1

Moneywise Plus – Advisor Application PackClosing Date: Friday 18th November 2016

Contents

Page

Advertisement 3

About Action Homeless 4

Job description 6

Person Specification 9

How to apply 11

Advertisement

2

Moneywise Plus - Advisor

Contract: Fixed Term – 3 years

Hours: 37 per week

Salary: Point 18 NJC £17,891 – Point 20 NJC £19,238

Action Homeless is looking to recruit for a newly funded project via The Big Lottery and ESF. Moneywise Plus works in partnership with other organisations who all share the aim to improve the on-going digital and financial competence for people unemployed or economically inactive.

We are seeking an experienced, well organised and dynamic individual who can assess needs and provide advice to help support improving IT skills and financial management. Experience is required in working with the relevant client groups that the service operates for. You should possess excellent people skills, be highly motivated, a strong team player and communicator, and have a willingness to want to make a difference with a passion for helping vulnerable people.

To apply please send your CV along with a covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the role to rajvinderkaur@actionhomeless.co.uk

Closing date: Friday 18th November 2016

Interviews: week commencing 28th November 2016

About Action Homeless

3

Action Homeless provides a range of services for homeless people and people who are worried about homelessness in Leicester and Leicestershire. These include information, advice and accommodation services. We also work within the community to try to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place. Our services aim

to give people the confidence and skills they need to achieve and maintain independent living and to make a great contribution to the local community.

We believe that, wherever possible, it is much better to prevent homelessness from occurring before people reach a crisis in their lives. Preventing homelessness is a key focus for Action Homeless and an area which we will be developing over the next five years. Last year, we launched No Second Night Out Leicester, a partnership project which aims to ensure that anyone rough sleeping in Leicester is linked with accommodation and support services as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Unfortunately, there are cases where people do reach crisis point and find that they do not have a safe place to stay. In these situations, we are here to help and work with Leicester City Council to provide emergency accommodation to vulnerable adults who need it. In addition, our Accommodation Assist project offers high quality temporary housing to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and need a safe place to live whilst identifying more stable and permanent housing. Our accommodation across Leicester varies to include large supported housing projects, small shared houses, bedsits and self-contained flats.

During 2012-2015, Action Homeless successfully brought back into use 20 empty properties through funding secured from DCLG. The project renovated empty properties, transforming them into affordable accommodation for people leaving homelessness services. In line with our strategic priorities Action Homeless plans to continue with this work and provide an affordable solution to homelessness. We are currently bringing back into use a further 3 properties. The renovations on these properties have been funded by a grant

4

from Nationwide Wide Foundation and will create a further 16 units of accommodation by March 2017.

We believe that putting a roof over someone’s head is only the first step to helping them to regain their independence and therefore we provide access to an extensive support programme which includes;

Engage – a purpose built support centre which acts as the base for a varied events and activities programme which promotes skills development and independence.

Action Trust – a social enterprise which offers work placements, training and employment opportunities to ex-offenders and people with experience of homelessness.

Moneywise – a project which seeks to improve individual’s financial confidence through a programme of group workshops and one-to-one training and education.

More information about Action Homeless and what we do can be found on our website at www.actionhomeless.org.uk

5

Action HomelessJob Description

Job title: Moneywise Plus Advisor

Responsible to: Support & Engagement Manager

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: 3 Year - Fixed Term

Salary: Point 18 £17,891 – Point 20 £19,238

Background InformationThe Moneywise Plus Project is funded via The Big Lottery Fund and ESF until December 2019. Reaching People a consortium of VCS organisation has been awarded funding for this project and is the lead organisation. The project involves several delivery organisations working with participants who are not in work including:

ASRA Housing Organisation (Project Manager)

Action Homeless Community Advice & Law

Service (CALS) The Bridge The Cooke E Learning

Foundation Pedestrian Leicester College

Leicester City Council Leicestershire County Council The Y

6

The aim is to improve the on-going digital and financial competence of people. You will be part of a Moneywise Plus team, working across the city and county, while working with Joella Smith the Support and Engagement Manager and her team. You will be a leader who is self-motivated and confident working autonomously as well as having good team working skills.

Job PurposeWorking within the aims of the Moneywise Plus Project and your managing organisation, you will be working as a member of a team of advisers from different organisations and will provide information, advice and guidance to unemployed and unwaged individuals and groups to ensure that they demonstrate improved IT and money management skills and are able to use the computer to improve life skills and social mobility. You will promote Moneywise Plus and register new participants, support and follow through their action plans, record outcomes and monitor individuals’ progress to ensure their successful completion.

