Location : Head Office/ Pan-London (Hybrid)
Salary : £31,531 - £33,696 per annum
(Please note that applicants are usually appointed at the bottom of the relevant band)
Hours : 37.5 hours per week
Contract: Fixed Term Contract (Until 31st January 2027)
Closing Date: Monday 4th August 2025
Closing Time: 00:00am
Are you looking for a rewarding role working for an intersectional feminist organisation? If so, we have an incredible opportunity for you to join our team as a Housing First Multiple Disadvantage Outreach and Advocacy Worker at Solace Women's Aid.
We exist to end the harm done through gender-based violence. Our aim is to work to prevent violence and abuse, as well as providing services to meet the individual needs of survivors, particularly women and children. Our work is holistic and empowering, working alongside survivors to achieve independent lives, free from abuse.
Our core values reflect our history and were developed in consultation with staff and service users. Feminism and intersectionality are key to our work and we are committed to the principles of being survivor-led, trauma-informed, empowering, diverse, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.
About the Service
Housing First supports the most entrenched, excluded and hard to reach service users. It focuses on finding permanent housing as quickly as possible and then addressing the issues that have contributed to an individual’s homelessness. The Ruby Project, is a specialist Housing First programme supporting women who have experienced VAWG and other difficulties such as, substance misuse, experience of the criminal jusice system, having children removed from their care, mental and physical health issues etc.
‘I want someone who I can do nice things with, too, not someone who just talks about what has gone wrong, or drugs and other things……I think about those negatives all the time anyway and I want a worker who I can feel positive with, happy’ (service user supported by another Housing First Project).
About the Role
Accountabilities
Provide a high-quality case work support and information service to victims/survivors who have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence.
Advocate on behalf of clients with external agencies where appropriate, including at the MARAC
Provide Solution-focused casework interventions with women who have experienced VAWG and Multiple Disadvantage
Provide emotional support using a trauma informed approach.
Build and maintain supportive relationships with women.
Contribute to the completion of outcomes reports and funding returns when required.
Complete all documents when support work commences and keep up to date with any changing risks to or from the woman.
Empower women to access benefits and services they need.
Involve service users in the design, development, and delivery of the service.
Engage with a wide range of professionals (some of whom may have very different approaches to problem solving) through a multi-agency approach, and advocate to agencies on behalf of the Project and its service users.
Promote coordinated, joined-up service delivery for service users between violence against women services and drug and alcohol agencies, mental health, housing, health and legal agencies.
Contribute to a service-wide communications plan and ensure that information about the service is widely available locally to other agencies and is also readily accessible to potential service users.
Educate a wide range of agencies and stakeholders about the challenges faced by women experiencing multiple disadvantage.
Contribute to monitoring and evaluation of the Project
Be self-motivated to research processes and services in order to fully support and advocate for the women.
Fully engage with the team and all support and team spaces offered, supporting colleagues with the difficulties they face and celebrating positive outcomes.
Attend regular supervision sessions with your Line Manager
Attend case review meetings and contribute to effective team communication.
Ensure that creative and effective relationships are established with other teams and external organisations, particularly those that offer a service to our service users
Ensure compliance with all legal and contractual reporting requirements in relation to service delivery
Keep and maintain accurate and confidential records of all work undertaken.
Contribute to service user feedback and voice in service delivery and service development.
To ensure that individuals coming into contact with Solace are safeguarded and that appropriate safeguarding action is taken in respect of any concerns.
About You
Values, Behaviours and Competencies
Committed to the purpose of Solace Women’s Aid, ensuring that the service user is at the heart of service delivery and development
An intersectional feminist understanding of ‘Violence against Women and Girls’
Committed to fostering innovation and continuous improvement in working practice
Flexible and open to new challenges, ideas and experiences, and able to be self-reflective
Committed to understanding diversity and ensuring anti-discriminatory practice is applied in all forms of our work
Non-judgemental with a commitment to self-care within the team
Collaborative, building relationships with internal and external partners.
Knowledge, skills and experience
Some experience in providing emotional and/or practical support to women who have experienced VAWG, homelessness or multiple disadvantages.
Knowledge of the particular needs of women from diverse communities and the barriers to accessing support faced by women from a global majority background.
Experience of working in partnerships with other agencies e.g. signposting, making referrals, supporting with appointments
An understanding of the impact of trauma on women experiencing abuse
Awareness of the intersection between severe and multiple disadvantages and VAWG, and an understanding of how the intersection of these issues can make it difficult for people to engage with support.
A good knowledge of safeguarding practice and procedures
Ability to provide strengths-based support.
A resilient and assertive approach to reaching out to and building trust and positive relationships with women who have complex/multiple needs and who may present as reluctant to engage and/or may be presenting in crisis.
Excellent organisational, ICT, written and verbal communication skills.
Thorough knowledge and understanding of current safeguarding legislation, frameworks and procedures and practical application.
We understand that you may not have all the knowledge, experience, and skills mentioned in the Job Profile Document. However, your interpersonal skills, passion to have a positive impact, commitment to our purpose, and ability to learn quickly and collaborate effectively will be equally important.
What we can offer you
We provide a comprehensive benefits package to all our employees, including:
Flexible working
Focus on learning and development (internal career progression and training)
Generous holiday entitlement
Employer pension contribution
Family-friendly leave and enhanced maternity pay
Access to Inclusion Networks
Daily clinical debriefing
Employee Assistance Programme providing free 24/7 support and advice
Employee Benefits Platform offering staff discounts, benefits and savings
Flow & Restore yoga classes
Meditation sessions
Cycle to Work Scheme
How to apply
When applying for this role, kindly highlight in your Supporting Statement how your values, knowledge, transferrable skills, and experience align with each point within the following sections of the Job Profile Document:
Values, Behaviours & Competencies
Knowledge, Experience and Skills
Solace Women's Aid values diversity, promotes equity, and challenges discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from candidates of diverse cultures, abilities, perspectives, and lived experiences. We have policies and processes in place to ensure that all employees are offered an equal opportunity in recruitment and selection, promotion, training, pay, and benefits. Our Inclusion Networks support staff with protected characteristics and offer inclusive spaces to connect.
We are a Disability Confident Employer and committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as needed and support employees who acquire a disability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work.
This service is run by women for women and is therefore restricted to female applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, and Part 1. Section 7(2) e of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 apply. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
As part of safer recruitment practices, we carry out pre-employment checks including references, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and right to work in the UK checks.
No agencies.