Income Officer

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF SERENA’S VISION

Growth, Planning and Housing in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where innovative and open-minded people bring everything to the cause. Even expertise from surprising places.

Take Serena. She is an absolute force of nature at the heart of our Church Street regeneration. And she puts the residents first in everything. Serena’s vision is clear. Regeneration isn’t just about bricks and concrete. It’s about communities. It’s about the environment. It’s about the lives of people and how they feel about where they call home. Serena is their advocate, making sure residents’ voices aren’t just heard, but drive the changes we’re making. The future is safe in her hands.

Please view the extraordinary story of Serena’s Vision here.

The Role:

As an Income Adviser you can make your own powerful contribution to our work as you ensure that excellent customer service standards are achieved and core business objectives and performance indicators are met. Helping to ensure value for money is reflected in every aspect of the services we deliver, you’ll be responsible for meeting a number of individual targets, and manage all accounts in arrears in the area. This work will include printing arrears reports, drafting letters and possession proceedings, serving legal notices, visiting homes, managing universal credit cases and giving evidence in court on behalf of the council.

Liaising with the housing benefit service, social services, NHS staff, solicitors, advice agencies, the DWP and other relevant agencies, you’ll work with other income recovery team staff, offer advice on payment methods, and set up and process direct debits and standing orders, internet payments and DWP direct deductions. We’ll also expect you to offer a holistic service to our residents, including trial calculations for housing benefit and other entitlements, income and expenditure assessments, applications for charitable grants and discretionary housing payments, the provision of food vouchers and referrals to advice and advocacy agencies.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

With GCSE (or their equivalent) passes at A to C, including English and Mathematics, you’ll have experience of working in an income management, housing management or public sector environment. We’ll look for sound knowledge of best practice in the management of income recovery, debt counselling and debt collection, and a well developed understanding of the Welfare Reform Act and the Pre-Action Protocol.

Ready to work as part of a team, and with excellent written, numeracy and verbal communication skills, you’ll have the ability to demonstrate and inspire enthusiasm, and possess a people-focused attitude to everything you do. Capable of prioritising your workload and setting targets while managing a wide range of competing demands, we’ll also expect you to be committed to the ideals of equality and diversity in the workplace.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to over 250,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.