Length of employment: Job Summary: The Ministry of Defence employs over 50,000 Civil Servants. Within that, the Army Top Level Budget (TLB) employs around 12,000 MOD Civil Servants located at over 300 locations. Ours is a diverse workforce, with roles ranging from trainers, human resources, teachers, and psychologists to storekeepers, financiers, project and programme managers, and policy secretariat staff. There are many different functions and professions delivering key outputs for the Army. The Unit Welfare Officer is responsible to the Commanding Officer for Welfare support for all personnel and families within 21 Engineer Regiment. The purpose of the Unit Welfare Officer post is to assist in unit operational effectiveness and to ensure that soldiers and their dependants are not disadvantaged by service life. This involves managing crisis welfare situations and routine welfare matters on a day-to-day basis. Explaining and clarifying all forms of social/welfare support to service personnel and their families covering all levels of social strata, thereby developing resilience and well being in both serving member and family. The role requires giving advice and support to the chain of command on all welfare and housing issues, to work autonomously within the guidelines of the current regulations and the confidentiality code. 21 Engineer Regiment is a dispersed Unit with one of its Squadrons stationed in Sennelager, Germany. The Squadron still comes under the command of Commanding Officer 21 Engineer Regiment for which they must provide the duty of care. Therefore, on occasions the Unit Welfare Officer will have to travel to Germany to provide Welfare oversight and support to the Squadron. This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Job Description: The Unit Welfare Officer is responsible for: Commanding Officer's Welfare Advisor - Ensure that the Commanding Officer is kept fully aware of all welfare matters affecting members of the Regiment and their families, within the confidentiality code Represent the Commanding Officer at all Welfare, Housing and Garrison meetings Manage all urgent/crisis welfare matters within 24hrs bringing all welfare cases to a workable solution. To hold an on-call welfare duty telephone 24/7 Housing Coordination - In conjunction with Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), ensure that all families have well maintained accommodation within their entitlement Welfare Delivery - Establish good working relationships with all welfare and military support agencies, to ensure that service personnel and their families receive appropriate help and advice to address their specific welfare needs. To assess families in financial and practical need and provide case-work to the appropriate charitable provider to ensure families access the help required. To include all statutory agencies Community Engagement including Rebasing issues, school meetings, early years provision, town council meetings, North Yorkshire youth service and engagement with local Mayor and constituency MP Access & Security - Issue of forms and signatory for families' ID cards Operational Welfare Support - During operational deployments/exercises, the Unit Welfare Officer is additionally responsible for the: Welfare Vulnerability Risk Management (VRM) - To be responsible for the management of VRM soldiers in the Regiment. To update the VRM register as necessary with Unit Welfare Officer input. To advise and offer guidance to the Officer Commanding and Squadron Sergeant Majors on visit protocols. To ensure all VRM info is added to the system within the time-frames specified in the relevant policy Community Centre Management - Be responsible for the facility management of Claro Central Community Centre. To ensure all personnel utilising the building are correctly briefed on all practical, security and health and safety aspects of the building Foreign & Commonwealth Advice - To offer and advice and guidance to all foreign and commonwealth soldiers and their dependants on matters concerning visas and nationality. Liaising with Home Office The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance. The Unit Welfare Officer will have full access to the Claro Barracks gym and will be a Member of the Officers' Mess with access to all the facilities it offers. Other benefits for Army civil servants include: 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years' service Highly competitive pension scheme Personal and professional development of skills Alternative working patterns for many roles Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle Enhanced parental and adoption leave 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities Learning and Development We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role. A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career. The post does not offer relocation expenses. External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts. Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments. MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey - We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. Essential: Applicants must have a desire to support Service Personnel and their families All applicants must have a working knowledge of all Microsoft Windows applications Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal Good stakeholder engagement, able to liaise with a variety of different stakeholders Desirable: Previous experience in a Welfare related role At application you will be asked to provide a CV and a personal statement of no more than 500 words demonstrating your suitability for the role against the person specification.You will also be assessed against the following behaviours - Communicating and Influencing (lead behaviour) Seeing the Big Picture Working Together Applications will be sifted using all elements listed above, but in the event of a high number of applications, a sift will be conducted on the personal statement and lead behaviour only: Communicating and Influencing. At interview you will be assessed against the following behaviours - Communicating and Influencing Making Effective Decisions Seeing the Big Picture Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed but these will be held in person. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.