Advisers (Housing and Welfare Benefits / Health, Social Care and Housing / Generalist)

Organisation: Independent Age
28 - 35 hours a week
£29,453 to £32,682
Location: Hybrid working in London (minimum 4 days per month in the office) or Home-based
Deadline: 6 May, 2024

At Independent Age, we believe that no older person should face financial hardship. That’s why, by 2027, our goal is to have improved the lives of one million older people. Our impact across information and advice, policy, campaigning, grant-making and partnerships improves lives by increasing the financial well-being of older people in financial hardship, enabling greater choice and independence in wider areas of life. We want to find talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to join us on this journey.

Responsibilities and Person Specification

We are recruiting for three advisers: (i) a Housing and Welfare Benefits specialist; (ii) a Health, Social Care and Housing Specialist; and (iii) a Generalist.

These roles are an integral part of the day-to-day delivery of our Advice and Support Service, which has been re-shaped and is due to go live in the summer of 2024. 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 you will be responsible for supporting older people, their families and carers who contact Independent Age for advice and support through our helpline.

• For the Housing and Welfare Benefits role, you should have in depth, specialist level knowledge of Housing or Welfare Benefits (ideally both) as they relate to older people, experience of working within an advice setting and advice supervision framework such as the AQS framework.
• For the Health, Social Care and Housing role, you should have in depth, specialist level knowledge of Health and Social Care or Housing (ideally both) as they relate to older people, experience of working within an advice setting and advice supervision framework such as the AQS framework
• For the Generalist role, you should have a good level of knowledge of welfare benefits, social care and housing as well as experience of working within a high-volume advice service, ideally a telephone-based service.

For full details on the role and requirements, please review the job description and person specification, avaliable via: https://jobs.independentage.org. 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 is a full-time role, 35 hours per week, which you can choose to work over five days or a 9-day fortnight. We also are open to this role being worked on a part-time basis on a minimum of 28 hours per week.

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 and homebased colleagues will regularly attend the office. 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 our website: https://www.independentage.org/about-us/careers

Salary details

• Hybrid working in London: £32,682 per year, increasing to £33,600 after 6 months and £34,493 after 12 months. Pro-rata if part-time.
• Home-based (with regular travel to London): £29,453 per year, increasing to £30,267 after 6 months and £31,054 after 12 months. Pro-rata if part-time.

Application process

To apply, visit our website at: https://jobs.independentage.org

Please 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 Certificate will be required for these roles.

Closing date: Monday 6th May

Interview dates: First Round: 15th or 16th May; Second Round: 21st or 22nd May.