Project Team Leader – Southwark 16+ Service

**Grade D: Starting salary is £29,400 per annum plus London weighting of £4,000. The band goes up to £32,550 per annum, however, this is dependent on annual performance reviews.
Total Starting Salary: £33,400 per annum.
Additional on call allowance: £20 per night, £25 for weekends and Bank Holidays.

Job Purpose:
To provide day to day oversight of the Service including line management of the Project Team, Safeguarding, Health and Safety, the development of Life and Employability Skills through support programmes and activities, monitoring and oversight of holistic support provision to young people. To lead the team in effective and close partnership working with Commissioners, Children’s Servies and partners, and to provide Christian leadership within the Project, in line with organisational ethos and values.

Organisation Context:
Oasis Community Housing (OCH) is a Christian response to homelessness and disadvantage providing housing, support and other specialised services. The support provided aims to develop life skills that will enable people to live successful independent lives.
Oasis Community Housing is part of the Oasis group of charities. The group includes national charities dedicated to education, housing, and campaigning against human trafficking and we work to a common vision of creating communities in which everyone can thrive and reach their God-given potential.
We welcome applicants from all faiths or none, but it is important that all employees understand and sympathise with the Christian vision, ethos and culture of the organisation. However, it will be an occupational requirement that a practising Christian is needed for some specified roles. This will be highlighted in the qualifications section of the job description and will be clearly stated in the job advert.
Oasis Community Housing is a growing charity, with its Central Office in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

Project specific:
Southwark North 16+ Service is an accommodation-based support service funded by Southwark Council to provide supported accommodation to young people experiencing homelessness. The main office is No.3 in Peckham with a number of satellite offices across the Borough. The service provides support, housing and resettlement services for Southwark young people who have the status of being looked after children or care leavers, unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), or young people at risk of homelessness.
The service supports young people to maintain and develop skills to live more independently, with the aim of them moving on safely and successfully, therefore reducing homelessness and the risk of homelessness.
The primary age group is 16-21, however individuals are accepted up to the age of 25 on a case-by-case basis.
In line with new regulatory requirements this service is in the process of registering with OFSTED, hence will be subject to regular inspections.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• To oversee the day to day running of the project, ensuring the delivery of the service is at all times in line with the organisational ethos, values, policies and procedures
• To supervise and manage the project staff team, being the first port of call for any staffing issues, including performance appraisals
• To participate in the recruitment and selection of new project staff
• To be part of the organisation on call management team and rota, providing support to staff during unsocial hours
• To monitor day to day expenditure against the project budget as guided by the budget and Head of Supported Housing
• To oversee the holistic (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) support provision to young people, ensuring it is in accordance with the ethos and values of Oasis Community Housing, that young people are motivated and empowered to work towards independence, support provision is personalised to individual needs, and progress is regularly reviewed
• To co-ordinate multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approaches to the support of young people in the service
• To lead in the interview and assessment of potential residents
• To ensure safeguarding policies and procedures are adhered to in your practices, and the practices of the team, and that concerns are reported appropriately and expediently
• To hold responsibility for implementing Safeguarding policies and procedures in the project; making day to day safeguarding referrals, on-going case management, and reporting to Courts/Family Services/Children’s Services, in conjunction with the relevant Safeguarding Leads
• To ensure regular group work activities take place, including facilitating as needed e.g. Life and Employability Skills Workshops, Social Events, Personal Development Programme activities and keep records of such activities
• To maintain records needed to ensure excellent and consistent support provision,
  and support the staff team to meet those same standards; maintaining comprehensive case files, using our Inform data system, completing reports and
  assisting in the measurement of outcomes.
• To ensure confidentiality of personal data held in the care of the organisation and project staff, as specified in the Data Protection Act 1998 (GDPR 2018) and Oasis Community Housing policies and procedures
• To be accountable to senior management for project performance, providing regular reports including incident reporting, performance reports and management reports
• To work in close partnership with colleagues from Southwark Children Services and other partner agencies; professionally representing Oasis Community Housing and the young people we support
• To receive and respond to complaints and appeals in the first instance
• To support the Head of Supported Housing in preparing for audits, reviews and inspections as required by partners, funders and stakeholders including regulatory bodies
• To effectively liaise with our Health and Safety Officer whenever necessary
• To work closely with the Housing Management Team, liaising regarding;
  o The collection and recording of service charges and housing benefit,
  o Void turnarounds,
  o Repairs and maintenance – ensuring all properties are maintained to Oasis
  Community Housing standards.
• To ensure implementation of the Oasis Community Housing ethos within the project; through provision of training and input to staff, volunteers and students (OR)*
• To attend regular supervision sessions with your line manager
• To attend relevant training sessions as required by the role / your line manager
• To undertake any other reasonable duties as required
• To ensure all working practice and interactions are in line with organisational ethos and values

