Entry level jobs for the Housing and Homelessness sector

Location - West London.  Hybrid role up to two days per week can be working from home.  At least three days per week on site.

Reporting to Co-Heads of Casework

Hours - 35 hours per week Monday to Friday

We have two roles available - one is permanent and the other is a three year contract.

The post holder would be responsible for:

* Providing specialist advice and advocacy service to the homeless guests of our services, which include Partner Day Centres and Night Shelters throughout the winter season.

* Employing creative thinking and practices to ensure that guests are supported and motivated to achieve their goals.

* Attending appointments with guest occassionally when needed

* Referring and signposting guests to accommodation providers, health service and other relevant internal and external support services, as necessary.

* Maintaining good communication with the Managers of our partnered Drop In Centres, Glass Door colleagues and local statutory and non-statutory services.

* Attending meetings with the Casework team, external service providers and partner organisations when required.

* Collating statistics and outcome measurements of the casework servicce for both internal and external use.

* Maintaining a well organised and easily accessible administration system for the casework programme in line with relevant legislation (eg GDPR)

* Managing a small casework budget

* Undertaking any other duties as required by the charity.

Person Specification

Essential:

* At least one years experience of working one-on-one and assessing the needs of homeless people or similar disadvantaged client groups

* Empathic attitude to homeless and vulnerably housed people

* Up to date knowledge of the welfare issues and legislation affecting homeless people

* Knowledge of relevant support services available to homeless people, particularly in West London

* Confident approach to and experience of, dealing with challenging behaviour

* Ability to maintain good relationships with colleagues and external service providers

* Highly organised with strong time management skills

* Ability to keep clear and up to date case records

* Experienced and competent in MS Office packages

* Ability to work independently and take the initiative to make important decisions.

* Flexible and supportive team member with excellent communication skills

* Ability to adhere to and implement Health & Safety, HR and operational policies

* Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities

* For night shelter caseworkers, willingness to work a minimum of one evening per week

* This post will require an enhanced DBS check prior and during employment.

Desirable

* Ability to speak Polish, Romanian or other Eastern European languages
* Experience of working alongside volunteers

Other
* Ability to work flexibly and at various sites, as required
* Eligibility to work in the UK
* To be able to adhere and work within Glass Door’s safeguarding policy and procedures
* To participate in meetings, supervision meetings and in any trainings as required
* To be responsible for own’s professional development

37.5 hours per week / £27,770 per annum / permanent / working onsite on a seven-day rolling rota, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

 is to help children and young people have a fair chance to be who they want to be. We do this by providing a safe home, increasing life skills and self-confidence, and improving emotional wellbeing and mental health.

 provide supported accommodation for 35 young people at risk of homelessness across two sites.

Gareth Stacey House is one of our 24-hour supported housing services offering high and medium levels of housing-related support for young people aged 16-25 with 15 bedspaces and shared communal facilities. We adopt a trauma informed and psychologically informed approach to supporting our residents to help them build essential life skills, identify their goals and work towards aspirations so that they can move on to enjoy fully independent futures. We have a dedicated team of Support Workers, Night Workers and additional Bank Workers who provide support, guidance, and signposting around areas such as housing, budgeting, living skills, jobs and relationship building. Situated in the centre of Hove, the service has strong links with and contributes to the local community. Each Support Worker holds a caseload of residents and meets with them weekly to build a support plan and help them achieve their goals.

We are looking for a Supported Housing Support Worker to join our Gareth Stacey House team. Main areas of responsibilities are:

Housing:

• Coach young people to manage their occupancy agreement and adhere to house rules, in preparation for independent living
• Promote a credit culture, encouraging young people to keep up to date with all payments for rent
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of housing and welfare benefits for young people and be well-informed on significant changes to housing law
• Deal effectively with non-compliance issues, such as non-payment of rent or damage to room, using restorative practices and working collaboratively with the rest of the team

Coaching and Engagement:

• Coach young people so they can articulate their aspirations and ambitions and take the lead in acquiring the skills they need to live independent and fulfilling lives
• Ensure young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own personal development, to engage with the services on offer and build strong networks and connections within the local community 
• Ensure consistent standards of safeguarding and Trauma Informed Practice when supporting young people, observing our safeguarding procedures, and keeping yourself and residents safe by respecting professional boundaries
• Maintain client records on In-Form (client database) detailing the young person’s journey in relation to their strengths and needs, any risks, and any outcomes (to monitor service performance)

General:

• Work as part of a team, on a rota shift pattern, ensuring young people at the service have non-judgemental, objective, and supportive staff during the day/evening, along with taking responsibility for personal safety during periods of lone working
• Contribute to a great working environment, with a calm, yet assertive manner, being able to handle potentially difficult situations
• Participate in relevant continuing professional development and utilise Reflective Practice Supervision as part of leading psychologically informed practice

There will be times when lone working will be a requirement for this role, but you will get to know the team and service, along with an induction and training prior to starting on a rota. Please download the job profile for full role details.

If you’re enthusiastic about this opportunity but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway and demonstrate how your experience is transferrable. You may be just the right candidate. 

