Outreach Officer

At Connect2Hackney, we are the internal talent team dedicated to finding exceptional people who want to shape the future of one of London's most vibrant, progressive, and diverse boroughs.

We are seeking five compassionate, driven, and proactive Outreach Workers to join our frontline team. If you are passionate about fighting financial hardship, breaking down stigma, and building trust directly within the community, this is the perfect role for you.

In this impactful role, you will be delivering a blend of data-led outbound campaigns and weekly community-based outreach. You will meet residents in spaces where they already feel comfortable, helping them maximize their incomes as early as possible.

Whether you are helping someone navigate complex benefit applications or arranging urgent crisis support for a family moving into an unfurnished home, your work will directly prevent financial crisis and change lives. You will work holistically and empathetically to support approximately 10-15 residents per week.

• Proactive Outbound Campaigns: Utilize council data to identify residents who are struggling or underclaiming benefits, making direct contact to build trust and guide them through applications.
• Community Outreach: Run weekly in-person outreach sessions at various community locations across the borough, recording case information accurately in the Money Hub system.
• Income Maximization: Conduct comprehensive benefit checks to identify underclaiming. Help residents understand eligibility and apply for core support including Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Pension Credit, and State Retirement Pension.
• Holistic Support: Assist residents with energy, fuel, and water needs (e.g., Thames Water schemes, social tariffs), and help secure essential extras like Free School Meals, Blue Badges, and Healthy Start Vouchers.
• Crisis Assistance & Debt Navigation: Review urgent crisis requests to award Home Goods, travel, or removal costs. Help residents in debt by requesting payment arrangements for rent/Council Tax arrears and making effective referrals to expert debt advice agencies.
• Internal Team Collaboration: Seamlessly hand over complex disability benefits cases (like PIP or DLA) or discretionary housing/tax reduction cases to specialized Money Hub colleagues.
• Compassionate Communication: Write clear, empathetic decision letters tailored to each resident's unique situation.

You don't need to be an expert in every piece of legislation from day one, but you must be eager to learn and deeply committed to supporting vulnerable residents. We are looking for candidates who are:

• Empathetic & Person-Centred: Extremely comfortable working face-to-face with residents, utilizing a strength-based approach to overcome mistrust or stigma surrounding welfare benefits.
• Knowledgeable (or Eager to Learn): Possess a baseline understanding of welfare benefits or show a strong willingness to learn the eligibility frameworks quickly.
• System Confident: Able to navigate (or learn to navigate) relevant data systems such as Academy, Comino, Jigsaw, and LIFT.
• Problem Solvers: Flexible, resilient, and collaborative when working with community partners and handling diverse, unique cases.

This is a hybrid and community-facing role. You will be expected to work from the main office at least one day a week, and work in person across the borough at outreach events, training, and team meetings as required.

Commercial Services Trading Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.