Support officer jobs in eltham, greater london

Full-time Solicitor (£50,000)

(Head of Legal Services/Compliance Officer for Legal Practice) | Central London | 40 Hours Per Week

Why this role matters

We are making rights usable in real time for trans communities. As our first full-time, in-house solicitor, you will build and lead our legal function, supervise our casework and set standards that change outcomes case by case and system by system.

What you will lead

· Service build and leadership: Design and run a high-quality legal service. Set procedure, quality checks and file management that get used.

· Supervision and standards: Supervise staff and volunteers. Mentor, review files, sign off advice and keep practice safe and effective.

· Strategic casework: Identify patterns, test lawful routes others overlook, and pursue remedies that unlock access for many, not just one.

· Templates and guidance: Create repeatable tools, model letters and notes that make good practice easier.

· Training: Deliver practical training for staff and volunteers on core areas and updates.

· External relationships: Work with partner firms, Counsel, regulators and support organisations. Refer and co-work where it benefits clients.

· Keeping current: Track legal and regulatory change. Update guidance and workflows promptly.

· Issues and disputes: Handle escalations quickly and proportionately.

You’ll thrive here if you show

· Bold, informed judgement: you check the source, avoid assumptions and make firm, evidence-based decisions.

· Ownership and follow-through: you take responsibility for files, systems and outcomes.

· Entrepreneurial drive: you test new routes and scale what works.

· Planning under pressure: you manage competing demands without losing quality.

· Inclusive practice: you design services that are easier and safer to access.

· Clear communication: you explain rights and risks plainly to clients and partners.

· Team-building and collaboration: you can nurture a capable, committed volunteer cohort.

· Constant learning: you reflect, improve and leave usable tools behind.

What you will bring

· Qualified solicitor with at least 3 years’ PQE.

· Ready to build strong supervision and people skills.

· Clear, practical legal analysis and sound judgement under time pressure.

· Proven ability to design and co-create procedures that work.

· Excellent written and oral communication.

· Comfortable working independently and in a small, committed team.

Helpful extras

Experience in legal aid, housing, discrimination, domestic abuse, public law or community care; background in clinics or advice settings; understanding of trans rights and the realities clients face.

Practicalities

· Hours: 40 Hours Per Week

· Location: Central London base with sensible hybrid flexibility.

· Salary: £50,000.

What We Look For

The Co-founders Mindset

At the Trans Legal Clinic we are building a Trans+ rights revolution; our mission is Trans Liberation. That means access to justice for Trans & Non-binary people everywhere. We deliver work that changes outcomes for people, case by case and system by system. That calls for a particular mindset. We call it the co-founder mindset. Co-founders take the mission personally, set the pace, turn ideas into working services and campaigns, bring others with them, and make change you can point to. Co-founders are entrepreneurial: they spot openings others miss, move decisively, and create momentum. Co-founders build teams, drawing in volunteers who believe in our mission, care deeply about our clients, enjoy working with us, and keep one another going. Co-founders are bold: they are willing to innovate, to be first, and to change the status quo; they check the source, avoid assumptions, solve problems, make firm, collaborative, evidence-based decisions, and take responsibility for results. Co-founders are pioneers. If you want responsibility, pace, and the chance to trailblazer new routes to justice and public impact, this is the place to build your career.

We select candidates based on their performance in 8 areas;

1. Ownership and follow-through

You are a self-starter who owns tasks and takes responsibility without waiting to be asked. You carry your work through to a tangible result. You define the problem, set a course, keep the right people informed, and deliver what you said you would.

2. Bold, informed judgement

You are willing to change accepted practice when the evidence supports it. You check primary sources rather than rely on assumptions, weigh real options and risks, make a clear, evidence-based, collaborative decision, and stand behind it.

3. Entrepreneurial drive

You spot openings other people miss and turn ideas into useful services, processes or campaigns. You move decisively and get others working on the plan alongside you with clear roles and timelines.

4. Planning under pressure

You keep priorities straight when time is tight. You organise people and tasks, set simple checkpoints, communicate early when plans shift and always deliver.

5. Inclusive practice

You strive to make everything you create accessible to others, designing work that is easier for others to take part in, with people who face barriers always in mind. You identify what is getting in the way, make practical changes that remove those barriers, and check the effect with the people involved.

6. Clear communication

You write and speak in plain terms and adjust tone and detail to suit clients, volunteers, partners and the public. You choose the right format for the moment and make it easy for people to act on what you say. You like feedback, don’t get offended and see it as a chance to improve.

7. Team-building and collaboration

You bring people with you and help groups perform well together. You draw in volunteers who believe in the mission and care about our clients, set shared expectations, handle disagreements well, and leave relationships stronger.

