Involvement Officer - Blackburn

Salary: £31,133 per annum

Contract: Fixed term until April 2026

Location: Blackburn Central Library

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Closing date: Tuesday 7th January at 11.30pm

Do you have a good understanding of how lived experience of bad housing or homelessness can impact an individual, plus a real desire and proven ability to help individuals to share their feedback, stories and experiences so that we can better help them in the future?

Then join Shelter as an Involvement Officer and you could soon be playing a vital role within a brand new project that aims to reach more people at risk of losing their homes and work with communities before they reach crisis point.

About the role

Your role will involve planning and delivering a programme of involvement activities with the aim of ensuring the views and experiences of individuals with lived experience of bad housing or homelessness informs all of Shelter s work. We will also rely on you to deliver involvement activities across the organisation which will shape the ongoing design, delivery and governance of our work.

People with lived experience will be involved in a variety of ways too, including involvement groups, taking part in events within local communities, co-designing services and campaigns, sharing stories and speaking out about the housing emergency. You will work closely alongside people with lived experience to influence and steer the direction of Shelter s work, so that lived experience informs everything we do.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About you

To succeed, you will ideally need some experience of facilitating involvement groups and other activities in order to involve people with lived experience in Shelter s work while ensuring a safe and inclusive space where everybody can contribute. You will have a good understanding of how lived experience of housing problems can impact people and be able to support them to talk about their experiences.

The ability to plan and co-ordinate involvement activities with local teams and have several activities running during the same time period, is important too, as is a flair for developing successful relationships with colleagues across a large organisation, as well as with local organisations and partners. Some experience of presenting information verbally and in writing is also required, as is proficiency using IT tools to carry out your day-to-day work, including case management systems, Microsoft Office, internet, email and online meetings.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave (pro rata), enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

About the team

We have launched a new 3-year project with a leading UK Bank which aims to help more than 3,000 people at risk of losing their home during the cost of living crisis and build financial resilience in local communities to help prevent homelessness.

Every day Shelter s frontline services hear from people who are really struggling and don t know how they re going to pay their rent or put food on their table. Our ambition is to do more to stop people from becoming homeless in the first place by working with them before they reach crisis point.

About Shelter

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change, with individuals, in communities, across society, and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

At Shelter we are united by our purpose to defend the right to a safe home. Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. We believe that to win that fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement for change. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, fair, equitable and transparent.

We have committed to combat racism both within and outside Shelter and welcome you on our journey to becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

How to Apply

Please click Apply for Job below. You are required to submit a CV and responses to the 'About You' points outlined in the job description of no more than 350 words each. Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate how you address the behaviour below throughout your responses:

• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive and open mindset

Any applications submitted without a supporting statement will not be considered.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.