Welfare Advice Manager

www.sufra-nwlondon.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1151911

Welfare Advice Manager – Job Description

Salary

Hours:

£36,565 pro rata

4 days a week (32 hours per week)

Contract:

Fixed term until 1 April 2027

Annual Leave:

25 days pro rata + statutory holidays

Responsible to:  Head of Advice

Location:

Stonebridge, London Borough of Brent (Hybrid)

About Sufra NW London

Sufra NW London is a local charity established in 2013 to address both the causes and
consequences of impoverishment in the community.

Based on St. Raphael’s Estate, the London Borough of Brent’s most disadvantaged

neighbourhood, our services aim to prevent hunger, fight poverty and build community – by
working with families living in poverty, asylum seekers and refugees, and people experiencing
homeless and social isolation.

With the help of our volunteers and partners, we coordinate a network of food banks, kitchens,

a community shop and café. These act as a gateway for guests to access more holistic
support – including welfare advice, asylum support and our award-winning community
garden.

We aim to work with our guests to find solutions to their challenges together, whilst
campaigning against the causes of hunger and poverty. Our services include:

Food Bank and Community Shops: Through our two food bank hubs and our community shop,
we improve access to food for thousands of people who cannot afford the basic cost of living.

Page 1 of 6

Community Kitchens and Café: We serve a freshly cooked nutritious two and three course
meals every across multiple venues in Brent, mainly to people who are homeless, socially
isolated, food bank users or those in debt or claiming benefits.

Welfare Advice Service: Our Advice Workers help people address the underlying problems that
led them to our Food Bank – such as benefit disruptions, housing problems and other financial
difficulties.

Refugee Support: The OpenARMs (Asylum Seekers, Refugee and Migrants) Programme aims to
empower guests to become independent and to build a new life in our local community.

St. Raphael’s Edible Garden: In our thriving Community Garden, we offer horticulture courses
and volunteering opportunities for local residents and people with additional mental/physical
health needs. The space includes a teaching yurt, a wildlife pond, a chicken coop (with 20 egg-
laying hens), an orchard and an abundance of raised beds for growing vegetables and fruit.

Community Wellbeing Service: The Community Wellbeing Service, launched in February 2023,
is a local support hub offering relief from the rising cost of living for local families. Through a

£4/week membership, members have access to a range of support including a Community
Shop, Community Café and Advice and Guidance through an extensive timetable of partners
in the space.

Each of these services is designed to lead vulnerable people on a personal journey from crisis

to economic stability, social inclusion and active participation in the community. We rely
heavily on our dedicated volunteers to ensure that we can deliver our services, and we work

closely with faith groups, schools and voluntary sector organisations who provide a wide range
of additional support.

Role Description

***

This is a fantastic opportunity for a skilled line manager with experience in general welfare

advice to join Sufra NW London. In this highly rewarding role, you will oversee the delivery of

services that can measurably change lives by providing quality advice and support to those

most in need.

You will manage our team of advice staff and volunteers to deliver high quality advice,

information and welfare support to guests on a range of topics including benefits, housing,

debt and immigration issues. An additional focus will be on establishing clear pathways for

referring guests to external services, and managing volunteers to triage, signpost and refer

guests to other forms of welfare support.

Page 2 of 6

The advice team consists of paid staff and support volunteers. This year will be dedicated to

consolidation of the service, ensuring that we are fulfilling our core mission to the highest

standards.  We are also hoping to launch our immigration advice service, providing guests with

a first point of contact for their immigration needs and smooth referral pathways to specialist

advice. Finally, our OpenARMs programme will be launching workshops for our refugee and

asylum-seeker communities.

You will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team, especially Head of Advice at Sufra to

support the implementation of new initiatives, and the expansion of our information and

advice services to enhance our efficiency and impact.

The post holder will be a highly articulate and proactive individual with good welfare advice

knowledge, 3+ years delivery experience in managing a charity team, strong service

management skills, as well as experience managing staff and volunteers. The ideal candidate

will have up-to-date knowledge of the welfare system, immigration and safeguarding

protocols. They must also have demonstrable experience using a case management system,

adhering to advice standards and be able to manage a diverse workload and work under

pressure.

This is an immensely rewarding role working in a dynamic charity built on an ethos of sharing,

hospitality and inclusivity. We are looking for an exceptionally committed individual who is

willing to go the extra mile and has flexibility to work during evenings and weekends if

necessary. As this is a frontline role, you will be required to work on site at least 2 days per week.

