Homelessness Support Worker & Waking Night Support Worker – The Society of St James, Portsmouth

Homelessness Support Worker & Waking Night Support Worker

Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS)

Portsmouth

Homelessness Support Worker: Various part-time positions available (15 hrs, 18.5 hrs, or 22.5 hrs per week), Permanent

Waking Night Support Worker: 42 hours per week, Fixed Term until March 2027

Salary: Circa £25,947 per annum (pro rata for part-time hours) + unsocial shift premiums

(Hourly rates starting from £13.45 to £13.99 per hour)

About Us

This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic Charity and Housing Association.  The Society of St James (SSJ) has been working in Hampshire for over 50 years, delivering high impact, person-centred, accommodation services to adults and young people experiencing homelessness, problematic substance use and mental health problems. We believe that every person is of worth and we are prepared to take risks to house and support the most at risk and socially excluded members of society.

The Impact You'll Make

You will be joining our Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS) across two 24/7 supported accommodation projects in Portsmouth—The Registry (high support) and Kingsway House (medium support). Our mission is to provide safe, sustainable accommodation for individuals experiencing or at risk of rough sleeping, empowering them to rebuild their lives and transition into settled, independent housing.

·         As a Homelessness Support Worker, you will manage a caseload using a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach, conducting assessments, co-developing personalised support plans, delivering life skills training, and supporting clients to overcome barriers to change.

·         As a Waking Night Support Worker, you will maintain a safe and supportive environment overnight, implementing safeguarding processes, managing risk, maintaining hygiene standards, and supporting clients through night-time interventions.

Who We're Looking For

We are looking for self-reflective, compassionate, and deeply motivated individuals who share our core values of Respect, Response, and Recognition. Our main priority is to find candidates with the right attitudes and behaviours to match our ethos. You will be open, approachable, and resilient, with a strong commitment to empowering vulnerable individuals and working collaboratively in a challenging yet deeply rewarding environment. 

Working Hours: 

Homelessness Support Worker: Various shift options: 

8:00 am – 12:00 pm (18.5 hours/week)

3:30 pm – 10:30 pm (22.5 hours/week)

2:30 pm – 10:30 pm (15 hours/week) 

Waking Night Support Worker: 4 nights on / 4 nights off rota (8:00 pm – 8:00 am)

Essential Skills and Qualities

•          Knowledge & Understanding: Understanding of equality and diversity as it relates to staff and service users.


•          Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal and listening skills to build trusting relationships with clients, statutory teams, and partner agencies.


•          Risk & Safeguarding: Ability to follow risk assessments, adhere to risk management plans, and uphold adult safeguarding protocols.


•          Emotional Resilience: Ability to remain calm, reflective, and effective in difficult or high-pressure situations.


•          Lifestyle & Harm Reduction: Ability to encourage clients toward healthy lifestyle choices and support harm-minimisation strategies.


•          Literacy & IT: Sufficient literacy and IT capability to write clear case notes, emails, and manage client records on database systems.


•          Desirable Experience: Experience working with individuals with histories of homelessness, substance use, or mental ill health, and familiarity with trauma-informed models (PIE).

What we can offer you

We value and recognise our staff, offering some generous benefits, as well as the satisfaction of helping people at risk:

•  A competitive annual leave entitlement of 25 days rising to 30 days, plus public holidays


• Flexible working options


• Buying additional annual leave


• Comprehensive induction and training


• Counselling, financial, personal support and health and wellbeing services via our Employee Assistance Programme


• Company cycle to work scheme


• Discounted laptops and computers with Jamie’s Computers


• Electric Car Scheme


• Blue Light Card 

SSJ are an equal opportunity employer and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds and walks of life. 

At SSJ, we recognise the benefits of a supported workplace. SSJ is affiliated with Unite the Union. To learn more about their membership benefits or to sign up, you can visit their official website. 

Application closing date: Monday 26th October 2026

Due to the high number of expected applicants, we do reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier.

Should you not hear from us within 14 days of the closing date, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.  

1. Cycle to work scheme


2. Discounted laptops and computers with Jamie’s Computers


3. Employer pension contributions via salary sacrifice


4. Flexible working opportunities


5. Counselling, financial, personal support, and health and well-being services via our Employee Assistance Programme