Our vision:

The House of Welcome (HoW), a project of St Francis Social Services, is committed to serve people seeking asylum and refugees.

HoW currently provides short-medium term accommodation and housing for approximately 95 refugees and asylum seekers in 19 properties. In addition to housing, staff and volunteers offer a variety of support services such as casework, financial assistance, foodbank, referrals, advocacy and community development programs for numerous clients across Sydney.

A Description of the Position

An opportunity exists for an experienced, dynamic and creative team player to be a part of a diverse and dedicated team in one of the most changeable and challenging social service sectors in Australia. We seek an experienced social worker/community worker to oversee our casework service and ensure the delivery of targeted strengths-based supports to people seeking asylum living in the community.

Professional Accountability

The position will lead, influence and support the casework team to deliver best-practice service delivery and supervision, to assist with complex casework and sector responses to policy and to deliver a high quality and values-based service to clients.

• Provide leadership and support to caseworkers working with clients in the process of their status resolution who may be affected by complex mental health issues, employment and education pathways, legal, homelessness and other complex needs.
• Work closely with team members to develop and monitor processes and systems designed to ensure the effective, timely and quality management of issues, matters and operational deliverables,
• Budget forecasting and monitoring to manage the financial and emergency assistance programs within budget and in accordance with SFSS policy
• Manage multiple grants, deliverables and produce high-quality reports to meet acquittal requirements and deadlines.
• Monitoring and evaluation of casework programs and conducting reviews to improve the delivery of the Casework Service.
• Work with the Grant Writer and Executive Manager to prepare grant applications to fund the Casework Service.
• Participate in inter-agency and cross sector meetings and engage in advocacy opportunities.
• Contribute to the foodbank program including creating partnerships, promotion and logistics.
• Contribute to newsletters, website, social media and publications as required.
• Actively participate in team activities including meetings, workshops, supervision, team building and strategic development.
• Contribute to the induction and supervision of tertiary student placements, drop-in and casework volunteers.

• Deliver presentations and workshops to schools, corporates and community groups

• Lead and contribute to projects as required

Essential Criteria:

1. Relevant tertiary qualifications in Social work, Health, Community Development or related fields.
2. Proven leadership skills and experience with the capacity to manage, support & supervise a casework team dealing with complex cases.
3. Highly developed report writing and analytical skills, with the ability to manage multiple grants.
4. High level interpersonal, technological and communication skills, both verbal and written.
5. High level skills in budgeting, forecasting and use of monitoring tools such as excel
6. Ability to deliver presentations and workshops to schools, corporates and community groups
7. A demonstrated ability to establish and maintain partnerships with key stakeholders, including service partners and support services
8. An eye to operational details and experience in developing and implementing work instructions and procedures.
9. Knowledge of mainstream and related services for refugees and people seeking asylum seeker.
10. Strong support for the culture and mission of SFSS and the ability to work in a team culture of service to others which is consistent with Catholic social teaching.
11. Driver’s licence and ability to drive own vehicle if required.

Desirable Criteria

1. Demonstrated understanding of policy framework and issues encountered by refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

Initial queries can be made to Miriam Pellicano 0409 719 114. Please see position description attached.