health cost cash-back scheme: access to our health insurance scheme which covers dental, optical, physical therapies and other medical treatments with the option to add greater levels of cover.
• Interest-free loans: assistance with larger costs that arise such as tenancy deposits, season travel tickets or buying a car.
• Access to the Easit Network: discounts and incentives on train, bus and car journeys such as 15% off eligible daily and season rail tickets.
• Blue Light card: access to discount services for the social care sector with savings across thousands of online shops, restaurants, and high-street vendors.
• Free advice and counselling service: confidential emotional support and practical guidance from our independent telephone service.
• 25 days paid holiday plus bank holidays.
• Rough Sleepers Allowance - £800 per year.
• Essential car user allowance - £1,000 per year.
• Unsociable hours allowance – an extra £4.40 per shift.

Skills, knowledge and experience

What you need for the role:

• Available to work unsociable hours (2 early morning shifts per week starting at 5am or 6am)
• A personalised care approach, with empathy and understanding
• An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which will be paid for by Southdown
• A full driving licence is essential along with access to your own vehicle or a vehicle insured for you

What would be nice:

• Knowledge of complex and diverse support needs relating to homelessness, mental health and substance misuse
• Awareness of the causes of rough sleeping and the barriers preventing people who are rough sleeping from engaging in services
• Experience working in a supported housing or homelessness setting
• Experience supporting individuals with complex mental health needs

Training

Our award winning in house training team will help you to gain valuable qualifications, continually develop your skills and build a great career with the largest provider of housing, care and support in Sussex.

How to apply

Please click on the ‘Apply Now’ button and fill out our simple one-page application form.

The application closing date is 16 November and interviews will be held on 24 November. Please note, if we receive a large number of applications then this position may close before the advertised application closing date. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

About Southdown

Contact information:

Our online careers page has a list of helpful FAQs that you can view here. If you have any further questions, please get in touch with recruitment via email at [e-mail]

We are a Disability Confident Employer and are fully committed to supporting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and welcome applications from all candidates that meet our job specifications. If you feel there is a barrier that potentially prevents you from applying, do get in contact with us, as we are always happy to discuss (or arrange a discussion with the recruiting manager) to explore if any reasonable adjustments can be made to support your application.