JOB APPLICATION

PACK

Job title:Resident Training and Employment Officer

Directorate:Housing

Department: Residents and Communities

Location:Twickenham

CONTENTS

Guidance Notes for Applicants………………………………………………………………………………….4

Job Advert…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Job Description…………………………………………………………………………………………………………7

Person Specification…………………………………………………………………………………………………10

Our Competency Framework……………………………………………………………………………………12

Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR APPLICANTS

Before you complete your application

  • Please read the job application pack before you apply online for the position - this contains all the information you need to decide whether the job is right for you.
  • Read through the job description and person specification – they are the best places to find out exactly what experience, skills and competencies you need to be successful in the role.
  • The person specification highlights the competencies we want to asses as part of our recruitment process. Our competency framework is at the back of this pack.
  • You’ll need to prepare a CV – we ask you to upload your CV as a Word document as part of our online application form.

Completing your application

  • When you’re ready to apply, click ‘Apply here’ at the bottom of the job advert for the position you’re interested in and complete the online form.
  • We’ll ask you about your skills and competencies – as well as your CV, we’ll also ask you to upload a personal statement or answer some questions online about how your skills and experience match the essential criteria and competencies in the person specification.
  • You’ll need two good references - we will ask for contact details for your references in the online application, but we won’t contact them until the offer stage. Your references should be:

-Your current employer. If you are unemployed, this will be your most recent employer. This will be someone senior to you who can assess your work for us, not a colleague or friend at work.

-A previous employer or someone with a senior role who can vouch for you.

  • We’ll ask you for some personal information to help us monitor diversity and equality – the only people who will see this information are the HR team who will use it for equal opportunities monitoring purposes. It will be treated in the strictest confidence and does not form part of the selection process.

What happens next?

Assessments/Interviews

Our Recruitment team will contact you a few days after the application closing date if your application has been short-listed. We will invite you to a competency-based interview, and ask you to complete some tests. These could be ability tests, written exercises, job-related tests, psychometric tests or IT tests. We will also let you know if you have not been shortlisted this time.

Driving

If the job needs you to drive, we will need to see your driving license.

DBS check

For some jobs we will need to carry out a Disclosure & Barring Service check. We’ll say so in the job description if that’s the case.

Eligibility to work in the UK

It’s against the law for us to take on people who do not have the right to work here. If we offer you a job, we will ask you to prove this to us. We’ll send you a list of documents you can use for this.

Data Protection

By law, we have to let you know that we keep the personal information about you that you put in a job application. When you sign and send an application in, we take this to mean that you are giving us permission to keep it, and to use it to get in touch with you, if we find a job we think would suit you in the following six months.

Your Views

We’re happy to hear from you. We want to improve our recruitment, so please complete the Recruitment Survey.

Getting in touch If you have any questions or problems at any stage of your application, please do get in touch with our recruitment team on . Please be advised that we can only accept applications made

JOB ADVERT

Resident Training and employment officer

Location: Twickenham

Contract type: Permanent, Full time

Salary: starts at £28,000, rises to £31,300* + car allowance

Hours: 35 hours per week

Closing date:1 May 2017, midnight

Interview Dates: tbc

About Thames Valley Housing

We are a medium-sized housing association based in Twickenham, South West London.

We own and manage over 15,000 homes in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Sussex. These include traditional rented housing, shared ownership, key worker and student accommodation.

Our vision is for everyone to have the chance to build their lives from a base of a good home. Our mission is to provide good quality affordable homes and invest in communities. We love to build. Not just housing and communities, but skills and careers too.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of a dynamic Resident Training and Employment team at TVH .You will be responsible for supporting and mentoring our residents to access and sustain employment and training opportunities as well as delivering community projects and forming partnerships with employers and other organisations to deliver value for money and opportunities for our residents. You will work in a specific geographical area and the role will entail outreach working with some evening and weekend duties.

About you

You will need to be an excellent communicator, have knowledge of worklessness and the Welfare Benefit system, have experience of working with unemployed people and be empathetic to their needs and the communities they live in. We will provide you with training, development and experience if you are willing and able to learn in the areas you are not fully qualified in.

Applying process: Please view the job application pack for the full job description and person specification. You will need this when you apply on –line.

