***This opportunity has now closed***

We are recruiting for an LGBTQI+ Asylum Seeker Support Worker to deliver support services to individuals seeking asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics.

We have been supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system and campaigning for their rights since 1993. We now have an opportunity for an additional LGBTQI+ Asylum Seeker Support Worker to join our team and play a key role in helping  LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum improve their ability and resilience to cope with the challenges they face and build support networks.

The position requires that you identify as LGBTQI+ and are comfortable discussing and disclosing your identity in a professional context with service users. It is important to be aware that your identity may become known to external parties, such as service users’ friends, funders, and the general public through your association with Rainbow Migration and our work.

This role will receive full training and support as required to deliver your responsibilities:

  • Facilitating regular support group meetings
  • Providing one-to-one emotional and practical support
  • Assisting service users to access health services and accommodation
  • Ensuring Rainbow Migration service users access quality legal representation
  • Sharing your knowledge and expertise by providing advice, guidance and training to other organisations working with LGBTQI+ people who are seeking asylum
  • Ensuring Rainbow Migration service users who do not speak English can access the service with support from telephone interpreters and online translation.

 

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can safely settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives. Our values are:

  • Safety: We believe everyone should be safe from persecution and safe to be themselves. We strive to create a safe workplace culture, and we place importance on the wellbeing of everyone involved with Rainbow Migration.
  • Integrity: We are thorough and honest in everything we do, and we take responsibility for our actions. We want to be accountable to our communities and those who support us.
  • Belonging: We welcome and include all LGBTQI+ people, and we celebrate and value their range of experience in terms of gender, religion, race, age, disability status and class. We try to remove obstacles to participation, champion equality and promote a sense of family or home through our services.
  • Respect: We believe that every person is equal and deserves the same level of courtesy, care, and attention. We respect the rights, wishes and feelings of our service users, and campaign for their rights to be respected as they go through the asylum and immigration system.

At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status – simple, we consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements.

We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of going through the UK asylum or immigration system or who have been subject to immigration control, and also people of colour who are currently underrepresented among our staff. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet the necessary criteria in the person specification.

Owing to the nature of the work, the successful applicant will be required at the point of conditional job offer to disclose all unspent criminal records and subsequently to undergo a enhanced DBS check. See our website for more information.

 

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Part-time – 21 hours a week but fewer hours will be considered. Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends may be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.

Salary: Starting at £26,868 FTE with potential annual step increases up to £29,173 (pro rata), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. In addition to an annual step increase, the trustees consider giving a separate inflationary increase every April.

Location: Rainbow Migration’s offices are based in Borough, Central London. This role will have an office-based contract but the postholder can choose to work from home for part of the week in agreement with their line manager and Executive Director. You must be available to work from our offices in London when necessary. The successful candidate would also be welcome to work from the office full-time if that is their preference. At the time of posting this advert, none of our staff are going into the office every day. There might also be occasional travel outside London with plenty of notice. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual Leave: 25 days per year rising after 24 months by 1 day after each year of service to maximum of 28 days per year (pro rata if working part-time).

 

How to apply:

Closing date: Thursday 23 February at 5pm

Interview dates: March. Exact date TBC

Please read the job description and person specification. If you have any questions about the role or would like to find out more before applying, then you can contact the line manager via recruitment@rainbowmigration.org.uk.

Please email your CV, covering statement, and optional monitoring form to recruitment@rainbowmigration.org.uk. When writing your covering statement, please:

  1. Give examples of how you meet the person specification. In addition to what is on your CV, we want to hear about any relevant skills and experience that demonstrate you meet the necessary criteria for the role, and if you meet any of the advantageous criteria. Skills and experience could be from training, volunteering, interests or life experience
  2. Confirm if you wish to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 (physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effect on your ability to do normal daily activities)
  3. State how many hours a week you wish to work and if you have a preferred pattern. We would like the postholder to work at least 3 hours on Tuesdays but this is not essential.
  4. Make your statement no longer than two A4 pages

If you are an expert by experience (a refugee or a migrant with direct, first-hand experience of issues and challenges of the UK asylum or immigration system), you can ask for an independent and confidential support for your job application from the Experts by Experience Employment Network. Please complete this form to request support and they will confirm if they can match you with a mentor to support your application.

By submitting an application, you:

  1. Confirm that you have the right to work in the UK and will produce the necessary documentation if you are offered this post
  2. Declare that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the information provided with your application is true and correct and that you understand that any false information or statement given will justify the dismissal from Rainbow Migration if appointed
  3. Accept that, if successful, you will be required to disclose all unspent criminal records at the point of conditional job and subsequently to undergo a basic DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

 

Privacy Notice: Your privacy and data protection

In order to recruit and manage staff, Rainbow Migration needs to store personal information (data) about all applicants. Rainbow Migration is registered as a “controller of personal data” under the Data Protection Act 2018 with the Information Commissioner. By applying for this role, you agree that we will keep the information on your CV and covering statement including storing and processing special category data that identifies you as being LGBTQI+. Please see our privacy policy.

Monitoring information is kept separately and is pseudonymised to avoid identification of applicants. Monitoring information is amalgamated for statistical purposes and the original data then destroyed.

Rainbow Migration keeps all personal information safely and securely, and does not share your information with anyone outside Rainbow Migration or any other organisation without your consent. Information is kept for the minimum period necessary which for CVs and covering statements for unsuccessful applicants is 12 months after the conclusion of the recruitment campaign.