This is a dynamic and varied role; you will be passionate about being involved in the support and growth of young people.

Experience and Knowledge:

• Experience relating to housing, support work, and/or working with young people at risk
• Experience of working proactively with a caseload of young people with multiple and complex needs to enable them to achieve independent living
• Knowledge of statutory and voluntary resources available to young people with multiple and complex needs
• Knowledge of good safeguarding procedures in relation to young people and the ability to maintain effective professional boundaries
• Demonstrated confidence and competence in recording notes/actions in service log, incident forms and health and safety check lists

Skills and Abilities: 

• Ability to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing for appropriate recording of a resident’s progression, and to evidence outcomes achieved
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with all stakeholders, including signposting and advocating for clients as necessary
• Ability to work autonomously, and use own initiative, as well as being part of a team
• Clear verbal and written communication skills, good IT, and keyboard skills
• Ability to de-escalate volatile situations and manage challenging behaviour appropriately

If you would like any further information or an informal discussion about this post, please contact or

Should you require any assistance with our application process, please email us at 

TO APPLY: Scroll down the page to the application form. Please download the job profile (below), which includes the full role description and person specification.

We are not able to support a work permit or offer a visa sponsorship for this role. Candidates must already have the right to live and work in the UK independently.

An inclusive workplace We are committed to policies and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion and to supporting our people to make sure our culture is consistent with this commitment. 

Accessibility If you require assistance or have questions regarding the application process, please do contact us.

YMCA DLG requires all staff and volunteers to be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and to respond proactively to safeguarding concerns. Successful applicants are required to undertake an Enhanced DBS (including the Children’s and Adults’ barred lists) check, along with a reference and background check carried out by a third-party service provider.

37.5 hours per week / permanent / Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, with the requirement to work one late shift per week and be part of an out of hours 'on-call rota'.

At YMCA DownsLink Group,is to help children and young people have a fair chance to be who they want to be. We do this by providing a safe home, building life skills and self-confidence, and supporting emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Our values - we do what’s right, we work with heart, and we build real connections -guide and shape how we show up for children and young people we support and for each other.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Supported Housing Manager to lead our  Our services provide a low level of support for young people who already have a basic level of daily living skills, and can keep themselves safe without daily supervision. 

As a Supported Housing Manager, you will oversee the daily operations, ensuring our accommodation is safe, welcoming and secure. You will work closely with and lead our Deputy Supported Housing Manager, while supporting the wider team to deliver consistent, compassionate support.

We are searching for a motivational and resilient leader who thrives on developing others, championing best practice, and nurturing a collaborative and compassionate culture. You will bring a trauma-informed and psychologically informed approach to both your team and the young people we support, ensuring everyone feels understood, safe and empowered. If you are energised by leading teams, shaping services, and supporting staff to deliver exceptional, person-centred support—even in challenging moments—this could be the role for you.

In delivering the role, you will be responsible for:

-- Leadership and People Management: Lead and manage a team, recruiting and inducting new staff, and supporting their performance to ensure high standards of service at all times.

-- Service Provision: Responsible for the daily operations of the service so that it meets the requirements of the service specification, and:

- reflects Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs), Trauma Informed approaches and restorative practices.

- identifies, maps and encourages the strengths and talents of each young person, enabling them to acquire the skills they need to lead independent and fulfilling lives.

-- Partnerships: Develop and maintain effective working relationships with partner organisations that add value to the core, commissioned service (or have the potential to) attending relevant multi-disciplinary meetings as needed.

-- General: Be a member of the out of hours ‘on call’ rota to provide out of hours management support to projects in the wider locality.

About You – If you are enthusiastic about this opportunity but don’t meet every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply. Your skills and experiences may be more transferable than you think, and you could be exactly the person we’re looking for.

You will bring substantial experience in leading and developing teams within supported housing or similar services for young people and/or adults at risk. You will have a strong understanding of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and Ofsted frameworks, coupled with a solid grounding in Trauma-Informed Care and Psychologically Informed Environments.

You will be a confident and effective communicator with strong facilitation and decision-making skills, able to lead your team through challenging situations with calmness and clarity. You will have proven experience in overseeing safeguarding procedures within residential services and will model professional standards, maintaining clear boundaries while fostering a culture of trust, safety and supportive relationships.

If you would like any further information or an informal discussion about this post, please contact . Should you require any assistance with our application process, please email us at 

CLOSING DATE: Sunday 14 December 2025 at midnight.

We are not able to support a work permit or offer a visa sponsorship for this role. Candidates must already have the right to live and work in the UK independently.

An inclusive workplace We are committed to policies and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion and to supporting our people to make sure our culture is consistent with this commitment. 

Accessibility If you require assistance or have questions regarding the application process, please do contact us.

YMCA DLG requires all staff and volunteers to be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and to respond proactively to safeguarding concerns. Successful applicants are required to undertake an Enhanced DBS (including the Children’s and Adults’ barred lists) check, along with a reference and background check carried out by a third-party service provider.