Job Description
Do you have experience of telephone advice work with a specific interest in housing law, welfare benefits and debt? Would you like to use those skills to help people struggling with bad housing or homelessness to find solutions? Then join Shelter Scotland as a Helpline Adviser and you could soon be providing vital advice to clients across Scotland.
About the role
Shelter Scotland provides a free telephone and online helpline providing housing advice to over 25,000 people across Scotland each year. You’ll be joining a team delivering a telephone, digital and email advice service to people experiencing a range of housing problems. This will involve carrying out initial fact-finding interviews to identify and agree clients’ needs and giving advice on all areas of housing cases, for which you will be given support and training should you need it. We’ll also rely on you to enter details onto our CRM system accurately and punctually.
Role specifics
We’re looking for people who are resilient enough to cope in a challenging environment but who can empathise with our clients and help them navigate their way through the system. You’ll have good listening skills that will enable you to get to the root of clients’ underlying needs, a proactive, results-driven approach and the ability to contribute new ideas and approaches. Proficiency using Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, email and the internet is also essential.
Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.
We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.
About the team
Shelter Scotland provide a free telephone and online housing advice service which covers all of Scotland. There are services accessible to anyone with a housing problem and a growing number of contract-funded services that focus on specific client groups, other advice agencies and geographically based populations. We also provide a telephone helpline for other agencies and run a number of projects throughout the country. In Scotland, we helped over 25,000 people in our Telephone and Online Advice services in 2020/21. As well as our Telephone and Online Advice services, we have several projects and four core Integrated City Hubs. Through a balanced mixture of activities at local level and participating in nationally coordinated initiatives the Advice Service aims to help people in housing need and tackle the root causes of homelessness and bad housing.
About Shelter Scotland
Shelter Scotland is Scotland’s national housing and homelessness charity. Our vision is of a home for everyone in Scotland. For over 50 years, the way we drive change has remained the same. We advise and support people in housing need today and use the insight we gain to inform our campaigns to change tomorrow. We also raise professional standards for those working in Scotland’s housing and homelessness sector by offering a broad range of training courses.
Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday thousands of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.
We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.
We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.
Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter Scotland. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.
Safeguarding statement
Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter Scotland is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.
Shelter Scotland does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.