[Hiring] Freedom Support Coordinator @Dogs Trust

Role Description

Could you be our next Freedom Support Coordinator? Responsible for providing support with external communications and coordinating all client referrals and enquiries coming into Freedom, providing support to the wider Freedom team and other support roles where needed.

This role is split between providing initial support and assessing enquiries for a variety of stakeholders (mainly over the phone and by email), including:

• Victim-survivors accessing the service
• Referral & domestic abuse organisations
• Volunteers
• Members of the public
• Veterinary surgeries
• Internal contacts

As a Freedom Support Coordinator you'll:

• Answer, signpost and resolve referral calls and emails coming into Freedom from a variety of stakeholders.
• Assess initial referrals coming through to the service – including if within remit, the needs of the client and the behavioural needs of the dog being referred. Escalating onto Caseworkers and Team Leaders as required.
• Where appropriate, send out referral forms to victim-survivors of domestic abuse and referral organisations.
• Deal with initial enquiries and talk victim-survivors and referral organisations through the details of the scheme and what steps they will take as part of the referral and fostering placement journey.
• Provide signposting information for other key services such as animal welfare charities, domestic abuse helplines, homelessness services and mental health services.
• With the support of the Team Leader, provide information on the service to key domestic abuse stakeholders (charities, police, social care, housing) and share literature.
• Keep accurate logs of calls and emails, ensuring the wider team are kept regularly updated of all pending referrals.
• Support in the recruitment, retention and development of Freedom volunteer foster carers as and when needed.
• Assist the team to establish effective networking relationships to raise the profile of Freedom by promoting the service to referral organisations such as refuges, domestic abuse support services and the police, through sending out literature and answering queries from partner referral organisations.
• This would also involve supporting the organisation of, and accompanying, the Freedom Team to attend promotional events and meetings at Women’s Refuges/Domestic Abuse Support Services.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a previous support role, including supporting people in vulnerable situations or personal crisis.
• Experience of working with victim-survivors of domestic abuse or working within the domestic abuse sector is highly desirable.
• Experience of handling large amounts of sensitive data and data entry/record keeping on in-house databases.
• Excellent copywriting skills with the ability to adapt for different audiences.

Requirements

• Due to the nature of this role, this post is for women only and is exempt under Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010.

Company Description

The Outreach department supports people and dogs in crisis, such as those escaping domestic abuse or experiencing homelessness. These specialist services reduce the need for someone to unnecessarily relinquish or euthanise their dog due to the crisis they may be facing.

• Freedom, a specialist dog fostering service for people finding freedom from domestic abuse.
• Pets and Housing projects that support people and their dogs experiencing homelessness and advocating for people to be accommodated with their pets at all stages of their housing journey.

Interviews will be provisionally booked over MS Teams.