JOB APPLICATION PACK Job Title: Directorate: Community Investment Officer Housing Department: Resident Involvement and Improvement Location: Twickenham 1 P a g e
Dear Candidate Thank you for your interest in working for Thames Valley Housing. In this pack you will find the Job Description and Person Specification for the role you are applying for. We encourage you to read the guidance notes before you complete your application on-line. Thames Valley Housing is an equal opportunities employer. We want everyone to look forward to coming to work every day, so we encourage fairness, openness and welcoming of difference. We aim to treat everyone fairly. We re strong supporters of equality and diversity, and we employ people on merit and qualifications, according to how well they suit the role. Thames Valley Housing is committed to the employment and career development of disabled people. To support this, we guarantee an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the job. We hope that you find the job description interesting and decide to apply. We wish you success and we look forward to receiving your application form. Thames Valley Housing Recruitment Tel: 020 8607 0607 Email: recruitment@tvha.co.uk Web: www.tvha.co.uk/careers 2 P a g e
CONTENTS Guidance Notes for Applicants.4 Job Advert..6 Job Description..7 Person Specification.10 Our Competency Framework 12 Appendix 1 13 3 P a g e
GUIDANCE NOTES FOR APPLICANTS Before you complete your application Please read the job application pack before you apply online for the position - this contains all the information you need to decide whether the job is right for you. Read through the job description and person specification they are the best places to find out exactly what experience, skills and competencies you need to be successful in the role. The person specification highlights the competencies we want to asses as part of our recruitment process. Our competency framework is at the back of this pack. You ll need to prepare a CV we ask you to upload your CV as a Word document as part of our online application form. Completing your application When you re ready to apply, click Apply here at the bottom of the job advert for the position you re interested in and complete the online form. We ll ask you about your skills and competencies as well as your CV, we ll also ask you to upload a personal statement or answer some questions online about how your skills and experience match the essential criteria and competencies in the person specification. You ll need two good references - we will ask for contact details for your references in the online application, but we won t contact them until the offer stage. Your references should be: - Your current employer. If you are unemployed, this will be your most recent employer. This will be someone senior to you who can assess your work for us, not a colleague or friend at work. - A previous employer or someone with a senior role who can vouch for you. We ll ask you for some personal information to help us monitor diversity and equality the only people who will see this information are the HR team who will use it for equal opportunities monitoring purposes. It will be treated in the strictest confidence and does not form part of the selection process. 4 P a g e
What happens next? Assessments/Interviews Our Recruitment team will contact you a few days after the application closing date if your application has been short-listed. We will invite you to a competency-based interview, and ask you to complete some tests. These could be ability tests, written exercises, job-related tests, psychometric tests or IT tests. We will also let you know if you have not been shortlisted this time. Driving If the job needs you to drive, we will need to see your driving license. DBS check For some jobs we will need to carry out a Disclosure & Barring Service check. We ll say so in the job description if that s the case. Eligibility to work in the UK It s against the law for us to take on people who do not have the right to work here. If we offer you a job, we will ask you to prove this to us. We ll send you a list of documents you can use for this. Data Protection By law, we have to let you know that we keep the personal information about you that you put in a job application. When you sign and send an application in, we take this to mean that you are giving us permission to keep it, and to use it to get in touch with you, if we find a job we think would suit you in the following six months. Your Views We re happy to hear from you. We want to improve our recruitment, so please complete the Recruitment Survey. https://tvhahr.wufoo.eu/forms/recruitment-what-was-your-experience/ Getting in touch If you have any questions or problems at any stage of your application, please do get in touch with our recruitment team on recruitment@tvha.co.uk. 5 P a g e
JOB ADVERT COMMUNITY INVESTMENT OFFICER Location: Contract type: Permanent, full time Salary: starts 28,200, rises to 31,300* Hours: 35 hours per week Closing date: 29 October 2017 Interview Dates: TBC About Thames Valley Housing We are a medium-sized housing association based in Twickenham, South West London. We own and manage over 15,000 homes in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Sussex. These include traditional rented housing, shared ownership, key worker and student accommodation. Our vision is for everyone to have the chance to build their lives from a base of a good home. Our mission is to provide good quality affordable homes and invest in communities. We love to build. Not just housing and communities, but skills and careers too. About the role Our Community Investment team help empower residents to improve their life chances and make a positive difference in their community. The Community Investment Officer will work with our residents on community projects and find innovative ways to help get them into training and employment, build their capacity for community development and get them involved. You will work in specific geographical areas and estates carrying out community needs analysis, and developing community plans with housing officers and other stakeholders to produce improvements and solutions to community issues of concern as well as help to reduce management costs and housing management issues. You will also deliver specific community development in our Woking PFI estate at Kingsmoor Park working to our agreed contractual arrangements with the Local Authority. About you Are you passionate about people and community work? Have you got voluntary or paid experience of working with community members to deliver a diverse range of community projects? Are you self motivated with the ability to work with residents in a range of community based settings and undertake community consultations? Could you create publicity and newsletters? Have you got plenty of initiative - We know you will not have all the answers, but a keenness to go and find stuff out will be vital. Then this could be the role for you. Applying process: Please view the job application pack for the full job description and person specification. You will need this when you apply on line. 6 P a g e
