HELPLINE SUPPORT PRACTITIONER (Female) JOB DESCRIPTION Job Title: Helpline Support Practitioner Salary: Hours: £21,680 per annum 30 hours per week 12 month fixed contract (with possibility of extension, subject to further funding) Responsible to: Referrals and Triage Co-ordinator and Operations Manager Key relationships: CEO, Colleagues, Trustees, Stakeholders, Volunteers and Service Users. Job Purpose: This role involves assisting the Referrals and Triage Co-ordinator in supporting the helpline volunteers and processing referrals for Staffordshire Women’s Aid. The Helpline provides emotional support and specialist information, advice, and guidance on a range of issues for victims of domestic and sexual abuse 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This post is open to female applicants only as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010. JOB DETAILS Core Functions, Duties & Responsibilities Core Requirements: • To work as a committed member of the Staffordshire Women's Aid team. • To support the aims, values and working principles of Staffordshire Women's Aid, and to work in alignment with Staffordshire Women’s Aid’s Policies and Procedures. • To take all possible steps to ensure the safety and confidentiality of service users, staff and volunteers of Staffordshire Women's Aid. May 2025 Specific Duties: • Respond and process referrals in a timely way from a range of established referral pathways including self and agency referrals and entering onto the Oasis case management system. • Ensure a good level of data integrity within the Oasis case management system, identifying duplicate files and checking data against agreed standards. • Support the helpline by covering helpline shifts as necessary providing information, advice, guidance and emotional support. • Respond to referral queries from service users and agencies in a professional manner. • Triage new referrals, ensure existing referrals are followed up and complete initial needs and risk assessments in an accurate and timely manner. • Escalate any safeguarding or immediate safety concerns to the Referrals and Triage Co-ordinator or a manager. • Identify support needs and refer into the appropriate service. • Make follow-up calls to all pending referrals to meet contractual time scales. • Signpost or make onward referral to outside agencies where appropriate. • Assist in supporting and training helpline volunteers. • Assist in running data reports on Oasis database to identify any discrepancies, variations or data anomalies. • Provide waiting support when necessary. General Responsibilities: • Work flexibly to allow us to offer the best service possible to service users, this will involve working some evening/weekend sessions. • Attend team and service meetings as required and collaborate with colleagues in achieving team and organisational objectives. • Maintain an awareness of issues/current legislation related to VAWG attending relevant training / conferences / workshops in line with identified professional objectives. May 2025 Variation Clause Staffordshire Women’s Aid reserves the right, following consultation with the member of staff, to vary, add or alter any of the terms and conditions of employment attached to this post. This job description will be reviewed annually and may need to be revised according to the priorities of current workload with the agreement of the Board of Trustees and the CEO. The performance of the post holder will be monitored through regular supervision by the line manager and reviewed at each annual appraisal. It is in the nature of the work of Staffordshire Women's Aid that tasks and responsibilities are in many circumstances unpredictable and varied. All employees are therefore expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises so that tasks which are not specifically covered in their job description are undertaken. These additional duties will normally be to cover unforeseen circumstances or changes in work and will normally be compatible with the regular type of work. Please be aware that you will be required to undertake a DBS check and may be required to undertake additional security checks to work in some settings. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle are essential requirements of the post. General Information and Conditions of Service • 5 weeks holiday (pro rata) per year, plus statutory holidays. • Staffordshire Women’s Aid contributes a sum equivalent to 3% of the annual salary to the company pension scheme following successful completion of 3 months probationary period, and subject to staff contribution as part of auto-enrolment. • Overtime is unpaid; time off in lieu is to be taken in consultation with line manager. May 2025 Helpline Support Practitioner PERSON SPECIFICATION Criteria: Qualifications: GCSE, or equivalent, in English and Maths. Experience: • Experience of working with victims of domestic or sexual violence. • Experience of maintaining information management systems and databases. • Experience and ability to communicate on the phone with both service users and professionals. Knowledge & Understanding: Understanding of and commitment to the Violence Against Women and Girls agenda, and its place in the values of Staffordshire Women’s Aid. An understanding of anti-discriminatory working principles and practices, and of the importance of an ethos of diversity. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Skills: Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of agencies. Ability to communicate with victims of abuse in a compassionate, empathetic and non-judgmental way. Demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and integrity. Good ICT skills and ability to collect and record data accurately. Ability to work on own initiative and prioritise own workload, meeting organisational deadlines. Ability to assess risk of harm to clients/self/others/property and take action as appropriate and consider sharing of information in respect of Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults; acts of terrorism etc. Ability to accept and use supervision appropriately and effectively. Other: Ability to identify and solve problems, escalating to management as appropriate. Ability to work flexibly as part of a team. Commitment to on-going professional learning and development. Resilience, determination and a sense of humour. May 2025 Essential Desirable x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x