Recruitment pack. Research Officer. Let s end homelessness together

Transcription

1 Recruitment pack Research Officer TIP Salary: 29,000 (incl.ilw) Location: London Hours: 35 hrs pw Closing date: 9 am Monday 5 th February Interview date: Tuesday 13 th February Let s end homelessness together Homeless Link, Gateway House, Milverton Street, London SE11 4AP Facebook: Homeless Link All rights reserved. Homeless Link is a charity no and a company no

2 Introduction Letter from the Head of Policy & Communications Dear Candidate, Thank you for your interest in this post. This pack gives you some more information about the role and about Homeless Link. Homeless Link is the national membership charity for frontline homelessness agencies and the wider housing with health, care and support sector. We represent over 700 organisations providing homelessness and supported housing services across England. We work to improve services through research, training and guidance, and to promote policy change that will ensure everyone has a place to call home and the support they need to keep it. High quality research and evidence about homelessness enables us to be a credible voice for the sector, and to influence policy and practice for the better. We are interested in your research skills and experience. You don t need to know the homeless sector inside out - we are looking for someone with the right set of skills, attitude and approach, and who is able to contribute to Homeless Link being the knowledge centre on homelessness. The Research Officer post is a full time post based at our head office in London. This is a fixed term contract of 12 months, until the end of March The salary is 29,000 per annum, including inner London weighting, plus a generous package of benefits including 30 days annual leave, flexible working and a contributory pension scheme. Finally, we are actively seeking to increase diversity within our organisation and would greatly welcome interest from people with direct experience of homelessness, from a black or minority ethnic background and/or with a disability. I look forward to hearing from you. With best wishes Helen Mathie Head of Policy & Communications (job-share) 2

3 About us Our vision Our vision is a country free of homelessness where you have a place to call home and can expect the support you need to keep it. To achieve this ambition, as a society, we need to: Act faster to prevent people losing their homes Ensure that if you become homeless, it s for the shortest time possible Provide long-term accommodation and help for people with complex problems Support people to realise their potential and avoid homelessness in the future. What we do Homeless Link is the national membership charity for frontline homelessness agencies and the wider housing with health, care and support sector. We represent over 700 organisations providing supported housing and homelessness services across England. We work to improve services through research, information, training and guidance, and to promote policy change that will ensure everyone has a place to call home and the support to keep it. Advice and support We look for and share good practice from the front line, helping others to boost the quality of their work. We also develop new products that can help improve services and fund our campaign to end homelessness. Our national and regional teams offer support, link up agencies, and provide advice, consultancy and tools to help improve services. Information, research and training We provide access to a wealth of up-to-date information, including good practice toolkits, the latest research, sector news and policy updates. We also pilot new approaches to tackling homelessness and supports staff to improve their skills through training. With data on thousands of services, we use information to identify trends and enable the public and professionals to find local help and support. Influencing We work with local and national Government to improve the policies that affect people experiencing homelessness. Using our detailed knowledge of what s happening on the ground we campaign to challenge preconceptions and help bring about change. Networking and events Through our national, regional and online events we provide professionals with the opportunity to network with others in the sector sharing knowledge, experiences and solutions. 3

4 The job Role description The Research Officer post is a full time, fixed term, 12 month contract based at our head office in London. Job purpose To contribute to ending homelessness through high quality data collection, research and analysis to inform policy and service change. To plan, conduct and evaluate research projects that contribute to the evidence base around homelessness and related fields. To contribute to Homeless Link being the knowledge centre on homelessness To work with other Homeless Link staff and assist on all aspects of research, data collection and analysis. To provide analytical summaries of new evidence on patterns of homelessness and related areas for Homeless Link to communicate to policy makers, members, media and other audiences. To provide a highly responsive and proactive information and data analysis role to underpin and support Homeless Link s influence of government and members at all levels. Accountability The Research Officer reports to the Research Manager and is part of the Policy and Communications team. Location Office based. Willingness to travel within the UK and occasionally overseas. Main responsibilities Research Co-ordination and Delivery To plan and design research projects with appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodological techniques, timescales, outputs and dissemination objectives. To carry out both qualitative and quantitative research projects, using appropriate methods to a high standard. To carry out interviews and focus groups with a wide range of participants (e.g. senior and front-line support staff, people with experiences of homelessness, and statutory partners). To collect and analyse numerical and statistical data for a range of research projects using Excel and occasionally SPSS. Produce accessible written reports drawing out relevant findings and messages. To ensure that people who are homeless are involved in the planning, delivery and evaluation of research. To review each project on an ongoing basis. To produce succinct research summaries in formats relevant for the intended audiences. To respond to queries from Homeless Link staff and external contacts regarding the evidence base around homelessness including available statistics, reports and research findings. To work, as appropriate, with the Consultancy Manager on the research elements of consultancy projects. To establish and maintain contact with a range of partners and relevant stakeholders to ensure successful delivery of projects. To carry out appropriate ad hoc research tasks and advice as required by the Policy and Communications Team, others in Homeless Link or external contacts. To identify and create new knowledge and information through synthesising and correlating different sources of existing data and providing visual pictures of data, including on Homeless Link s website. 4

