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Head of Advice Salary: £42,230 per annum pro rata Hours: 3 days (24 hours/week – can be worked flexibly) Annual Leave: 5 Weeks + statutory holidays (pro rata) Responsible to: Director / Deputy Director Responsible for: Advice Manager Location: Hybrid/Stonebridge, London Borough of Brent Contract: Permanent
About Sufra NW London Sufra is a charity in North West London that prevents hunger, fights poverty and builds community. 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. Food Bank: Our Food Bank provides emergency supplies of essential food and toiletries to individuals and families experiencing acute crisis. Our parcels are typically made up of a mixture of non-perishable and perishable items. The size of our food parcels vary depending on the size of the household, and they typically last 5 to 7 days. To receive a parcel, you need to be referred by one of our 160 Referral Agencies.
Community Kitchen: Our Community Kitchen services are open all year round, serving hundreds of meals every week to hungry guests – including the homeless, families experiencing food poverty and people who are socially isolated and lonely.
The Kitchen runs from our partner venues at Bridge Park Leisure Centre (Monday and Tuesday evenings), Ark Elvin Academy (Wednesday evenings), Laurence’s Larder (lunchtime on
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Thursdays) and Granville Community Kitchen (every Friday evening). Last year we served over 18,500 hot meals in Brent. Welfare Advice Service: Our Advice Team enable people address the underlying problems that led them to our Food Bank – such as benefit disruptions, housing problems and other financial difficulties. The support we provide is ongoing and tailored to the needs of the individual – no matter how long it takes. Last year we support 816 people with our advice support.
Refugee Support: Our Open ARMs (asylum seekers, refugee and migrants) programme supports newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers access the housing, healthcare, training and jobs they need to build a new life in the community. We offer cultural trips, access to ESOL classes, support groups, orientation classes and events to improve integration and independence.
St. Raphael’s Edible Garden: Our beautiful Community Garden emerged from a local campaign by residents to develop a food growing project for the community. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, St. Raphael’s Edible Garden now has a wildlife pond, a learning yurt space, a fruit tree orchard, compost bins, a pizza oven, plenty of raised beds and a stunning pergola.
Although the garden is managed and run by Sufra NW London, it is here to benefit the community. The garden provides a therapeutic space from where we can invest in the skills, health and wellbeing of local people whilst improving the appearance of the estate and giving residents an opportunity to come together, have fun and grow food.
Community Wellbeing Project: In response to the impact of the cost-of-Living crisis on families in Brent, we partnered with Brent Council this year to launch a Community Wellbeing Project from Bridge Park Leisure Centre. This pilot project offers household who are most impacted by the cost of living with access to a membership scheme comprising of four key elements: Community Shop, Community Café, Community Kitchen, and Wraparound Support. The project is designed to go beyond traditional charitable food aid distribution by offering a comprehensive range of (low to zero-cost) food options and creating a supportive community hub where residents can access holistic support including information, advice, guidance – all under one roof.
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Role Description
The Head of Advice plays an integral role in safeguarding the integrity of our services, ensuring that we maintain the necessary accreditations and compliance standards for our Advice Service and Programmes. The Head of Advice is responsible for setting the overall strategy for the advice service, aligning it with organisational goals, and ensuring our existing service and new programmes run effectively and efficiently. Additionally, the Head of Advice will oversee compliance with funding agreements, ensuring that all advice provided aligns with the stipulations of those agreements and regulatory requirements. Their leadership helps secure our position as a trusted and accredited service provider (AQS and IAA), while continuously driving improvements and adapting to industry standards. The Head of Advice will work alongside our experienced Advice Manager to strategically oversee our Open ARMs (asylum seekers, refugee and migrants) programme. This programme supports newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers access the housing, healthcare, training and jobs they need to build a new life in the community. We offer cultural trips, access to ESOL classes, support groups, orientation classes and events to improve integration and independence. 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 when necessary. He/she will show creativity and innovation in community-based programming, building community and donor relationships and strengthening the charity’s integrated services. This is a part-time position with flexible working for the right candidate. 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.
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In your Cover Letter, please address the following points; Motivation for Joining Sufra What motivates you to work for Sufra? Please reflect on how your values, skills, and professional ambitions align with our mission to support people experiencing crisis and poverty. Experience Leading and Developing Advice Services Please describe your experience in leading and developing advice services, particularly how you have ensured compliance with the Advice Quality Standard (AQS). What specific actions have you taken to embed quality, consistency, and accountability within advice delivery teams? Supporting a Team Working with Complex Cases How do you support a team that regularly handles complex and emotionally demanding cases, including those involving safeguarding risks and vicarious trauma? Please share your approach to team wellbeing, supervision, and professional development in these contexts. Monitoring Outcomes and Influencing Strategy Describe your experience in monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of services provided to clients or guests. How have you used this insight to influence internal decision-making and engage effectively with external stakeholders or strategic partners? 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. Submissions without a tailored Cover Letter will not be considered. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: The deadline for applications is 9am on Monday 9th June, with interviews being carried out on a rolling basis.
