Housing IDVA - Maternity Cover 6 months
(£31,537 per annum, 6 month contract - Possible Extension)
Her Centre is a hyper-local women’s charity, providing services to women and girls in Greenwich. We support women and children affected by domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and relationship trauma.
We provide Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) to support women and children by providing emotional support, support to flee abuse and a safety plan. Our services also include free legal support with a family lawyer, a welfare advice hub, training programmes for both women and organisations, and a range of empowerment courses such as ESOL classes, counselling, peer support groups and more to help women build skills, confidence, and independence.
We are seeking a dedicated Housing IDVA to provide maternity cover for 6 months - we offer a 4 day working week as standard full time to promote wellbeing for all of our staff
Role
To provide individual support to women experiencing domestic abuse who present to the Royal Borough Greenwich Housing Team with housing issues or who are at risk of homelessness due to domestic abuse. The Housing IDVA provides specialist support for women with complex housing needs through risk assessments, individual advice sessions, advocacy in court and with other statutory services, and by working directly with the Royal Borough of Greenwich Housing Inclusion Team and Tenancy Services. (The post holder will be colocated between the council offices and Her Centre main office.)
Responsibilities
1. To provide advice and advocacy for women experiencing domestic abuse by offering crisis intervention, information and support for those who have directly presented to the Housing with housing needs or are at risk of homelessness due to domestic or sexual abuse or violence or any other recognised intimate violence against women and girls.
2. To devise emergency safety plans for survivors, liaising with social services, the Housing Inclusion and Support Team, and refuges to secure emergency housing if needed. To act as point of contact for Housing and work collaboratively with partners to ensure safety of survivors and their children
3. To provide targeted support where women have mental health, substance misuse, complex needs or face other challenges. Where needed, refer to appropriate support services if the survivor has support needs or requires a specialist service, e.g. male survivor to Respect or GALOP, frail older people to Adult Social Services.
4. To carry out risk assessments of women for referrals to MARAC where applicable
5. To develop effective links and partnerships with police and the courts and provide information, advice and support to survivors going through the legal process, explaining the effectiveness of criminal and civil sanctions available.
6. To attend MARAC to represent the needs of survivors, including joint work with the council and other housing bodies to resolve issues about re-housing, the woman’s safety, and legal actions.
7. To comply with safeguarding requirements relating to children and vulnerable adults and explain the safeguarding requirements to the survivor.
8. Maintain and update accurate written and computer records of all cases and share a summary of this information with managers, ensuring that data protection (GDPR) regulations are followed, (within the organisation as well as when communicating with partner organisations).
9. To maintain contact with the survivor at regular (timely) intervals to provide support and ensure her safety, including updates of the risk assessment and safety plan.
10. To respond within the bounds of confidentiality (GDPR), to requests from other agencies for consultations or facilitate direct contact between agencies and service users.
11. To participate in multi-agency workings parties and focus groups, when requested to do so by the Director or your manager.
12. To provide advice and training at a range of locations as requested for both professionals and the public, including being the main point of contact for Housing staff when upskilling or advice is required by the team
13. To keep up to date on research, policy development and other literature relevant to the project. Attend relevant conferences and seminars on behalf of the project.
14. To attend team meetings, relevant meetings with trustees and to be part of Her Centre outreach marketing plan
15. To attend training as identified with your manager and in liaison with the Housing Inclusion & Support Service.
16. To take on other tasks as appropriate as requested by managers or the Trustees
Benefits of working at Her Centre
- A lovely team!
- 4 day working week (full time)
- 1 personal "wellbeing hour" a week
- Work from home 1 day a month
- 2 team-building days out a year
- Training and progression opportunities
- 3% pension contribution
Please note: Due to the intensive and sensitive nature of the support involved, this post is open to women only, as permitted under Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act.
Closing Date for applications is 20th September 2026 at 5pm, with interviews on the 23rd of September 2026.
Please apply via Charity Job with your CV and a short cover letter
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.