5 Influencing change To liaise with the Policy and Communications team and other Homeless Link teams to ensure that the research projects are coordinated with their work, and that learning is incorporated into wider policy and influencing work carried out by Homeless Link. To prepare succinct and influential research briefings, articles and web pages on the projects for a range of audiences. To maintain the relevant sections of Homeless Link s website. Team To contribute to the work of the Policy and Communications team, including supporting the Research Manager in research and analysis projects. To develop the work of the Policy and Communications team, producing research briefings, responding to consultations and developing our knowledge base. To take responsibility for updating information and data on Homeless Link s website and bulletins. Supporting our members To build up contact with members and offer support on research issues. General Roles and objectives in Homeless Link may change. All members of staff are expected to be prepared to work flexibly in response to changing business needs. All members of staff are expected to undertake any other responsibilities or tasks that are consistent with their role and/or reasonably required by the Chief Executive. All members of staff are required to operate in accordance with Homeless Link s values, policies and procedures. This is a description of the job as it is presently constituted. It is the practice of Homeless Link to examine job descriptions from time to time and to update them to ensure they relate to the job as then being performed, or to incorporate whatever changes are required to reflect business needs. This will be conducted in consultation with you. It is the organisation s aim to reach agreement on changes, but if agreement is not possible, the organisation reserves the right to insist on changes to your job description, after consultation with you. Person Specification Qualifications and specialist knowledge for the role Essential Knowledge of designing and using quantitative and qualitative research and analysis methods/techniques including sampling, extracting, cleaning and analysing data, and conducting surveys Knowledge and experience in using Excel for data analysis Ability to conduct focus groups, face to face interviews and code qualitative data Ability to speedily identify, process and analyse complex data from a range of sources to provide high quality and accurate information Ability to identify ways to assess the impact of economic, political, policy or social changes Desirable Knowledge and experience in using a range of data analysis software e.g. SPSS, Access, NVivo 5

6 Knowledge of the current policy context in relation to homelessness or a related field and/or knowledge of homelessness systems and sector Experience and track record Essential Planning and conducting research projects, including developing research ideas, literature reviews, data collection and analysis through to producing clear final products Experience of using a range of methods to communicate research findings to influence a wide range of audiences Production of a range of high quality written materials Planning and managing a workload with conflicting demands to ensure deadlines are met and tasks are completed Desirable Brokering, developing and sustaining partnerships across different sectors Experience of working in the field of social research or social policy Experience of carrying out research with vulnerable populations General requirements for roles at Homeless Link Essential Willingness and ability to work outside normal office hours and travel within the UK and occasionally overseas Willingness and ability to operate in accordance with the values and policies of Homeless Link Willingness and ability to work flexibly in response to changing organisational requirements Commitment to bring into the work the views, needs and voices of people with direct experience of homelessness Desirable A sound understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to homelessness based on direct experience 6

7 Key competencies Please note that these are for your information only at this stage. You do not have to address them in your application. We will look for evidence of these during the interview and testing stage if you are shortlisted. Personal Contribution Personal effectiveness Takes responsibility Self-development Critical thinking, innovation and judgement Working with others Team member Customer focused Working relationships Communication Organisational contribution Systematic Resource management Project Management 7

8 How to apply Explanation of terms used Role description: gives details of the duties of the post. Use this as a guide to decide whether or not you think the job would suit you. Person specification: lists the criteria, which will be used to assess your application & covers the qualifications, specialist knowledge, experience and track record that we are looking for. Key competencies: these are for your information. We will look for evidence of all these during the interview and testing stage if you are shortlisted. Supporting people with disabilities Homeless Link is committed to improving its employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Please let us know if you have a disability we should take into consideration in this section. If you require support, modifications, adjustments, or special equipment to assist you with the recruitment process, please also include brief details about this. The line manager for the role will contact you to discuss your requirements if you are shortlisted. Supporting people with experience of homelessness As part of Homeless Link s commitment to support people with experience of homelessness, we have committed to giving feedback to applicants who have experience of homelessness. If you are happy for the panel to know if you have had experience of homelessness and you would like to contact us for feedback on your application, please let us know in your applications. All applicants with experience of homelessness are able to request feedback following the interview stage. Referees One of the referees that you provide should be your present or most recent employer. If you have not been employed, or have been out of employment for a period of time, you may wish to give the name of anyone who knows you sufficiently well to confirm the information that you have given and to comment on your ability to do the job. Notifying you about your application Please note we are not able to acknowledge receipt of individual applications or notify applicants individually if you have not been shortlisted. We will notify shortlisted applicants within 5 working days of the closing date. Unfortunately, Homeless Link is generally not able to give feedback on applications that have not been shortlisted. Sending in your application To apply, please send your CV along with a covering letter outlining how you meet the criteria in the person specification. Please send this together with the attached diversity and equality form and send them to: recruitment@homelesslink.org.uk The closing date is 9am on Monday 5 th February with interviews scheduled for 13 th February. Applications received after the published closing date will not be considered. 8

9 What we do Homeless Link is the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England. We work to make services better and campaign for policy change that will help end homelessness. Let s end homelessness together Homeless Link Gateway House, Milverton Street London SE11 4AP Facebook: Homeless Link All rights reserved. Homeless Link is a charity no and a company no