Specialist housing advisor jobs in Manchester

Independent Age is the national charity focused on improving the lives of people facing financial hardship in later life. We believe no one should face financial hardship in later life.

Our Helpline and expert advisers offer free, practical support to older people without enough money to live on. Through our grants programme, we support hundreds of local organisations working with older people across the UK. 

We use the knowledge and insight gained from our support services and partnerships to highlight the issues experienced by older people in poverty and campaign for change.

We would love to find individuals from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds to join us on this journey.

Responsibilities and Person Specification:

This new role is an integral part of the day-to-day delivery of our Advice and Support Service. The service is targeted at older people in or facing financial hardship, and provides information, advice and follow up support relating to a range of issues, including Welfare Benefits, Social Care and Housing. 

As an Adviser (Scottish Housing, Social Care and Welfare Benefits) you will be responsible for providing specialist support to older people, their families and carers through our advice service with their enquiries relating to housing and welfare benefits in Scotland as well as providing generalist level support on a range of issues through our duty service.

You should have in depth, specialist level knowledge of Housing or Welfare Benefits in Scotland (ideally both) as they relate to older people, and experience working within a high-volume advice setting and advice supervision framework. We plan to expand our advice offer in Scotland to cover Social Care, so knowledge in this area would also be beneficial. You should be able to travel within Scotland, including to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

For full details on the role and requirements, please review the job description and person specification.  If your experience doesn’t align perfectly with all of the criteria in the person specification but you do meet most of them and are excited about the role, we encourage you to apply anyway. 

This role could be worked full-time, 35 hours per week, which you can choose to work over five days or a 9-day fortnight, or part-time on a minimum of 21 hours per week. We are open to the role being either homebased (with occasional travel to London) or hybrid working in London (minimum 4 days per month in the office).

Salary Information:

The salaries below are full-time (35 hours per week) and will be pro-rated if part-time.

London based: £34,493 per year 

Homebased: £31,054 per year 

Location: Homebased or hybrid working in London (minimum 4 days per month in the office). Travel within Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburg

What it’s like to work at Independent Age:

We celebrate diversity at Independent Age and champion the differences that make each of us unique. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We aim to attract and retain a wide range of talent and create an environment where everyone can feel safe, protected, welcome and included.

We offer great benefits including 28 days annual leave plus public holidays, a generous pension scheme with life assurance, and fantastic learning and development opportunities. We also offer a number of enhanced leave provisions and benefits.

We know that a good work life balance helps us perform at our best and supports wellbeing. Flexible working hours and hybrid working is standard for all (those contracted to work in the office usually attend 1 day per week). But if you need a different form of flexibility, we are always happy to talk flexible working. 

You can find out more about what it’s like to work at Independent Age by visiting the Careers page on our website.

Application Process:

To apply, please visit our website to submit a CV and a Supporting Statement, detailing how your skills and experience meet the criteria within the Job Description and Person Specification (please do not hesitate to contact us if you have specific requirements and need support to apply in an alternative format).

To support our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion our hiring managers use anonymous shortlisting. Therefore, please do not include your name, photo, or information to indicate your gender or age in your CV and supporting statement. Please do not omit dates of employment. Please ensure the title of any uploads does not contain your name. 

Independent Age is committed to safeguarding and follows Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding those we work with. We therefore ask that you supply your full work history with explanations for any gaps in the application documents you submit and, if offered the post, we will require two employment references including your current or most recent employer. A Basic DBS or Level 1 Disclosure check will be carried out for the successful candidate. 

Closing Date: Monday 15 June, 11:59pm

First Interview Dates: Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 June, online via Microsoft Teams

Second Interview Dates: Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 July, online via Microsoft Teams