Welfare Support Officer

Mears Group; Tidworth; On-site; GBP 29,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dedicated Welfare Support Officer to provide essential support to vulnerable families under the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy. This role involves working closely with service users to ensure their welfare and safeguarding needs are met while maintaining professional boundaries. The ideal candidate will possess experience working with diverse client groups, strong communication skills, and a resilient nature. This position offers a full-time, fixed-term contract with a competitive salary and a range of benefits aimed at promoting employee well-being and community engagement. Join a company that values individuality and is committed to making a positive impact in the communities it serves.

Benefits

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Annual Mears Fun Day

Volunteering Leave

Staff perks with Mears Rewards

Family friendly policies

Choice of company car or car allowance

Access to EAP Counselling sessions

Qualifications

• Experience in safeguarding and supporting vulnerable individuals is essential.
• Must have a full UK driving license and be over 21 years old.

Responsibilities

• Provide practical and emotional support to service users.
• Monitor wellbeing and support needs of service users.
• Ensure accurate record keeping for audit purposes.

Skills

Experience with vulnerable client groups

Understanding of safeguarding

Communication skills

Ability to work under own initiative

Resilience

Empathy

Tools

Record keeping

Risk assessments

Full UK driving license

Job description

Up to £28,917 per annum plus company car or £3,500 car allowance

Full time, up to 6-months fixed term contract.

The contract requires 7-day cover across all sites Monday to Sunday. During this period you will get 2 days off in the week on a rota basis.

About the Role:

We are working with our client to bring to the UK a number of families under the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy. They will initially be housed in various accommodation bases, known as the transit estate, before being moved to a settled home in the community. Mears will be securing community homes over the next 6 months and some families will move to these homes, some will move to other dispersed accommodation throughout the UK.

Mears have been asked to provide integration support services to occupants during the period whilst they live in the transit estates in scope. As a Welfare Support Officer your main duties will include but are not limited to ensuring service users are supported including any safeguarding and welfare issues you identify, providing practical and emotional support to service users, monitoring service users’ wellbeing and support needs and ensuring all records are updated and accurate for audit purposes. It is essential to maintain boundaries and be resilient to ensure a professional and well-defined service is provided to always meet the needs of the service users.

Role Criteria:

• Experience of working with vulnerable and diverse client groups is essential
• Experience and understanding of safeguarding is essential
• Ability to identify individuals and family needs and recognise the required support packages to maintain independence
• Experience working with mental health and/or challenging behaviour is essential
• To communicate effectively with colleagues, local authorities, and service users
• Experience with record keeping and creating risk assessments
• Ability to work under own initiative
• Resilient
• You will be supportive, trustworthy, a good listener, approachable and empathetic to others
• Full UK driving license

All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK, Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship.

Benefits we can offer you:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Annual Mears Fun Day - Our annual Fun Day is organised as a massive thank you from the Executive team for all the hard work!
• Volunteering Leave - Mears supports employees to undertake paid volunteering in the community, in support of our social value commitment.
• Staff perks with Mears Rewards - discounts of up to 10% weekly groceries, holidays, eye test vouchers, Share save scheme, plus much more
• Family friendly policies
• Choice of company car or car allowance
• Access to EAP Counselling sessions

If you feel you have the skills and experience needed, please apply via the link below. If you have any questions regarding this role please contact Beth on [e-mail]. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

To drive a Mears vehicle, you must be aged over 21, have held your licence for over 3 months, and have less than 9 points.

Mears Group is a Disability Confident employer and recognises our people as our greatest asset; we hire individuality, recognising and valuing everyone as individuals and ensuring equal access to opportunities for all regardless of social economic background or individual makeup.

Candidates should be aware that all our roles are subject to relevant DBS/Security checks before employment.

We are the people behind the smile! At Mears we look for people who share our vision and values - to make a positive difference to the communities we serve. We do this by improving homes, improving communities and improving lives. We are proud of our business and the opportunities we provide to colleagues working across the UK. Our Values - Customers / Innovation / Teamwork / Responsibility