We offer a wide range of employee benefits including:

•  Excellent annual leave entitlement

•  Pension scheme

•  Employee Assistance Programme

•  Death in Service benefit

•  Flexible working

•  Opportunities for training and professional development

To apply for this role, please submit a CV, Covering Letter (no more than 2 sides) by email to
admin@sufra-nwlondon.org.uk, and complete our Equal Opportunities Form found here. As

part of your covering letter, please answer the following questions:

1.  The advice manager may have appointments with guests and a small case load. How

would you foresee managing your time effectively between this work and management

of the team?

2.  What would be your priorities in ensuring a well-functioning, effective, advice service?

Page 3 of 6

3.  The advice team is spread out across different sites, often working remotely. How would

you ensure effective communication?

If applying on Charity Jobs, please ensure you submit your CV and Covering Letter on Charity
Jobs platform and complete our Equal Opportunities Form found here.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:  26th March 2026 at 11:59pm. We encourage applicants to apply
as soon as possible with interviews being carried out on a rolling basis.

Main Duties & Responsibilities
Develop and deliver a comprehensive Welfare Advice Service to our food aid guests, providing
high quality advice and information to address the causes of food insecurity and
disadvantage.

Advice Services

•  Manage the advice service by overseeing and supporting volunteers and advice staff at our

Community Wellbeing Service and Foodbank including setting objectives, managing

performance and providing feedback during supervisions.

•  Hold a small case load of advice guests, supporting them to achieve their aims

•  Maintain a high-quality service by ensuring that the advice team and volunteers are

working to agreed standards and delivering against realistic grant agreements from

funders.

•  Maintain accurate records of case work using the charity’s Case Management System

across the advice team.

Service Development

•  Work with the Senior Management Team to develop, expand and improve Sufra’s

information and advice services in alignment with our 2030 strategy.

•  Carry out ongoing review of existing service delivery procedures.

•  Undertake quality assurance including case checking and quality of advice audit.

•

Identify the training needs of advice staff and volunteers through support, mentoring and

supervisions.

•  Ensure colleagues and relevant stakeholders are informed of changing legislation and

social policy updates.

•

Improve the case management systems to ensure it is fit for purpose.

•  Work within the Advice Quality Standard (AQS) framework, ensuring that all policies and

procedures are up to date for future assessments

Volunteer Management

Page 4 of 6

•  Develop, review and implement key policies and procedures to better equip Advice

Volunteers to fulfil their role.

•  Provide induction, support and supervision to enhance the quality standard of the service

and contribute to the personal development of volunteers.

•  Foster a positive working environment that maintains high morale and supports Advice

Volunteer retention and regular participation.

Budgets, Monitoring & Evaluation

•  Support the Senior Leadership Team in setting service budgets, updating policies, and

monitoring spending in line with reporting and budgetary requirements.

•  Ensure appropriate systems are maintained for recording statistics and outcomes.

•  Provide regular and timely monitoring reports on service outputs, outcomes and

expenditure.

•  Collect regular feedback and conduct surveys from relevant stakeholders to inform

ongoing improvements to the Advice Service.

•  Contribute to strategic development by setting action plans in line with agreed Business

Plans and keeping teams accountable to Action Plan goals.

Other

•  Ensure the advice team are working in adherence to organisational policies and

procedures.

•  Undertake any other reasonable duties to support the operations of the charity.

Person Specification

Competency

Specification

Essential  Desirable

Experience

Minimum 3 years’ experience providing case
management services in the charity sector

Experience managing advice services

Qualifications in Welfare/Welfare Advice

Experience in service development and

improvement

Line management experience including

volunteers

X

X

X

X

X

Page 5 of 6

Experience in Monitoring, evaluating and
reporting on social outcomes

Experience of using case management systems

for recording and reporting

Experience Working with refugees and asylum
seekers

Understanding of Safeguarding policies and
procedures

Working knowledge of welfare rights and/or

housing and/or debt and/or immigration

Knowledge

Skills & Abilities

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Ability to work with others professionally

Advanced IT Skills (Microsoft 365 suite)

Working knowledge of  one or more community
languages (e.g. Arabic, Somali, Farsi)

Attitude

Honest and trustworthy

Positive, friendly and hard-working

Willingness to engage in further training

Commitment to the values of Sufra NW London

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Page 6 of 6