Our Values

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do. 

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

About the team we are recruiting to

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

Coventry City Council’s Migration Team is an innovative and dynamic team that is focused 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 that 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 include: 

• UK Resettlement
• Our Coventry
• Step and Step Forward
• Homes for Ukraine
• British Hong Kong Nationals  

The Welfare Rights Officer role will also be linked to Coventry City Councils Job Shop.

The Job Shop is the Employment & Skills Service is part of Coventry City Council.  The team work with a range of delivery partners to provide a wide portfolio of top-quality support to Coventry residents of all ages who are looking for work.  They work with partners across the city and their Employer Hub actively works with local employers to generate opportunities for local people. 

The Job Shop is there to support all Coventry residents to search for employment, training, apprenticeships and work placements.  People can explore a wide range of local vacancies that are updated daily and access training opportunities.  

The Job Shop and its exciting range of specialist employment support programmes are among the very best support available in the UK.

What is the job role?

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a customer focused Welfare Rights Officer, working with Refugees and Newly arrived Communities, to join The Migration team in conjunction with the Job Shop.  This specialist role will support those clients who are being supported by the City Council Migration Team.

Coventry City Council Migration Team is committed to supporting refugees and newly arrived communities to find sustainable employment and to assist them through challenging economic times and major welfare reform. The Welfare Rights Officer will play a key role in supporting CCC Migration Team clients, enabling them to deal with queries quickly, clearly and effectively. They will also manage their own caseload of benefit and debt cases where the aim is to support clients towards employment and financial independence.

Areas of focus will be:

To screen new arrivals and create action plans to be monitored at regular follow-up meetings.

To work out better-off calculations and discuss advantages of working income.

Outreach work involving delivering information and guidance sessions to newly arrived cohorts and long-term clients on financial stability.

To work closely with the Employment Officer, Caseworkers and Housing Team to ensure action plans are followed through and supported.

To produce reports on progress of clients.

The successful candidate will provide operational and strategic management of the service and will in addition have experience of providing high quality specialist welfare benefits advice to a range of customers, with particular experience of working with refugees and newly arrived communities and an understanding of the challenges and barriers the may face during their employment search.

The successful candidate will be expected to support clients sited at different venues so will need to be flexible in providing support where it is needed most.

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?

An experienced Welfare Rights Adviser who has extensive understanding of the UK welfare system and is well organised, able to work on your own initiative and have a proven ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders.

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 and organisations. You will be focusing on refugees and newly arrived communities, disabilities, and mental health, and crucially have the skills and ability to listen, understand and identify how you can support each customer in a positive manner to becoming financially stable.

This is a 37 hours per week post on a fixed term contract until 31 December 2026.

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

Interview date(s): tbc

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant, and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

Coventry City Council