Scope & Limits of Authority:
The post holder will line manage Senior Workers, Support Workers, Relief staff and volunteers within the project and is responsible for ensuring all team members are competent and confident within their roles and are providing quality support provision to young people.
In conjunction with, and as guided by the Housing Management Team, the post holder has responsibility for ensuring occupancy levels, recovery of rents and project expenditure are in
line with budgets that have been set, through effective oversight of Housing Benefit claims, collection of Service Charges and Rent Shortfall and pursuing arrears and debt with relevant individuals and agencies.

Personal Specification/Key Competencies:
Qualifications:

• Relevant qualification to NVQ Level 3 (Essential)

Work Experience:

• Experience at Senior Support Worker or Team Leader level within supported housing projects; including needs and risk assessment, delivery of holistic support, health and safety (Essential)
• Experience managing staff or volunteers (Desirable)
• Experience working in the safeguarding arena (Essential)
• Experience working within regulatory services i.e CQC or OFSTED (Desirable)
• Experience working with young people, and knowledge of the related issues facing young people who experience homelessness, including offending, sexual exploitation, substance misuse, domestic abuse (Essential)
• Experience in using person centred support plans (Essential)
• Experience participating in MDT meetings (Essential)
• Knowledge of Children Act 1984, Health & Social Care Act 2008, (Regulated Activities) (Desirable)”
• Knowledge of drug and alcohol misuse (Essential)
• Knowledge of, and experience providing support, around mental health (Essential)
• Knowledge of gang affiliation issues among some young people (Desirable)
• Knowledge of issues facing unaccompanied asylum seeking children (Desirable)

Skills, Knowledge & Aptitude:

• Excellent organisational skills, including time management and prioritisation (Essential)
• Ability to manage a heavy and varied workload in a demanding and challenging environment (Essential)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to build cooperative working relationships both within a team / organisation and with other agencies (Essential)
• Proven skills in leading, motivating and empowering staff and volunteers (Desirable)
• Ability to effectively use computer software packages i.e. Microsoft Office (Essential)
• Ability to develop & maintain professional staff/service user boundaries and supporting others to do the same (Essential)
• A mature, professional and flexible approach; excellent personal emotional intelligence and self-awareness, with an ability to work calmly under pressure, to reflect on own practice and accept feedback (Essential)
• Emotionally Resilient (Essential)
• Ability to challenge inappropriate behaviour (Essential)

Motivation:

• Be a committed Christian (Essential) as exempted in The Equality Act 2010 Part 1, Schedule 9
• Be passionate and enthusiastic about supporting young people to bring about change in their lives, having a heart for people and believe that everyone has the potential to change, given the right support and circumstances (Essential)
• To have perseverance and never give up hope in those who use our services, instilling that hope into their daily lives. (Essential)
  Please note for this role at Southwark Services:
  * There is an Occupational Requirement (OR) for the postholder to be female and is therefore only open to female applicants as exempted in The Equality Act 2010, Part 1, Schedule 9
  * There is an Occupational Requirement (OR) for the postholder to be a practicing Christian

Benefits: Oasis Community Housing operates a contributory group personal pension plan and, if eligible, you will be automatically enrolled into the Oasis Trust pension scheme. Currently all staff in our pension scheme are required to contribute a minimum of 2%. The employer contribution is currently set at 7%.
Oasis Community Housing life assurance policy, through Omnilife, is open to all staff who earn in excess of £6000 per annum.
25 days holiday per year, plus statutory holidays, increasing to 30 days per annum after 2 completed years’ service

To apply, email Andreia at andreia@southwarkworks.org.uk