8. Constant learning

You improve your own practice and the system around you. You reflect honestly on what worked and what did not, learn quickly, and turn that learning into simple tools or habits that make future work better.

These eight criteria are what we look for. Use them to decide whether this is the right place for you and to shape the examples you share in your application.

This role will deliver the ITF Group financial budget, forecasts, reports of actual results and explanations of variances, be responsible for the chart of accounts and accruals and prepayments, and develop and exploit the use of finance systems and interfaces with other systems.

Your core responsibilities will include:

•  Budgeting, forecasting and reporting: Deliver the ITF Group financial budget and forecasts, propose budgeting assumptions, issue monthly accounts and variance analysis and report on financial risks and opportunities.
• Engage with stakeholders: Deliver reports of actual results, and explanations of variances to budget and forecast, to the Finance Director, senior managers and other stakeholders.
• Group-wide reporting: Review, challenge as required, and process expenditure returns from regional offices and upload these to the finance system to be included in ITF Group actual results.
• Chart of accounts: Responsible for the chart of accounts, opening and closing elements of the accounts, other coding matters, and controlling access rights to the finance systems and other financial information.
•  Accounting: Responsible for all accruals and prepayments, including overseeing those posted by the Head of Finance, Financial Controller and others.
• Supporting business partners: Provide regular donor funding reporting, accrue or defer income and expenditure, and make coding changes as requested by the donor funding team.
• Assisting audits: Prepare for and assist with the external audit and year-end and complete allocated balance sheet reconciliations.
• Strategy and projects: Strategic and ad hoc projects and financial modelling.
• Systems: Develop and exploit the use of finance systems and interfaces with other systems, upgrade finance systems, manage the relationships with finance software suppliers and ensure resilience, backups and contingency plans in relation to finance systems.

About You

You are a qualified accountant (e.g., CCAB or CIMA) with a proven track record in a senior finance role.

To be successful in this role, you will have:

Essential criteria:

• Advanced Excel and intermediate Word skills.
•  Practical experience with complex finance databases (e.g., Sage, Oracle, SAP) and, reporting tools.
• Strong project management skills.
• Direct experience of being audited by external financial auditors.
• Knowledge and hands-on experience preparing annual reports and financial statements, with a solid knowledge of accounting standards and HMRC requirements.
• Exceptional attention to detail, accuracy, be numerate and have the organisational skills to meet tight deadlines.
• A problem solving and systematic approach.
•  A willingness to adapt working hours during periods of high demand to ensure deadlines are met.
• Be fluent in English.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience in implementing new finance databases and reporting tools.

WHY WORK FOR US 

ITF offers a highly attractive salary and annual bonus, competitive pension scheme and annual leave entitlement, as well as the opportunity for international travel. 

At the ITF, we are committed to providing an inclusive environment for our team and our affiliates. We see the diversity of our staff as a source of intelligence and strength. This means that we work creatively to make the most of unique experiences and perspectives. We are an equal opportunities employer. We welcome all applications regardless of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, race, migration status, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, disability, age, political opinions or trade union affiliation or activity. 

Salary: £46,698 (London) / £42,373 (National) per annum

Hours:                       35 hrs per week

Contract: Fixed term contract (until March 2027)

Benefits

· 27 days annual leave + statutory holidays + 3 closures days over the Christmas period;

· Flexible working for all staff including working from home / hybrid working, and flexi-time/TOIL scheme;

· Attractive family friendly policies;

· Private healthcare cover;

· Season ticket loans;

· Employee awards, and training and development opportunities.

For more information about our benefits please visit our website.

Office locations:  London, Bristol or homeworker

The role will involve spending a substantial amount of time in the East of England (including early starts/late finishes and overnight stays where required) and regular travel nationwide for NHF events and meetings. 

Please note, if office based, the successful candidate will be expected to carry out two days in-person working per week on average which will include attendance at your office location.

Flexible working arrangements can be discussed and agreed with the line manager subject to role and business needs.

An exciting opportunity has arisen at the National Housing Federation (NHF) to join our team of External Affairs Managers on a fixed-term basis to cover maternity leave. The NHF is the voice of housing associations in England. We are the trade body to almost 600 housing associations, who have grown from philanthropic roots to provide 2.6 million homes to around 6 million people. You can find further information about the NHF on our website.

Could you be our new External Affairs Manager, working closely with our housing association members across the East of England?

This is a unique and varied role which would appeal to someone with a background in areas such as stakeholder management, policy, public affairs, communications, programme management – or a combination of these areas! For example, you may be looking to step into a role to further develop your leadership and stakeholder engagement skills, whilst still building on your policy or programme management experience and knowledge.

