Senior Rough Sleeping Prevention Adviser

Job summary

We are MHCLG

This role will deliver on the homelessness strategy’s ambitions with a particular focus on single homelessness and the prevention of rough sleeping. This will involve influencing and working with local authorities, commissioners, providers and the community sector to transform their approach to rough sleeping where resources are allocated on the basis of an assessment of support needs, rather than immediate housing or rough sleeping status. They will lead a team of specialist advisers who work with local areas where short term rough sleeping is highest and will work with local authorities and their partners to develop effective services that meet the needs of this cohort and support the transition of services from crisis focused to prevention. The Senior role will help to make the links across homelessness, rough sleeping and multiple disadvantage, working closely with policy, delivery and wider adviser teams.

This role is field-based and requires regular travel, including some overnight stays, to local authorities and partner organisations across the region. Post holders will be expected to undertake face-to-face visits several times each week to build relationships, provide support, gather intelligence, and represent the department. Applicants should therefore be comfortable with frequent travel and able to work flexibly across a range of locations as required by business need.

Job description

As the Senior Rough Sleeping Prevention Adviser you will:

• Lead the delivery of the national approach to preventing rough sleeping and addressing single homelessness.
• Build and influence strategic partnerships with local authorities, commissioners, providers and community organisations to strengthen homelessness prevention and reduce rough sleeping.
• Lead and manage a team of specialist advisers, providing direction, support and oversight to improve local responses in areas with high levels of short-term rough sleeping.
• Provide expert advice on service design and system transformation, supporting local areas to develop effective pathways, assessment approaches, and interventions that prevent and relieve homelessness.
• Work collaboratively across policy, delivery, performance and multiple disadvantage teams to ensure a joined-up departmental approach and to support escalations, performance improvement, and targeted interventions.

Person specification

Essential criteria:

• Significant (5 years) senior leadership of a homelessness or rough sleeping service.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the homelessness legislation, rough sleeping interventions and support services to help people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping.
• Proven ability to lead organisational and system change, influencing partners and stakeholders to improve services and outcomes across complex delivery environments.
• Experience of building and maintaining strategic relationships with local authorities, health partners, commissioned services, voluntary and community sector organisations, and senior decision-makers
• Strong leadership and people management skills, including leading multidisciplinary teams, supporting professional development, and delivering results through others.
• Strong understanding of the delivery landscape across different regions, tiers of government and government departments.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to provide credible specialist advice and secure commitment from senior stakeholders across organisations and sectors

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £72,686, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £21,057 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Strengths

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

In your CV and covering letter, please include:
a. why you are interested in the role;
b. how you meet the essential skills and experience required

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

If we receive many applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Lead Sift: Behaviour: Leadership - The Government's ambition is to prevent rough sleeping before it occurs and reduce reliance on crisis-focused responses. Describe a significant piece of work you have led that transformed services, systems or partnerships to achieve better outcomes for people experiencing or at risk of rough sleeping. Explain your leadership role in the description.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership

• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

Candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 21st September 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 5th October 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

Disability Confident Scheme (DCS)

We are a Disability Confident employer.

We apply a fair and proportionate interview process for all candidates. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to progress candidates who apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the required minimum selection criteria.

However, where high application volumes are received, progression to interview may be limited to those who best meet the role criteria. In these circumstances, the benchmark required to proceed to interview may be raised for all candidates.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a Disability Confident Scheme, Redeployment Interview scheme & Great Place to Work for Veterans employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Internal Fraud Database

• Appeals and Complaints

• Fixed Term Appointments for:

• External Candidates

• Existing Civil Servants (Including Loans)

• Secondments

• MHCLG employees

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

London Office: + CTC

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Nicola Forsdyke
• Email : Nicola.Forsdyke@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk