Community Link Worker - Community Connection Project

Fixed Term (18 months)

South Dublin County Partnership

South Dublin County Partnership is a Local Development Company that develops projects and services to support sustainable and vibrant communities, where people realize their potential and experience a high quality of life. The focus of our activities is on areas where people experience disadvantage. Funding for our work comes from a variety of sources; our main funders are the Department of Community, Environment and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection. South Dublin County Partnership is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from a diversity of backgrounds.

Community Connection Project

The Community Connection Project (CCP) will use a community development and inclusion approach will engage and work with local communities across Ireland, helping build community resilience against misinformation and prejudice by working with the local community before, during and after the arrival of International Protection Applicants (IPAs) and where IPAs Centres are already in use. The CCP aims to assist communities in developing constructive responses to International Protection Centres in their local area.

The Role

The Community Link Workers will work with communities, in accordance with community development practice, to understand the facts and realities of the International Protection System and the challenges faced by people seeking asylum, in the context of communities with their own needs and challenges.

Community Link Workers will engage with residents already living in the local community as their primary focus, rather than providing services and supports directly to IP Applicants. The Community Link Worker will engage with local communities to understand and tackle challenges and concerns in the context of migrant integration locally, utilizing a community development approach to strengthen the capacity of the community to work together and with key voluntary and statutory organisations and structures, with a focus on establishing facts, counteracting misinformation, and engagement on community concerns and working to develop inclusive responses to migrant integration.

Core Responsibilities

• Operate to community development principles in supporting their community.
• To collaborate with other Community Link Workers and the CCP Co-Ordinator within the Irish Local Development Network in the researching, developing and expanding of good practice, and engage with the Co-Ordinator where appropriate on evolving situations, persistent barriers to implementation that may require Departmental input.
• Engage regularly with all relevant local voluntary and statutory organisations, as well as with relevant community development and inclusion services such as SICAP, Empowering Communities Programme etc.
• Engage when required with the CCP Co-Ordinator and/or the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth’s (DCEDIY) Community Engagement Team to ensure work is complementing national Community Engagement efforts.
• Engage when required with the Integration Forum and the Local Authority Integration Teams (LAITs) active in the locality to identify barriers to integration, knowledge gaps, service provision gaps etc.
• Maintain regular communication channels with the local community with a view to counteracting misinformation on immigration. This may include any information passed to the Local Development Companies from Government Departments in the context of the location of centres for International Protection Applicants. It is recognised that the Link Workers will not be the primary conduit of this information, however it is important that Link Workers are informed on any developments that may have an impact on their work and workers are in a position to pass this information (if available) onwards to the community.
• Facilitate a collaborative approach and develop a coordinated response with the community and other stakeholders in developing a clear annual plan including –
  • mapping out needs and services of the targeted area with associated resources
  • to put required supports and structures in place to address any weaknesses and strengthen the capacity of the local community to engage meaningfully with migrant integration efforts.
• To provide progress reports and briefings on developments to the Department. Community Link Workers are also encouraged to share general project activity updates submitted to the Department with the Coordinator in ILDN, with a view to informing ongoing work and research.

Community Link Workers will not be expected to;

• attend the scene of protests or incidents of extreme responses to migrant arrivals in the community.
• engage with individuals or groups that hold entrenched extremist views on migrant integration
• deliver briefings/interviews or other forms of engagement to the media regarding any instances of an extreme response to migrant arrivals in their community.
• provide or arrange provision of accommodation. This is the responsibility of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth.

Qualifications:

• A relevant third-level qualification including community development, youth work, social sciences/social care, psychology, or similar or a combination of education and/or experience relevant to the role.

Experience/Knowledge:

• A strong interest in and knowledge of the issues facing local communities in addition to new communities including asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in Ireland.
• Knowledge and experience of working in the areas of diversity and social inclusion, using relevant approaches to ensure that trainings, workshops and meetings are delivered in a safe and inclusive manner for all participants.
• Experience of working in partnership with a wide range of other organisations and stakeholders.
• Experience of delivering community development approaches, local needs analysis, planning and addressing social exclusion issues.
• Experience of communicating and developing complex information in a succinct, easy to understand form to a wide variety of audiences, while taking into consideration the needs of diverse groups (literacy, visual aids, language etc.)
• Experience of facilitating group work & event management.
• Strong communication and organisational skills, capable of liaising with a wide variety of stakeholders and conveying detailed information to relevant parties in a timely manner.
• Experience of mediating disputes, and a knowledge of mediation and consensus building techniques in addition to de-escalation and peacebuilding techniques to develop a mutually agreeable approach to resolving conflict.
• Experience of consultation with vulnerable groups/migrant groups from a migrant background.
• A commitment to human rights and community-based approaches.
• Understanding and experience of working with statutory and local /community development infrastructure and knowledge of the national/local policy context that they work in.
• Experience in project management and delivering projects with a defined timeline and work plan.
• Experience of designing and delivery of capacity building supports within the community sector.
• Be able to demonstrate leadership skills.
• Have excellent communication, facilitation and report writing skills.
• Proficient in MS packages e.g. Word, Excel, Outlook, programme databases, SharePoint portals

Skills/Abilities:

• Ability to engage with individuals and communities with compassion and empathy. Experience with trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches are preferred.
• To have a flexible and adaptable work approach.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills.
• Exercise good listening and communication skills with sensitivity to cultural communication skills.
• Appreciation of the need for confidentiality and integrity.
• Effectively work as a team member and independently, with a high-level of self-motivation and ability to set and meet goals.
• Comfortable working in a busy, dynamic, multi-cultural environment.

Terms & Conditions

Post: Community Connection Link worker (35 hours per week) fixed term contract of 18- months.

Location: Post requires outreach work with travel required throughout the service delivery area of South County Dublin (Tallaght, Clondalkin, Citywest, Lucan etc.).

Reporting to: Migrant Integration Manager & Senior Manager

Salary: € 34,831.00 - € 48,630 depending on experience

Benefits of this position:

• Some flexible working available
• Training opportunities as required
• Opportunity to work with a progressive non-profit organisation, helping to improve the lives of young people in West Tallaght)
• Access to HSF low-cost health insurance.

Application Process:

Applicants should pay particular attention to the essential and desirable criteria in the job description, your suitability and why you are the best candidate for this post in question.

Please send three copies of your up-to-date detailed CV (no more than 2 pages) and cover letter accompanied

with completed confidential form marked: Community Link Worker - Community Connection Project Ref. 175/2025
To 
Administration & Operations Department,
South Dublin County Partnership,
Unit D1,
Nangor Road Business Park,
Nangor Road,
Dublin 12

OR alternatively email your application to jobs@sdcpartnership.ie – subject box to be marked: Community Link Worker - Community Connection Project Ref. 175/2025

Closing date for receipt of applications: Friday 28th February at 5.00pm
Note no late applications will be accepted.

South Dublin County Partnership is an Equal Opportunities Employer.