1. Main Duties1.1 Provide advice, information support, referral and evaluation support

to individual participants which results in their improved digital and financial skills and confidence.

1.2 Assess individuals to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria, and support them to identify their support needs and goals around personal finance and digital inclusion and signpost to appropriate project support.

1.3 Review individual clients digital and financial progression, ensuring evidence of key milestones is recorded at regular intervals.

1.4 Provide digital and financial support, guidance and referral to enable individuals to plan and take realistic action to meet their identified needs.

1.5 Deliver 1-2-1 advice, information and support for digital and financial progression.

1.6 Support disadvantaged and vulnerable people in a professional manner

1.7 Manage your case load and to ensure the progression of individuals with accurate recording of your work.

1.8 Identify service users who are appropriate for other specific elements of the project engagement, make referrals and follow up on action taken.

1.9 Appropriately challenge anyone who infringes upon the Equality and Diversity Policy, and if necessary refer the matter to the appropriate Line Manager.

7

2. Group work2.1 Provide information about the project and promote the work to

groups of professionals from other organisations and service users,

2.2 Participate in team meetings, team development and the managing organisation meetings.

2.3 Work in partnership with the Project team to meet project aims and achieve successful financial, digital and employment outcomes.

2.4 Participate in rotas to ensure the advisory service is available at times required and in locations that meet client’s needs and project outcomes. This may include provision of support to individuals in their own homes and some out of hours working.

2.5 Co-operate with team members to ensure the effective running of the services.

3. General3.1 Work as a member of both the Moneywise Project team and the

managing organisations staff team to meet project aims and achieve successful outcomes with participants.

3.2 Use and maintain all administrative systems (both paper and electronic) that enable the effective running of the service, including; support and development tools, entering client details, case notes and recording progression and outcomes on the Moneywise Plus CRM system.

3.3 Actively participate in supervision, training and commitment to continued professional development.

3.4 Manage your time and work-load to enable you to meet commitments to people and others.

3.5 Produce written reports to demonstrate the transition that people have achieved.

3.6 Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and development of this project.

To carry out any other duties that may from time to time become necessary and fall within the scope of the job.

8

Moneywise Advisor: Person Specification

Criteria (Applicants should provide evidence of their ability to meet the following in the Application form)

Essential Desirable

1. Communication write accurate reports prepare support plans and papers on issues relating to people’s

financial and digital support requirements liaise with other delivery partners and external agencies speak to groups. one to one work assessment, planning and review utilise electronic systems to effectively manage workload

including word, excel and e-mail and a CRM system for reporting work

support disadvantaged and vulnerable adults who may have challenging behavior

use electronic systems to manage work load including word, excel and email

2. Equality & Diversity An understanding of and commitment to equal

opportunities/valuing diversity and the ability to implement such a policy in all aspects of the work.

Knowledge/understanding of different languages and cultures

3. Leadership Ability to plan, monitor, deliver and evaluate a programme of

financial and digital management and support to people. Deliver group work sessions Work independently and be self-motivated Manage the day to day administrative tasks of the post Devise and plan appropriate financial support programmes Effective time management to meet deadlines and

commitments

4. Team Working Work within a team Contribute to team knowledge and development

9

Work with others to ensure tasks are complete Ability to work flexibly

5. Working within Legal Framework An understanding of Health & Safety policy and the ability to

implement this within the work, including in lone working settings.

Ability to carry out risk assessments and comply with safe guarding reporting requirements.

6. Qualifications/Experience Have or be working towards a relevant qualification to

degree/diploma level with a minimum of G.C.S.E level C in Math’s and / or finance and English.

Be a competent IT user with experience in preparing and creating electronic documents, entering data and using CRM systems.

Experience of case load management through assessment, planning, evaluation and review of individuals to ensure progress towards outcomes.

Experience of working with disadvantaged people and assisting them to develop their digital skills and financial capability

Experience of working with people who are unemployed or economically inactive people, with knowledge and understanding of some of the social issues and barriers they may face.

Ability to drive and have access to your own transport

10

How to Apply

To apply for the role, you will need to send your CV alongside a covering letter which clearly demonstrates how you meet the role profile and send this to rajvinderkaur@actionhomeless.org.uk. Please note that CV’s without an accompanying covering letter will not be considered.

If you would like to discuss the role or require any further information in relation to the role, please contact Karen Purewal on 0116 2211879.

If you do not receive a response to your application by Wednesday 25th November 2016 then unfortunately on this occasion you have not been short-listed.

The closing date to apply is Friday 18th November 2016.

Interviews will be held week commencing 28th November 2016.

11