The Member Solidarity Organiser will support our members and branches to take action against landlords and estate agents and win better housing conditions for our members. With an overview of all of the union’s disputes and casework, you’ll be providing guidance and training to make sure we’re organising and taking action in a way that builds the power of renters most affected by the housing crisis and reflects our “solidarity not charity” approach. The member solidarity organiser will balance knowledge of the housing system with an ability to empower and encouraging renters to use different tactics to stand up to landlords, from peer support to protests to resisting evictions through direct action. 

The deadline for applications is 8pm on February 4. Ideally, successful candidates will be available to start in March.

We’re currently recruiting for three positions. Read more info about the LRU and the other roles here.

Key responsibilities

• Ensuring union members and branches support members with housing issues in a way that builds our power and reflects our strategy decisions and values.
• Supporting renters to take action against estate agents, landlords and other power holders who profit from the housing crisis. 
• Support the development of capacity building and knowledge sharing within the union regarding our member solidarity organising. 
• Ensuring that Member Solidarity information is kept up-to-date in the union-wide database.
• Provide support to specific disputes or pieces of casework as decided collectively. 
• Ensuring the union responds to requests for support, including by coordinating members to carry out this work. 
• Contributing to the union’s collective management processes (25% of time). 

Who we’re looking for

We’re not expecting anyone to meet all of these criteria, but the ideal candidate will have a good mix of the following:

Essential

• Excellent communication skills and an ability to communicate with a wide range of people, including people in distress. 
• Ability to empower people to participate in and lead collective struggle, including people who face oppression.
• Ability to quickly identify key details from complex conversations and documents. 
• Passionate about the London Renters Union and building the power of private renters to win better housing conditions.
• Active involvement in movements or community campaigns for social justice. 
• Ability to speak and build trust with people in the area and different organisations. 
• Commitment to working with honesty and integrity and to equal opportunities and opposing oppression.
• Self-motivation and ability to prioritise tasks and work to urgent deadlines in an unstructured environment and able to work independently as well as in a team.
• Ability to keep boundaries and help look after yourself and those you’re organising with, when doing stressful work.

Desirable

• Understanding of the housing crisis in London and its impacts on people and communities in Hackney or Lewisham.
• Active involvement in movements or community campaigns for social justice. 
• Good working knowledge of housing law. 
• Experience of conducting case work. 
• Experience of coaching others to carry out political organising work according to an agreed organising model. 
• Experience of supporting people to take action. 
• Understanding of different approaches to organising and building power. 

Terms and conditions

• The pay is £24,277 per year. The post is 30 hours per week usually spread over 4 days. LRU workers are expected to be available to work some evenings and weekends. 
• This position fixed term for 2 years, with the intention of the role becoming permanent depending on the union’s financial situation.
• There is a 6-month review period. 
• Workers receive 23 days of paid holiday each year plus bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year. Sick pay is provided. 
• The LRU provides its workers with up to £100 per month towards counselling. 
• A phone and reasonable expenses are provided. 
• Membership of the LRU is not open to landlords or people who carry out evictions. 
• The LRU provides a 3% pension contribution. 
• The post is based at the LRU office in Liverpool Street with frequent travel around Hackney or Lewisham and elsewhere in the city. 

Full job description

All the information you need to apply on is on this webpage. If you’d like more detail about what the role involves, you can download the full job description.

How to apply

The application form for all positions is here: https://londonrentersunion.org/job-application-form/

The deadline for applications is 8pm on February 4. Interviews are scheduled to take place during the week starting February 10. 

We know that applying for jobs can be stressful so we want to do everything we can to support people to apply and to reduce the burden on applicants. Please contact us using the address workwithus@londonrentersunion.org if you have any questions or if we can support you to apply in any way. 

To apply, please provide a CV and a covering letter explaining why you are applying for the role(s) and how you feel you meet each of the points of the “Who we’re looking for” section of the job advertisement. The cover letter shouldn’t be longer than two pages of A4.

If you’re worried that you might not be able to get across your motivation or experiences well in a letter, you can send a short video instead if that’s easier. Please make sure you still try to explain how you feel you meet each of the points in the “Who we’re looking for” section of the job ad. Please still do send through a CV. 

Please upload your CV and covering letter or video using the application form. It is okay to apply for more than one position. If you are applying for more than one position, you are welcome to upload different cover letters or videos but this is not necessary.

LRU aims to recruit people based on the merit of their application. Where two people are equally qualified for a position, we try to give preference to applicants who come from communities that are less represented in the union or most directly affected by the housing crisis. 

Please contact us using the address workwithus@londonrentersunion.org if you have any questions or would like any support to apply for the roles we’re currently advertising.

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