Triage Officer

About you:

We are looking for a confident and compassionate professional with experience of working in a housing, homelessness or customer focused environment.

About the role:

As a Triage Officer, you will be the first port of call giving advice and assistance to customers who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. You will engage with customers face to face, by telephone and by email, gathering essential information, assessing risk and urgency, and ensuring that cases are progressed promptly and accurately in line with homelessness legislation and council procedures. You will work closely with colleagues across Housing Needs and Homelessness, wider council services, and external partner organisations to ensure customers are supported and signposted to the right help at the right time. This is a challenging but highly rewarding role, requiring empathy, sound judgement and the ability to work confidently in fast paced and sometimes complex situations.

Key Responsibilities

Act as the first point of contact for customers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including self referrals and duty to refer cases
Carry out structured triage assessments, gathering key information on housing situation, risks, and immediate needs
Assess urgency and risk, including situations involving rough sleeping, domestic abuse, safeguarding concerns, or hospital/institutional discharge
Provide early housing advice, including tenancy rights, eviction processes and homelessness prevention options
Verify eligibility for assistance under homelessness legislation
Accurately record information, upload evidence and prepare cases for allocation to Casework or Early Intervention and Sustainment Officers
Signpost and refer customers to appropriate internal and external support services
Work in a trauma informed and psychologically informed way at all times
Contribute to service performance, quality assurance and continuous improvement
Respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns and incidents, escalating where required
Maintain high standards of customer care and professionalism in line with council policies

About the team:

The Customer Support Team (Housing Needs Team) are committed to helping and supporting each other and the people of Exeter with complex and unprecedented challenges. Exeter City Council is a great place to work, and the overwhelming majority of staff tell us that they really care about working for the Council and that it is a happy place to work. We have an agile and flexible working policy right across the Council to provide our staff with a positive work-life balance. So, if you are a customer focused professional who is well-organised with excellent communication and IT skills, we would like to hear from you.

What next?
If we sound like the right fit for you and you feel like the right fit for us we would welcome your application. Please click on the Apply button at the bottom of this page.

Alternatively if you would like to find out more about the post, the team or working with us at the Council please contact Amanda Leach, Customer Experience Manager, at View email address on findajob.dwp.gov.uk

We reserve the right to close any vacancy before the closing date if enough applications are received.

Our commitment
At Exeter City Council we are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve.

To support this commitment we will strive to implement reasonable adjustments to support any members of our communities who face barriers in recruitment processes, irrespective of the reason.

We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and have committed to guaranteeing an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.