The Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind
Job Description: Community Advice Officer
Hours: 37.5 hrs per week Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm, half hour lunch break. Some flexibility in terms of working hours may be considered.
Salary: £27,300
Background Information: Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind (SRSB) provides a range of services and facilities to support people with sight loss in Sheffield, including a residential care home (Cairn Home). We also support people with sight loss and/or hearing loss in Rotherham. Our services in Rotherham are delivered under the name of Rotherham Sight & Sound (RSS). Our overarching aim is to promote people’s independence through advice and subsequent referral to other services, both our own and other agencies.
General Information: Reporting to the Community Services Manager and working as part of a team of people dedicated to providing a high-quality Community Advice Service for the visually impaired people of Sheffield and sensory impaired people of Rotherham. Comprehensive vocational training will be given.
Duties & Responsibilities: Covering all areas of Sheffield and Rotherham, visiting clients in their homes to offer support and advice on a variety of topics, including, but not restricted to:
- Choice of suitable aids to assist with everyday tasks, some of the aids being free issue by Social Services and others that the client purchases.
- Liaising with Social Services and/or other agencies to secure appropriate services for our clients.
- Assisting and completing benefit application forms including Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance and when required supporting clients through the appeals process.
- Formal Specialist Needs Assessment of visually impaired people on behalf of Social Services in Sheffield.
- Specialist Needs Assessment of visually impaired people in Rotherham
- Respond to referrals from a variety of sources.
- Completion of appropriate internal report forms following contact with clients, updating our database etc.
- Assistance with social/leisure activities and other occasional events.
- Staying up to date with changes in legislation, policies or procedures which could impact upon our clients.
- Attend staff meetings, supervisions and appraisals.
- Undertake appropriate training as and when required.
- Other ad-hoc duties as may be required from time to time.
The list of specific duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive and a suitable candidate must be able to work flexibly assuming many different roles and responsibilities.
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Experience and Qualifications
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Essential/Desirable
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Experience of working with/supporting vulnerable people
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Essential |
| A basic knowledge of welfare rights or the willingness to learn |
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Essential |
| Experience of working with/supporting people with a sensory impairment |
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Desirable |
| Experience of working in the voluntary sector |
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Desirable |
| Experience of producing written and electronic based reports |
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Essential |
| Commitment to own continuing professional development and attendance at further training |
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Essential |
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| Skills/Attributes |
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Essential/Desirable |
| Adaptability, able to respond to a varied workload and different challenges |
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Essential |
| Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a structured way with a range of individuals, both verbally and in writing |
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Essential |
| Ability to communicate with staff in a professional manner - to develop and maintain appropriate positive relationships with a range of stakeholders |
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Essential |
| IT literate and competent in use of Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel and Outlook, or equivalent |
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Essential |
| Experience using CRM (database) software (this is Microsoft Dynamics) |
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Desirable |
| Ability to work on own initiative and liaise with colleagues as and when required |
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Essential |
| Ability to prioritise and manage own workload |
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| Honest & Trustworthy |
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You should have, or be able to develop, a good understanding of the needs of people with a sensory impairment
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Essential |
| Qualities and Competencies |
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Essential/Desirable |
| Self-motivated |
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Essential |
| Personal commitment to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices |
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Essential |
| Ability to motivate and support others |
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| A good sense of humour |
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Essential |
| Conscientious and thorough in record keeping, data collection and data protection to support service delivery and development |
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| Other Requirements |
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Essential/Desirable |
| Ability to travel for events such as training, forums etc |
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Essential |
| This post may require some very occasional UK travel and may include occasional overnight stays |
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Essential |
| Appointment is subject to an Enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references, including a reference from your current/most recent employer. |
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Essential |
| Due to the nature of our work, guide dogs and hearing support dogs will regularly be present. Hence, it is necessary that the successful applicant does not have any unmanageable allergies to dogs and does not object to them accompanying their owners |
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Essential |
Essential Car User Allowance
This is paid in addition to a mileage allowance for business mileage.
All Staff are required to:
Understand and comply with all relevant legislation and SRSB’s policies and procedures, including data protection, safeguarding and health & safety.
Confidentiality of information relating to clients, volunteers and staff is of paramount importance.
To bring to the attention of the CEO any serious problems or areas of concern.
Work as part of a team for the benefit of our clients. Staff are expected to be conscientious, adaptable and flexible in their duties.
Actively promote the work of SRSB/RSS as an independent charity for the provision of help, support and provision of services in various forms for the benefit of our clients.
Undertake appropriate training as and when required, some of which will be Health & Safety related and some of which will be skills related.
Benefits:
Life Assurance: All staff are covered under a life assurance policy for twice their annual salary. However, please note that this is not a contractual obligation and whilst we have no intention of removing this benefit the Charity in its sole and absolute discretion reserves the right to discontinue, vary or amend the scheme (including the level of your cover) at any time on reasonable notice to you.
Pension: You will be auto enrolled in SRSB’s staff pension scheme immediately subject to you meeting the relevant criteria in terms of age and earnings. If you are auto enrolled you will contribute 5% of your gross earnings (plus employer contribution 3%). If you wish to contribute over and above this percentage you may do so, but SRSB will not match this extra contribution.
Holidays: Pro rata to full time equivalent of 23 days per annum plus 9 days statutory/customary holidays. Up to 3 days must be reserved for the Christmas/New Year shutdown. Additional holiday entitlement starts to accrue after 3 years’ service. Our holiday year is 1st January to 31st December, holiday entitlement accruing pro-rata throughout the year.