Community Involvement Officer

To apply visit: http://www.centreforpartnership.co.uk/the-gems/  choose your project and click 'Apply to join GEM' on the left hand side. Make sure you also download the Candidate Pack which can be found on this page. 

Background

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive was formed in 1971 as Northern Ireland’s Strategic Housing Authority. Our vision is one in which housing plays its part in creating a peaceful, inclusive, prosperous and fair society. We want to recruit talented graduates directly from our communities who will help us to make our vision a reality for Northern Ireland’s communities. Our goal is that everyone has access to decent, affordable housing and our task is to work with communities and other organisations to meet the housing needs of existing and future generations. We need to enable our future leaders to play a key part in delivering our aims, and to help us with this challenge we have teamed up with the award winning GEM Programme which works directly with the housing sector to deliver an intensive one year learning experience. Completing the GEM Programme with us will give you a real kick start to a fantastic future in the sector. We have an exciting role working within and supporting your communities directly.

Role Purpose:

As a Community Involvement Officer working on projects such as Digital Inclusion, CTOS, Scrutiny Panels, Housing Community Network, Rural Residents, Disability Forum, Northern Ireland Youth Forum and Mystery Shopping etc you will assist the organisation in the delivery of the organisation’s Community Involvement strategy to improve how we enable, engage and empower our communities to influence, challenge and lobby and improve our services with a view to giving our communities the opportunity to get involved on line whether its via their computer, table, TV or smart phone.

Introduce new ways to increase involvement and enable people to have their say without having to travel or commit lots of time. Introduce digital as an option in how residents can be involved by choosing to see information on things that interest them both at an area level and estate level. This will include the development of the D4C project Giving you the opportunity to be involved on line Get FIT for the future – patch manager Facebook pilot Community conference – fit 4 future and horizon scanning Involved in the development of an online portal where residents can access information on com involvement and comment on our services IT.

Involved in the development of training for community reps and staff as part of the training plan HE. Involved in the development of community lets as digital hubs/zones as highlighted in the community involvement strategy. Involved in the development of Mystery Shopping and linking into the business objectives.

Involved in the development of scrutiny panels and Housing Community Network structures. Involved in the introduction of the use of mobile technology to: Let residents fill in surveys and communicate with us on their doorsteps and with the office patch managers through their tablets Monitor who attends events and make sure all residents know how to get involved.

All of the above will include training staff and customer ‘digital champions’, co-ordinating the circulation of information and resource materials. In addition, you will be part of Housing services Division’s project for the development of our community involvement strategy and connecting with our customers including the use of social media, webchat and enhanced telephony and mobile working solutions.

This placement will be suitable for an individual interested in getting involved in an area of growth for housing providers, working both on a strategic and grass-roots level.

You will be committed to delivering excellent customer service, have a strong desire to improve access to opportunities for social housing tenants and the ability to learn and share new skills with others.

Essential Requirements:

• Values which fit in with the Housing Executive Community Involvement Strategy
• Ability to communicate with people from all backgrounds in a non judgemental way
• Demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to facilitate focus/discussion groups.
• A commitment to working with customers to improve their life chances
• Good timekeeping, punctuality and all round personal integrity
• Ability to take personal responsibility, self motivate and self manage
• Team Working
• Good oral and written communication skills
• Project Management and event organisation skills
• Have an interest in social policy and a good grasp of government changes
• Strong IT skills
• Access to a means of transport