You will operate at the heart of social housing by working with key decision makers across the housing association sector – including managing relationships with chief executives, chairs of boards and executive directors. Strong communication and influencing skills are essential to the role, as well as the confidence to work at the most senior levels.  

It is crucial that you can work collegiately to lead key programmes of work across the NHF with colleagues in other teams, for example from our policy, press, events, and public affairs teams. Equally, you will be comfortable working autonomously and shaping your own work programme.

The core of the role involves being responsible for engagement with a whole geographic region of our membership; and working closely on or leading one of the NHF’s key themes of work, which include areas such as supported housing; devolution; developing new homes; decarbonising existing homes; ensuring the building safety agenda is delivered; or representing our rural or smaller housing associations.

The role is wide ranging and in addition to stakeholder management and programme leadership, will include running roundtables between our members and government, chairing sessions at NHF conferences, and presenting political and policy updates to senior teams within housing associations.

You will be part of a team of eight External Affairs Managers sitting within the member services directorate, which is there to ensure that we provide excellent value for money for our housing association members.

Key elements of the role:

· You will build and maintain brilliant relationships with housing associations leaders, using your well-developed communication and advocacy skills to maximum effect.

· You will develop knowledge, insight and understanding of housing associations to shape our policy and influencing work and to create structured programmes of member engagement on critical policy and political issues.

· You will be the contact point for housing associations in your region, ensuring they receive first class customer service on the issues which matter to them. Working closely with NHF members you will facilitate the organisation of regional chief executive or leaders forums and sounding boards.

· In addition to your regional work, you will lead on the strategic planning and delivery of a key NHF policy priority. This will require collaborative working with colleagues from across the organisation and working with members across every region and specialism.  You will play a leadership role, creating structured engagement strategies to ensure members are able to influence policy as well as engaging key NHF stakeholders and sharing best practice.

· Your role will be to implement structured member engagement to ensure our policy priorities, positions and influencing work are member-led. This will include working directly with members to inform our policy positions and lead our influencing work.

· You will influence debates at the highest level and you will spot in advance and act strategically to mitigate the risk to our membership. As such, this role requires a high degree of political and organisational acumen and the ability to horizon scan.

· You will work with colleagues in our Commercial and Events teams to maximise commercial opportunities and help shape content at our conferences, as well chairing conference sessions.

· To be the face and voice of the NHF with members, stakeholders and the media.

· To ensure that as an organisation we deliver as a whole team, seamlessly, to members to achieve greatest impact in line with the business strategy.

· To maintain high quality standards and follow NHF policy and process.

The successful candidate:

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

· A sound knowledge and understanding of housing associations and issues affecting the wider sector.

· A sound understanding of the political and policy landscape that housing associations operate in.

· Demonstrable knowledge and experience of establishing and maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders, demonstrating excellent customer service and value for money.

· Effective communication skills, in person and in writing, including the ability to credibly and confidently present at meetings and events.

· Ability to listen to and influence senior stakeholders, demonstrating diplomacy, effective communication and negotiation skills.

· Clear leadership skills, able to lead complex and strategic programmes of work effectively, including experience of matrix managing and motivating a team.

· Excellent analytical skills and strategic nous with the ability to summarise complex information effectively to aid decision making.

· A commitment to excellent customer service.

· A positive, energetic and agile approach to work.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The NHF has published its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, which was co-created with staff. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and we value the contribution each individual makes to our work.  

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and are working to increase the diversity profile of our workforce. We are currently under-represented by ethnic minorities, people with a disability or disabilities and LGBTQ+, and would particularly welcome applications from people in these groups.

Disability confident employer

We are a disability confident employer and if you are a disabled person who meets the skills and experience we consider essential for the role, we will offer you an interview.

Please note: there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as high-volume of applications, we may be required to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.
In these circumstances the NHF will select the disabled candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as we would do for non-disabled applicants. This is in line with the Disability Confident guidelines.

We are happy to consider reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process if you have a disability or have a condition that you feel may affect your performance during the recruitment process. Please contact the People team with your request or to arrange a time to discuss in more detail.

Our role profile and job advert can also be requested in large print or in accessible format via this email address.

Completing our Application Form

To apply for this role, please complete our online application form. The application form includes your employment and education history plus you will be asked to answer questions in relation to your knowledge, skills and experience, why you are applying for the role and questions in relation to our values. The application form is anonymous and will not require you to upload a CV or cover letter. This will help us to shortlist candidates for interview based solely on their knowledge, skills and experience.

Right to work in the UK/UK VISA sponsorship

You must have the right to work in the UK and it is important to note that the NHF does not sponsor individuals to work in the UK.

Closing date for applications: 4 January 2026

Interview date: 14 and 15 January 2026