*You will rise to the full salary on successful completion of your 6 month probationary period

Access to a car is essential for this role for which a car allowance will be paid

This role is subject to a DBS check

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title:Resident Training and Employment Officer

Directorate:Housing

Department: Residents and Communities

Location:Twickenham

Responsible to: Senior Training and Employment Officer

Family tree (clearly showing the responsibilities for and to particular managers)

Main purpose of the job

To support the Resident and Communities team in delivering all KPIs, objectives and projects.

To manage training and employment staff and assist the Training and Employment Manager to deliver the training and employment service

To work with residents interested in self-employment, business start-up and social enterprise with the training and support they need to start, grow and sustain their business/social enterprises.

To assist with the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Training and Employment service.

To research potential business opportunities for TVH residents

Principal accountabilities expected of the post holder

To engage with and support TVH residents interested in business start-up and social enterprise get the training and support they need to start, grow and sustain their businesses.

To manage training and employment staff and assist the Training and Employment Manager to deliver the training and employment service

To develop new services to increase touchpoints and engagement for residents to help them into work and training.

To partner with key organisations and individuals to support businesses and social enterprise start up

To work closely with local businesses and housing providers to access support through accessing existing skills and expertise within businesses, resources and contracts for residents starting up or growing their businesses/enterprise

To develop partnerships with other housing providers, local authorities and other key organisations to share training and support costs

To research and support residents access start-up funding for their work

To facilitate opportunities for start-up candidates to meet regularly either physically or on line to share experiences and keep each other motivated.

To manage customer journeys from engagement and keep accurate records of progress

To identify funding opportunities and support TVH residents access funding for their businesses/social enterprises.

Research opportunities for the setup of social enterprises to provide services for TVH residents and other housing providers

Research opportunities to maximise relationships and Value For Money from TVH supply chain

Provide reports when required

Administer and monitor the hardship fund

Facilitate residents’ meetings, training and clubs

Keep residents’ details up to date on all relevant systems.

Other

To carry out other duties as may be reasonably assigned from time to time by the line manager for this post, such duties to be compatible with the level of this job description.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Role:Resident Training and Employment Officer

Directorate: Housing

Knowledge, Experience & Skills

Essential

Excellent communication skills (written , spoken and presentation)

Knowledge of social enterprise and self-employment practice

Knowledge of key government policies and agendas in relation to ‘worklessness’ and Welfare Benefits

Customer focus and desire to work with members of the public

Experience of representing an organisation at external meetings

Experience of working with unemployed people

Experience of forming and negotiating partnerships

Good standard of general education, including GCSEs in English and Maths (or equivalent). Degree level desirable.

Good IT skills and use of social media

Strong personal organisational skills with excellent time management and ability to prioritise effectively to meet multiple deadlines and set up and follow systems and procedures effectively.

Desirable

Experience of accessing or applying for funding for employment or training projects.

A working knowledge of the Welfare Benefits system

Research and report production

Experience of volunteer management (including recruitment, development and mentoring )

Community work/ Housing/ business development qualification / experience

An ability to inspire and enthuse a diverse range of audiences

Competencies

Please select three competencies from the list below that you believe are the most important for the role and tell us how you meet these.

Core(refer to Competency Framework guidelines to determine appropriate definition)

Results Focused (Vocational)

Takes responsibility for achieving individual objectives and contributing to team targets

Working Together (Vocational)

Works Co-operatively with other members of the team and direct customers

Customer Driven (Vocational)

Delivers a high quality service

Planning and Organising (Vocational)

Contributes to the team/project objectives by effectively setting own work plan and prioritising key tasks

Initiative and Innovation (Vocational)

Addresses current opportunities by improving and adapting existing approaches

Managing Relationships (Vocational)

Builds rapport with colleagues and direct customers/suppliers

Continuous Improvement (Vocational)

Drives self to deliver results and aspirations

OTHER

Commitment to Equal Opportunities and Health & Safety

Some evening and weekend work will be expected for which time off in Lieu will be allowed

A full driving licence is expected and use of a vehicle

A degree of flexible working is provided with some working at home expected.

LIVING AND DELIVERING THE CORPORATE VALUES

Think Forward – Question how we do things. Think Ahead. Innovate

Think We – Let’s work together to achieve our shared goals.

Think Openly – Let’s be transparent and true to our word.

Think With Compassion – Offer your time and support. Act with empathy and understanding.

Think With Energy – Be passionate about delivering great customer service and making things happen

OUR COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK

What are Competencies and how are they used?

A competency is an ability, skill, knowledge or trait that is needed for the successful performance of a job. It is often defined in terms of behaviours.