*You will rise to the full salary on successful completion of your 6 month probationary period Access to a car is essential for this role for which a car allowance will be paid This role may be subject to a DBS check JOB DESCRIPTION Job title: Directorate: Department: Location: Responsible to: Community Investment Officer Housing Resident Involvement and Improvement Twickenham Community Investment Manager Family tree (clearly showing the responsibilities for and to particular managers) Head of Residents and Communities Resident Information Officer Training and Employment Manager Resident Feedback Officer Business Improvement Officer Community Investment Manager Resident Trainin g & Employment Officers x 2 Business Opportunities Officer Resident Events and Communication Officer Community Investment Officer Community Access Officer Main purpose of the job To support the Resident and Communities team in delivering all KPIs, objectives and projects. To support the Community Investment Manager deliver the Community Investment Strategy and lead the delivery of local plans 7 P a g e
Help identify local priorities and work with residents, community organisations, partners and TVH staff to find and deliver a range of potential community work solutions. To assist with the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Community Investment Service. Manage the Community Chest Grant Fund Principal accountabilities expected of the post holder To deliver neighbourhood investment community projects under the direction of the Community Investment Manager To work with residents and local community members to help build their capacity for community development and facilitate and encourage their development of and participation in local projects. Manage the publicity of Community Investment projects and initiatives to ensure the involvement of TVH residents, and help build relationships with partners and stakeholders, including producing local newsletters. Produce project proposals and ensure relevant reporting and monitoring measures are applied, including measuring social impact. Work with the Community Investment Manager to produce community plans for relevant areas of TVH operation. Provide reporting for the Community Investment Manager relating to Community Investment Projects and the Community Chest. Explore and seek solutions to contribute to the sustainability of community projects. Identify and include resident training and employment opportunities when developing and delivering community projects. Promote and administer the Community Chest programme to residents and throughout the TVH area of operation Help and support residents and community groups to submit applications for funding Support the mapping of local services and amenities by liaising with relevant statutory and voluntary services to benefit TVH residents. To identify issues which are the responsibility of other statutory and voluntary agencies and seek to involve them in focusing their services accordingly. 8 P a g e
Explore best practice in community investment initiatives and maintain knowledge of current housing environment. Maintain clear and accurate records of Community Investment activities. Support the facilitation of resident and community meetings. Other To carry out other duties as may be reasonably assigned from time to time by the Community Investment Manager, such duties to be compatible with the level of this job description. The position requires evening and weekend working for which subsistence expenses or time in lieu will be provided. 9 P a g e
PERSON SPECIFICATION Role: Directorate: Community Investment Officer Housing Knowledge, Experience & Skills Essential Excellent communication skills (written, spoken and presentation) Knowledge of community development issues and principles Experience of initiating/developing/supporting community involvement (either paid or voluntary) A working knowledge of key government policies and agendas that affect community development Experience of representing an organisation at external meetings Partnering, networking and joint working to deliver projects Good IT skills and use of social media to promote work Desirable Knowledge and experience of Housing / Social Housing/ Resident involvement Understanding of the statutory, voluntary and community sectors Experience of fund management / fundraising. Experience of producing and monitoring service level agreements with external organisations Experience in community consultation exercises Qualifications Education to GCSE or equivalent qualification Competencies (Assessed by personal statement and at interview) Core (refer to Competency Framework guidelines to determine appropriate definition) 10 P a g e
Results Focused (Vocational) Takes responsibility for achieving individual objectives and contributing to team targets Managing Relationships (Vocational) Builds rapport with colleagues and direct customers/suppliers Continuous Improvement (Vocational) Drives self to deliver results and aspirations Customer Driven (Vocational) Delivers a high quality service Planning and Organising (Vocational) Contributes to the team/project objectives by effectively setting own work plan and prioritising key tasks Working Together (Vocational) Works Co-operatively with other members of the team and direct customers Applied Thinking (Vocational) Solves basic problems within clearly laid out policies and procedures Initiative and Innovation (Vocational) Addresses current opportunities by improving and adapting existing approaches OTHER Full driving licence and use of a car Commitment to Equal Opportunities and Health & Safety LIVING AND DELIVERING THE CORPORATE VALUES Think Forward Question how we do things. Think Ahead. Innovate Think We Let s work together to achieve our shared goals. Think Openly Let s be transparent and true to our word. Think With Compassion Offer your time and support. Act with empathy and understanding. Think With Energy Be passionate about delivering great customer service and making things happen 11 P a g e
