Our Values

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

About the team we are recruiting to

Coventry City Council’s Migration Team is an innovative and dynamic team that is focussed on meeting the needs of newly arriving communities in the city and supporting integration.  The team works with internal and diverse external partners to deliver projects and other interventions based on our migrant needs assessment and other evidence related to the barriers faced by new migrants.  

Coventry was one of the first cities to welcome Syrian refugees in 2014, and the team leads a partnership in delivering a resettlement programme welcoming some of the most vulnerable individuals fleeing conflict and persecution from Syria and the Middle-East.  Work is centred on enabling refugees to make Coventry their new home, living with dignity and respect as well as contributing positively to our vibrant and growing city. 

Building on Coventry’s history of welcoming new arrivals into the city, we work towards maintaining a strategic overview of our refugee and migrant population including people seeking asylum dispersed to the City.  With over £3.5m already brought into the city, from external funding we establish collaborative partnerships to maximise interventions to promote community cohesion and enable everyone to contribute towards making Coventry a place where people choose to live, learn and work. 

The Migration Team celebrates diversity while also ensuring rights, opportunities and responsibilities are understood. Projects including: 

• Building Bridges 

• Ignite Integration Programme, and  

• MiFriendly Cities  

About the Resettlement Team

Coventry City Council joined the Resettlement scheme in July 2014, and since then we have become one of the leading cities in the UK for the resettlement of refugees. As of 1^st April 2022, over 800  refugees have been welcomed into the city under resettlement schemes.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Resettlement Team and help to be a part of the wider Migration Team to ensure Coventry residents receive high quality and personalised support, enabling them to move closer to and into good quality employment through the resettlement scheme.

What is the job role?

As a Project Support Officer Year 2- year 5 you will provide advice, support and guidance to Coventry residents from a refugee and migrant background to support their resettlement into the city by making connections to local communities and referring clients to appropriate services. 

You will have a passion to help others by effective connections and supporting people towards independence . You will be working within the Resettlement Team which is a team of currently 10 who work closely together within the project. The Resettlement Team are also part of the wider Migration Team which consists of around 25-30 people.

The role involves

• Supporting clients with complex needs with their ongoing support by signposting to relevant services within the city.
• Maintaining accurate records to meet the Resettlement scheme requirements, preparing documents, tracking progress, reporting to management and supporting management to ensure that the Resettlement clients are supported appropriately.
• Working from the Coventry City Council offices or other various sites across the city if and when necessary.
• You will be responsible for identifying support opportunities within local communities for the client group
• You will carry out focused assessments and create a clear plan of action which will enable the individual to move closer to independence.
• Your role will involve accessing suitable resources, partners and support agencies, as individuals can face barriers in reaching out to organisations on their own. You will act as a link between the client and organisation.  
• Researching for current available support options suitable for client group and referring clients to them. These can be education support, benefit support, social activities, befriending etc.
• You will be supporting with the arrival arrangements of new clients in the city.
• Working on tailoring the clients’ experience towards their independence. Work with and support the other team member with the different areas of support required for Resettlement clients.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a highly motivated individual with experience of working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrant communities. 

This is a 9 month fixed term contract.

Working with the Head of Service, the Programme Delivery Manager, and Project Manager  you will be a natural self-starter with a can-do attitude.

The ideal candidate should have excellent communication and written skills, be able to work on their own initiative, have a meticulous approach and attention to detail with the ability to meet deadlines. They should be able to monitor and organise interventions and delivery of sessions where required. They will be working with resettled refugees to support their successful integration, enabling them to:

• Plan and develop future pathways to improve confidence, independence and wellbeing
• Make community links to further support their integration post initial support
• Access services within the city
• Become involved in the local community

The right candidate will possess the following:  

• Excellent ICT skills and be proficient in using a variety of packages in order to accurately record, analyse, monitor and review information. The ability to work effectively as part of a team, on your own and with a wide range of partners is also critical to this role. 
• The ability to communicate with newly arrived clients who will have little to no English language experience.
• Strong numerical skills required to process complex documents, with an eye for detail when processing information.  
• Effective time management skills, with an ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines, prioritise competing work tasks.  
• Ability to handle confidential information with tact and discretion. 
• Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills to positively challenge partners and have difficult conversations when needed. 
• You will also be involved in supporting the team to bid for additional funding. Excellent communication skills with the ability to understand and translate complex information into guidance for staff and partners both verbally and in writing will be highly desirable. 
• Experience of handling and processing manual or computerised information, experience of using databases, Word and Excel 
• Able to work effectively with clients in person and online.
• To be able to explore and find suitable services and opportunities for the client group.
• To be able to put together action plans and monitor them.
• To be able to research and form good working relationships with external organisations.

You will need to be excellent at developing positive working relationships, an effective communicator, able to work with a wide range of people from different backgrounds including BAME, disability and mental health and crucially have the skills and ability to listen, understand and identify how you can support each client in a positive manner. You will be able to understand the sensitivity of working with the clients, barriers they face and come up with carefully thought-out plans on how to overcome them.

If you are dynamic, creative, able to use your initiative and believe that you have the drive and skills to be able to make a real difference to the residents of Coventry, then we want to hear from you. 

When writing your personal statement, please pay particular regard to the following, as your answers will be used for shortlisting:

• What is your experience of working with and supporting newly arrived refugees and their families to remove barriers they face?
• What services and organisations do you think you would need to engage with to form successful pathways to independence for refugees?
• Please explain a time when you have worked to build a partnership between organisations/stakeholders and the approaches that you used. Include any challenges faced and how you worked to address these.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interviews will be on 25th March 

About Coventry

Coventry is a lively, multicultural city, which embraces old and new. Around the modern city centre there are traces of history everywhere – in the old city walls, the timber-framed buildings and the reconstructed medieval Spon Street. But Coventry has always had an eye on the future, and is now firmly focused on regenerating and re-inventing itself to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. With major developments and new projects taking place right across the city, Coventry City Council is the place to be!

There's a huge buzz about the city – Coventry ranks as the 8th best city to live, work and do business in the UK, and is the UK City of Culture 2021 ! We believe this will help put Coventry on the map for all the right reasons. You can feel the sense of local pride throughout the city as we build towards this momentous year. It also offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to those joining us to play their part in it.

We genuinely believe that Coventry City Council is a special place. You will be joining Coventry City Council during an exciting time to become part of a team that contribute to achieving our visions for the city. We have made our council a place where we look after our people, making sure you're happy in your work and given everything you need to succeed. We've created friendly, welcoming workplaces where everyone is working towards the same cause, providing the best possible services for the city of Coventry.

As a council with improvement at its heart, we’re committed to making life better for the people who live and work in Coventry. We’re equally concerned with the quality of life enjoyed by our people, so by joining us, you won’t just be helping the community, you’ll be helping yourself too.

Not only do you get to work alongside great people that are helping to improve services for our community we offer great benefits too! For your valued contribution we will provide a fantastic benefits package including;

• Flexible working arrangements
• Generous annual leave allowance starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days
• Pay progression through multiple increments
• Outstanding local government pension scheme
• Learning & Development with access to certified courses.
• Access to an award winning Occupational Health Team
• Vibrant employee networks 

Coventry City Council