Senior community navigator jobs

SMART is hiring!

SMART is a warm and welcoming mental health charity that provides a holistic programme of support to the people we serve.

We have a vacancy for a full time Mental Health Community Navigator. The Navigators support people with serious mental illness, with a range of issues including: housing, benefits, finance and social isolation. Please refer to the attachments below for the full job description and person specification. 

We offer a friendly, collaborative, hybrid and integrated work environment in partnership with the NHS and other voluntary sector services, We have a strong focus on staff well-being including a 35 hour working week, 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a wellbeing hour, regular clinical supervision, an Employee Asisstance Programme and an annual schedule of training and events designed to support personal and professional progression

Ideally you will have experience of working within mental health/vulnerable adult services, working within multi-disciplinary teams, knowledge of the issues people face with housing/benefits etc and liaising with other services and professionals on service users behalf.

Mental Health Navigators make a real difference to people's lives.

Application Deadline: 12th May at 23:30. PLEASE NOTE: We may interview before the closing date if we receive enough suitable applications

Feedback: Unfortunately, we are not able to give feedback to candidates not shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within a week of the closing date, please assume your application has not been shortlisted at this time.

Age UK Merton is committed to being an equal-opportunity employer that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences-diversity enriches the care we provide to older adults, and it strengthens us as colleagues. Embracing varied perspectives encourages us to think critically, grow continuously, innovate, and adapt together.

Living Well Health and Wellbeing Coordinator Role:

Referrals and assessment

• Triage and co-ordinate client referrals from a range of sources, primarily health and care, in conjunction with the Living Well Manager.  These can be for the Living Well service alone, or for “Living Well Plus” where additional support is given to those clients who may require hoarding or de-cluttering support
• Communicate with referral partners to understand the trigger for referral and liaise with clients to build trust and encourage initial assessment
• Work closely with Adult Social Care, regularly hot desking at Merton Civic centre and joining GP surgery Multi-disciplinary meetings to accumulate more referrals and build professional relationships
• Actively engage in taking part in community events and meetings to promote the Living Well service and increase referrals/referral pathways
• Hold ‘guided conversations’ to assess clients’ needs and home risk, these will be conducted on telephone and through home visits

Action planning and support provision

• Create person-centred action plans to enable clients to set realistic goals to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
• Connect individuals to support services catered to their needs at both Age UK Merton and external partners
• Provide ongoing support and co-ordination for clients to ensure that action plans are progressing, including regular liaison with partners across health, care and voluntary sector to achieve successful client outcomes
• Work with partners across health, care and voluntary sectors to build strong understanding of the service offer for older adults in the London Borough of Merton.
• Receive and respond to enquiries related to the programme by phone, in person and by e-mail
• Work closely within Community Support Service, carrying out joint home visits with appropriate staff to ensure better outcomes for clients as well as ensure streamlined/triaged support.

General

• Record information on the CRM database, Charity Log, including service monitoring data and provide accurate and timely monitoring reports as required for funders
• Engage in exporting personal monthly KPIs as required by the Living Well Manager
• Cover the Community Navigator Role when needed with the Community Support service team on a rota basis
• Create two Case Studies quarterly, reflecting on successful outcomes for clients
• Carry out reviews with clients to capture the client’s journey from assessment to closing the case; showcasing how the client has improved their health and wellbeing outcomes
• Understand the process for raising safeguarding concerns and the route of accountability
• Comply at all times with the policies and procedures of Age UK Merton 
• Ensure that Age UK Merton’s Equal Opportunities policies, principles and practices are observed and implemented throughout service delivery
• Attend staff meetings, personal supervision and appraisal meetings
• Be aware of own training needs and participate in training/education to improve performance considered relevant to the post and to achieve agreed targets
• Act as a representative of the values, beliefs and principles of AUKM at all times
• Undertake any other duties that are requested and commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

The Information & Advice Service is highly regarded within the London Borough of Merton and accredited with the Advice Quality Standard (AQS) and Age UK Quality Advice Standard (QAS). We have developed the service over the last five years to provide high quality advice for older people to enable them to live more healthily, happily and independently in later life.

In April 2025 – March 2026 the service worked with over 1,500 older adults across a range of issues including money and benefits, health, housing and care. During this time, we assisted older adults to generate over £820,535 of previously unclaimed benefits and make informed choices about their lives.

The role involves providing initial information and guidance, primarily over the phone, assessing need and urgency, and ensuring clients are directed to the most appropriate support.