Housing Options Triage Officer

Braintree District Council has an exciting opportunity for a Housing Options Triage Officer to join our Housing and Community Services team on a fixed term basis until May 2025.

We are looking for an individual who is committed to providing a high quality, customer-focused service and will work with customers and partners to achieve positive outcomes.

Working as part of a busy team, you will provide a front-line service to individuals and families experiencing housing difficulties; primarily by telephone, but also in person. At the current time our teams are working a hybrid pattern i.e., a mixture of office and home working.

As a Triage Officer, you will be the public’s first point of contact with the team and you will be required to make an initial assessment of whether households are homeless or at risk of homelessness within 56 days. You will provide specialist verbal and written advice in respect of the housing options available to customers and early intervention assistance to those experiencing difficulties managing their current housing situation.

It is essential that you be able to handle a high volume of households approaching the service and be able to identify and then obtain the necessary information from applicants and others. You must also be able to convey information clearly (both verbally and in writing) whilst maintaining comprehensive and accurate records.

Working hours for this role will be 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, but you should be able to be flexible over start/finish times to meet the demands of the service. In addition, you will be part of the team’s out-of-hours service, for which an additional payment will be made.

You will need to be an enthusiastic, flexible team player with strong interpersonal and computer skills, preferably with experience of delivering advice and support to the public, as well as liaison with other statutory and public bodies. You will be keen to help us develop the service, focusing on solutions and open to new ideas. Previous experience of providing housing advice and applying relevant legislation is desirable.

Why choose Braintree District Council?

Braintree District Council is a great place to work and we pride ourselves on our creative, innovative and forward-thinking approach that is led by our staff. We are committed to having an engaged workforce who understand our strategy and how they can help deliver it.

What benefits do we offer?

*Local Government Pension Scheme Defined Benefit Scheme *Free Car Parking *Health and Wellbeing Programme *Payment of Professional Subscription *Staff Discounts *Employee Assistance Programme *CareerPath *Flexible working opportunities

If you are interested in this position and would like an informal chat, please contact Titilayo Olagoroye on ext. 2153 or Jayne Mills on ext. 2148.

For further information about the post please see the Job Profile.

To apply, click Apply online below.

Closing date for receipt of completed applications: Midnight on Monday 19th June 2023.

Face-to-face interviews will be held on 4th July 2023. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates.