Housing Rights Worker x 2 - Dorset

Salary: £31,133 per annum (pro rata for part time)

Hours: 1 x full time – 37.5 hours per week and 1 x part time – 30 hours per week

Contract: both Permanent

Closing date: Wednesday 16th July 2025 at 11:30pm

Are you compassionate, proactive and collaborative with experience in housing and homelessness advice and advocacy? If you are looking for an exciting new career opportunity, then join Shelter as a Housing Rights Worker and you could soon be making a real difference to people affected by the housing emergency.

About the role

Your role will be delivering high quality housing advice and advocacy in line with the hub’s local community priorities and work alongside people who are experiencing housing problems to identify issues specific to Dorset.  You will plan and deliver casework to individuals and communities to help find resolutions and engage with community groups, local organisations and individuals to understand local housing issues and raise awareness of people’s rights.

Working within local community settings and alongside community groups to deliver advice and rights awareness workshops, you will ensure that people with lived experience of homelessness have opportunities to share their stories and views, participating in the design and delivery of Shelter services. Offering day to day support to volunteers, providing learning, shadowing and mentoring and being a consistent role model for our values are also key aspects of the role.

About you

You will be able to work with individuals and communities including people with lived experience of homelessness. You will have experience and knowledge of housing and homelessness advice and advocacy as well as the ability to carry out casework related interviews, maintain detailed case records, advise and support your clients to make informed decisions. You have a strong track record of delivering group workshops and presentations and collaborate with others to get the job done.

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.

About the team

Our team in Dorset has been providing housing advice and support services within the area for over 20 years. We have office bases in Bournemouth and Weymouth as well as working in community venues and partner organisation sites. We deliver a wide range of housing rights, legal services, community and support work and advocate for change to fix the broken housing system.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet every day millions 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. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter 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 does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

How to apply

Please click ‘Apply for Job’ on the advert. You are required to submit a CV and a supporting statement with responses to the following points in the ‘About you’ section of the job description of no more than 350 words each. Please provide specific examples following the STAR format:

• Knowledge and experience of housing and homelessness advice and advocacy and the ability to progress to specialist level knowledge
• Ability to listen to, engage and work with individuals and communities
• Experience of delivering and/or ability to deliver group workshops and presentations

Please specify in your supporting statement whether you would like to be considered for the full time role or part time role, or both