Refugees Officer (Dari/Pashto)

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Job description

Job Title: Community Support Officer (Refugees)
Employer: Pertemps Recruitment Partnership for Harrow Council
Contract Type: Temporary
Hours of Work: 36 Hours per week

Overview of a Community Support Officer
Pertemps have an exciting opportunity within Harrow Council for a self-driven and motivated Community Support Officer to join an expanding team. The role of Community Support Officer has a competitive pay rate of £18.40 per hour. Other benefits include excellent training and support for career development and 21 days holiday (excluding Bank Holidays).

The successful candidate needs to have knowledge of Dari/Pushto language and a good understanding of English. Ability to also speak Arabic is a desirable criteria.

The Main Purpose of a Community Support Officer:

" To serve as the main point of contact for all stakeholders working with refugees and newly arrived households, facilitating all administrative processes, acting as an ambassador, internally and externally and an advocate for refugee and other newly arrived families and the council as required.
" To prepare pre-arrival and post arrival support plans based on the information provided on the household profile, making changes as required and monitoring plans through to full implementation; to meet families upon arrival and take steps to ensure they are settled into their home and can manage in-house facilities, to introduce families to their immediate surroundings in particular completion of registration with the GP, dentist, library, school, college, optician, DWP, Job Centre Plus, ESOL provision, and other relevant support agencies.
" To create and maintain an up to date a Welcome Pack and be the main point of contact for sharing essential information or changes in information, to support the settling in process. This will include ongoing support and liaison with schools, college, utility companies and other agencies for the duration of the project or up to the point of full integration.
" Work with Housing Needs service to ensure properties are fit for purpose, ready to let, adequately furnished, and meet relevant housing standards for the duration of the tenancy.

To be successful in this role you would need to have the below skills & experience:

" Speak Dari/Pushto language and a good understanding of English
" Knowledge of refugee rights and entitlements (and those for other new arrivals) and an appreciation of key cultural sensitivities
" Up to date knowledge of housing, immigration, housing benefit and welfare legislation and guidance on key aspects of settling in the UK
" Experience of managing conflict and problem solving
" Experience of managing projects
" Able to occasionally work outside of normal working hours

About us
" For almost 60 years, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership have been the market leader in providing permanent and temporary staffing solutions and we are one of the most established players within the recruitment industry. The Sunday Times has listed us as one of the Best 100 Companies to work for 14 years running. We are not a big scary faceless company, quite the opposite: we strongly believe in the personal touch with everything we do. We are proud to be accredited 'investor in people' which is reflected across our business in length of service and career progression of our employees.
" Harrow Council is the 12th largest London borough and one of the most culturally diverse local authorities in the UK, making it a great place to live, work and visit. Located 10 miles from the city centre and just 13 minutes to Euston from Harrow & Wealdstone station there are great transport links via the Metropolitan Line, Watford DC Line and national rail service. It is easily accessible to the M1, M25 and A406.