Overall, competencies are a set of behaviours that an individual must possess in order to perform to the optimum level within that role.

When used properly, and in conjunction with other working practices and procedures, competencies can ensure fairness, openness and equality in the way we recruit staff, select people for training, identify clear development paths and promote people.

The Competency Framework contains a total of ten competencies and it is considered that to carry out a role at a particular level an individual should possess those competencies that are ‘Core’ for that level. The depth of which these core competencies are required will vary according to each role.

Core competencies are far broader in their application and apply to all jobs within TVH. This document details the core competencies which TVH recognises as necessary.

The person specification highlights the competencies we want to assess as part of our recruitment process, but the following areas are important all of the time.

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Name / Definition / Level Descriptors
1 / Applied Thinking / Makes use of relevant information to resolve problems, identify opportunities and reach appropriate solutions. / Leader / Identifies new business opportunities by evaluating company performance from a range of information
Expert / Sets Directorate/Departmental priorities by developing solutions to support the business plan
Professional / Recommends improvements to processes and services at a team level by analysing patterns and trends from information
Vocational / Solves basic problems within clearly laid out policies and procedures
2 / Results Focused –
“Getting things done” / Achieves successful delivery of tasks and objectives by effectively managing others or taking direct action. / Leader / Sets the performance framework for the organisation to meet corporate goals, achieve results and champions improvements
Expert / Sets the performance framework for the Directorate/Department to meet objectives, KPIs and continuously seeks improvements in delivery
Professional / Uses Directorate/Department objectives to identify team KPIs to drive service delivery and meet goals
Vocational / Takes responsibility for achieving individual objectives and contributing to team targets
3 / Planning and Organising / Plans and organises work and activities to meet objectives whilst achieving quality and value for money. / Leader / Structures the business plan to deliver key objectives while allocating appropriate resources
Expert / Develops project plans and identifies departmental activities and resources required to meet organisational goals
Professional / Delivers the project plan/departmental objectives to plan and budget
Vocational / Contributes to the team/project objectives by effectively setting own work plan and prioritising key tasks
4 / Initiative and Innovation / Takes a creative approach to work by formulating new ideas or adapting existing ideas in a new or unexpected way to create opportunities. / Leader / Develops ways of capturing innovation and creativity across the organisation and delivers through others
Expert / Plans and implements new ideas in the long to medium term and takes the lead in delivering change within Directorate
Professional / Develops and implements initiatives at a local level
Vocational / Addresses current opportunities by improving and adapting existing approaches
5 / Working Together / Works co-operatively and flexibly across cultures and organisational boundaries to achieve shared goals / Leader / Creates a positive team working environment
Expert / Builds the team to deliver a high quality service
Professional / Involves others to work towards shared goals and objectives
Vocational / Works co-operatively with other members of the team and direct customers
6 / Managing Relationships (Influencing, persuading and negotiating) / Builds and maintains relationships to achieve positive outcomes for the Association / Leader / Extends networks and uses indirect influence to build external relationships to achieve long term strategic organisational goals
Expert / Maintains networks and plans impact
Professional / Builds positive and reciprocal relationships that benefit the Association
Vocational / Builds rapport with colleagues and direct customers/suppliers
7 / Continuous Improvement (Striving for Excellence) / Looks for opportunities to improve (self, products and/or services) / Leader / Creates a continuous improvement environment
Expert / Drives Departmental activity to continuously improve systems and processes
Professional / Delivers improvements at a team level
Vocational / Drives self to deliver results and aspirations
8 / Customer Driven / Provides an excellent service to all customers / Leader / Develops the strategy to meet the long term interests and aspirations of customers
Expert / Champions and promotes the delivery of quality service to all customers
Professional / Plans and organises delivery of customer service
Vocational / Delivers a high quality service
9 / Commercial Awareness / Understands relationship of operational issues to wider business context / Leader / Defines and develops TVH’s commercial objectives to maximise the organisation’s financial wellbeing
Expert / Delivers the commercial objectives
Professional / Understands the purpose and content of the Corporate business plan
Vocational / Demonstrates awareness of commercial aspects of the business
10 / Leadership (Developing and Managing People) / Inspires and motivates others to develop confidence and capability to realise their full potential / Leader / Leads the organisations to deliver high performance
Expert / Is a role model for effective leadership
Professional / Supports team development
Vocational / Gives basic direction and instruction

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