OUR COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK What are Competencies and how are they used? A competency is an ability, skill, knowledge or trait that is needed for the successful performance of a job. It is often defined in terms of behaviours. Overall, competencies are a set of behaviours that an individual must possess in order to perform to the optimum level within that role. When used properly, and in conjunction with other working practices and procedures, competencies can ensure fairness, openness and equality in the way we recruit staff, select people for training, identify clear development paths and promote people. The Competency Framework contains a total of ten competencies and it is considered that to carry out a role at a particular level an individual should possess those competencies that are Core for that level. The depth of which these core competencies are required will vary according to each role. Core competencies are far broader in their application and apply to all jobs within TVH. This document details the core competencies which TVH recognises as necessary. The person specification highlights the competencies we want to assess as part of our recruitment process, but the following areas are important all of the time. 12 P a g e
Appendix 1 Name Definition Level Descriptors 1 Applied Thinking Makes use of relevant information to resolve problems, identify Leader Identifies new business opportunities by evaluating company performance from a range of information opportunities and reach appropriate solutions. Expert Sets Directorate/Departmental priorities by developing solutions to support the business plan Professional Recommends improvements to processes and services at a team level by analysing patterns and trends from information Vocational Solves basic problems within clearly laid out policies and procedures 2 Results Focused Getting things done Achieves successful delivery of tasks and objectives by effectively Leader Sets the performance framework for the organisation to meet corporate goals, achieve results and champions improvements managing others or taking direct action. Expert Sets the performance framework for the Directorate/Department to meet objectives, KPIs and continuously seeks improvements in delivery Professional Uses Directorate/Department objectives to identify team KPIs to drive service delivery and meet goals Vocational Takes responsibility for achieving individual objectives and contributing to team targets 3 Planning and Organising Plans and organises work and activities to meet objectives whilst Leader Structures the business plan to deliver key objectives while allocating appropriate resources achieving quality and value for money. Expert Develops project plans and identifies departmental activities and resources required to meet organisational goals Professional Delivers the project plan/departmental objectives to plan and budget Vocational Contributes to the team/project objectives by effectively setting own work plan and prioritising key tasks 4 Initiative and Innovation Takes a creative approach to work by formulating new ideas or adapting Leader Develops ways of capturing innovation and creativity across the organisation and delivers through others existing ideas in a new or Expert Plans and implements new ideas in the long to medium term and takes the lead unexpected way to create in delivering change within Directorate opportunities. Professional Develops and implements initiatives at a local level Vocational Addresses current opportunities by improving and adapting existing approaches 13 P a g e
Appendix 1 Name Definition Level Descriptors 5 Working Together Works co-operatively and flexibly across cultures and organisational boundaries to achieve shared goals 6 Managing Relationships (Influencing, persuading and negotiating) 7 Continuous Improvement (Striving for Excellence) 14 P a g e Builds and maintains relationships to achieve positive outcomes for the Association Looks for opportunities to improve (self, products and/or services) 8 Customer Driven Provides an excellent service to all customers 9 Commercial Awareness Understands relationship of operational issues to wider business context 10 Leadership (Developing and Managing People) Inspires and motivates others to develop confidence and capability to Leader Expert Professional Vocational Leader Expert Professional Vocational Leader Expert Professional Vocational Leader Expert Professional Vocational Leader Expert Professional Vocational Leader Expert Creates a positive team working environment Builds the team to deliver a high quality service Involves others to work towards shared goals and objectives Works co-operatively with other members of the team and direct customers Extends networks and uses indirect influence to build external relationships to achieve long term strategic organisational goals Maintains networks and plans impact Builds positive and reciprocal relationships that benefit the Association Builds rapport with colleagues and direct customers/suppliers Creates a continuous improvement environment Drives Departmental activity to continuously improve systems and processes Delivers improvements at a team level Drives self to deliver results and aspirations Develops the strategy to meet the long term interests and aspirations of customers Champions and promotes the delivery of quality service to all customers Plans and organises delivery of customer service Delivers a high quality service Defines and develops TVH s commercial objectives to maximise the organisation s financial wellbeing Delivers the commercial objectives Understands the purpose and content of the Corporate business plan Demonstrates awareness of commercial aspects of the business Leads the organisations to deliver high performance Is a role model for effective leadership
Appendix 1 Name Definition Level Descriptors realise their full potential Professional Supports team development Vocational Gives basic direction and instruction 15 P a g e
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