Veterans Navigator (Solent)

Job Title:   Navigator

Location: Solent (Hybrid) – Home based with regular travel. The postholder will be required to meet veterans and professional partners face to face within the designated region and therefore must be based in the area. 

Contract:  Two years fixed term

Salary: £32,208 per annum full time

Hours: 37.5 hours full time

The Poppy Factory’s team is growing! Now is the time to join our dynamic team in this unique opportunity for a hybrid role, based from home with regular travel across the local area. You will enjoy the flexibility of working remotely from your home, allowing you to efficiently manage your tasks and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Whether it's meeting clients, collaborating with team members, or attending partner meetings, you'll have the chance to immerse yourself in a range of diverse environments. This is the ideal opportunity to build and foster relationships across the region to ensure maximum support for the Veterans we work with. 

If you're a self-driven individual eager to make a meaningful impact while exploring new horizons, this role is tailor-made for you!

At the Poppy Factory, we help armed forces veterans to find meaningful and sustainable employment after service. This often means overcoming a longstanding health condition or injury, and other barriers to employment such as addiction & homelessness. Our aim is to empower veterans, help them to recognise their unique skills and give them the confidence and skills to move forwards in their career.

As a Navigator, you will be assisting veterans who are furthest from employment to engage in meaningful activity as they look to gradually progress back towards work. Based at your home, with regular travel, including some overnight stays at our Richmond offices. The Navigator is a non-clinical role focused on supporting Veterans with mental or physical health conditions. The role aims to support them to overcome various factors impacting their lives, to achieve improved well-being and reduced social isolation. Clients of the service may present with issues around housing, accessing relevant health care services, substance misuse, education and training, financial concerns, and benefits, amongst others. 

What do we need from you?

• Empathetic and effective communicator. You will be comfortable building rapport and trust with people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

• A collaborative mindset. You will enjoy working as part of a team with colleagues based across the UK who support each other in what can sometimes be a challenging role. you will work closely with many other organisations for the benefit of the veterans you are supporting.

• Motivation and commitment. It takes hard work, tenacity, and time to help people reach their goals. You will sometimes be helping people in challenging circumstances who need intensive support to move forwards.

• Adaptability. This is hugely varied role, and no two days are the same. You will need to balance competing priorities or quickly shift focus depending on the needs of the people you are supporting.

Why should you apply?

• A chance to give back to our armed forces and make a positive and lasting impact to the lives of veterans and their families.

• Competitive salary and benefits package including generous holiday and pension contributions.

• A welcoming and empowering culture, with regular opportunities for team building throughout the year.

• Variety in the role, a mix of travelling in your area, home working and occasional visits to the historic Poppy Factory in Richmond, London

• The opportunity to develop your region and build relationships with employers and other support services that best meet the needs of the people you’re supporting.

• Be part of an iconic charity with a 100-year history

For further information, including the full job description for the role, please refer to the candidate pack.

How to apply

To apply for this position please send your CV and a covering letter clearly outlining how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification as set out in the candidate pack and submit via the online application process. Please address your covering letter to Jim Maskell, Partnership and Development Manager.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Jim Maskell.

The closing date for applications will be 1 December 2024. Please note, we are unable to accept late or incomplete applications.

Interviews will be held via video call on 6 December 2024.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to equality, valuing diversity and promoting inclusion within our workforce, including the volunteers who give their time to us.  We work to maintain an environment where the needs and aspirations of all employees are met, irrespective of characteristics protected under the legislative framework of the Equality Act 2010. We expect everyone to understand and accept their personal responsibility to recognise and value differences and the unique contributions that people make to the way we deliver our work. As an equal opportunities employer our commitment is to take positive measures to recruit people from underrepresented groups, and we actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview for any job applicant with a disability who meets the essential criteria for the role. Please indicate in your covering letter if you wish to be considered under this scheme. We are also happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the application or interview process to accommodate disabled candidates. 

Additionally, we offer a guaranteed interview to veterans of the UK armed forces or members of the Reservist forces who meet the essential role criteria. Please make it clear in your application if you wish to be considered on this basis. Please note, to be eligible for consideration under this scheme your application must demonstrate that you meet the essential role criteria as set out in the person specification.

About The Poppy Factory

The Poppy Factory aims to be an exemplar employer. We recognise the impact that working with a challenging cohort can have on our staff, which is why we prioritise work/life balance and support mechanisms including training, supervision and EAP provision.

The Poppy Factory provides competitive terms and conditions of employment, including:

• Opportunity for home-based/hybrid and flexible working
• 28 days’ basic annual leave per year (including a day in lieu of Armistice Day, and 3 days’ Christmas closure), rising to 32 days with long service, plus bank holidays
• Double-matched pension contributions up to 10% employer contribution