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Main Duties & Responsibilities
Responsible for the effective design, delivery and monitoring of all programmes, in line with the organisation’s ethos, vision and mission.
Strategic Leadership & Service Oversight • Provide strategic direction and oversight for the advice and ARMS (asylum seekers,
refugees and migrants) services (through development of new and existing programmes), supporting the service to progress against our 2030 strategic goals and emerging guest needs.
• Support our Advice Service Manager to translate our strategy into clear operational plans (annual Business Plans).
• Support and advise the Advice Service Manager in maintaining standards and resolving complex challenges.
• Carry a small caseload of complex or high-priority advice cases to maintain frontline insight and support service development.
• Lead on regular Advice Quality Standard (AQS) audits for the advice service and ensure our immigrations advice is in alignment to IAA (OISC) regulations.
• Ensure all funding deliverables, outputs, and outcomes are met in line with grant agreements and contractual obligations for the Advice Service.
• Provide line management and coaching to our Advice Service Manager and oversee the human resource management of the Advice and ARMs teams, including workforce planning, staff development, performance management, and contributing to recruitment where needed.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Impact
• Work with the Advice Service Manager to set and monitor programme goals, ensuring robust systems and tools are in place to monitor outcomes in accordance with regulatory standards and funding deliverables.
• Use evaluation data to inform strategic decisions and to prepare high-level reports for trustees, funders, advocacy, strategic partners on outcomes and service achievements.
• Ensure that guest feedback and community steering groups are meaningfully engaged in the evaluation process, so that programmes remain responsive to need and rooted in the lived experiences of the community. Safeguarding
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• Act as the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), ensuring the organisation meets its safeguarding obligations including regular review of safeguarding policies, procedures, staff training, reflective practice sessions and risk assessments.
• Provide strategic advice and support to staff on safeguarding issues across the organisation. Supporting Fundraising Initiatives & Budget Oversight
• Support our bid-writing team to develop strategic funding bids for the Advice and ARMs services.
• Oversee the operational and financial planning and delivery of the advice and ARMs services, including budget setting and service plans with the Advice Service Manager.
Other • Report in SLT meetings, on an ad-hoc basis as needed. • Undertake any reasonable duties to ensure successful operational management of the
organisation’s services and programmes. • Support the visibility and profile of the programmes through networking, events, and
communications input. • Champion equality, diversity and inclusion across all engagement activities to encourage
inclusive and positive change through local action
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Person Specification
Competency Specification Essential Desirable
Experience
Experience in advice programme leadership or management within advice services
✓
Experience in carrying advice caseload, ideally in areas such as immigration, welfare, or housing advice (ideally at least 3 years)
✓
Experience designing or overseeing impact evaluation and monitoring frameworks
✓
Financial Management of Project Budgets ✓
Understanding of key advice areas such as housing, welfare benefits, or immigration.
✓
Experience contributing to successful fundraising efforts, including writing funding applications and reports
✓
Knowledge
Strong understanding of safeguarding frameworks and experience
✓
Experience as a Designated Safeguarding Lead (training can be provided)
✓
Strong understanding of rights-based and/or trauma-informed approaches in advice or support services
✓
Skills & Abilities
Leadership Skills ✓
Excellent Written & Oral Communication Skills
✓
Ability to interpret complex data, identify trends, and make evidence-based strategic decisions
✓
Ability to carry and manage a small caseload, ideally in areas such as immigration, welfare, or housing advice
✓
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Attitude
Willingness to Engage in Further Learning ✓
Team spirited and professional ✓
Commitment to the Mission and Principles of Sufra NW London
✓
Probation The post is subject to a probationary period of 6 months.
Your Data Sufra will use the information you submit to us to consider your application for a job. You have rights to your data, its accuracy and control over our use. For full information about how we will ensure that all applicant data is appropriately and securely stored, handled and disposed of, see our privacy policy here. By submitting an application, you are acknowledging you have read and understood our Privacy Policy, although you can withdraw your application at any time. Eligibility to Work in the UK Please note that Sufra is unable to obtain a work permit on your behalf and is not able to sponsor visas. DBS Checks Please note that if you do not consent to the use of an external validation service for a DBS check, then we may be unable to take your application further. Confirmation of employment will only be given on receipt of satisfactory evidence and checks being issued and references have been received. References Once an offer of employment has been made, you will be asked to provide the names and contact details of two referees. If possible, the first referee should be your present employer and the second referee a previous employer.