The Role

The London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth Borough Council present a unique opportunity to be part of a team who work together in a ground-breaking shared staffing structure across both boroughs. 

The post is based within the Benefit Service, which is in the Resources Directorate, with the main office in Twickenham.  

About the role

As a benefit officer you will be looking at applications for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction, checking information provided is accurate and complete, and calculating entitlement to benefit using several different IT systems. You will also need to process change of circumstances that may occur to a customer and deal with enquiries.  

Effective communication skills are key to this role as you will need to gather information from different sources, including face to face discussion with customers and over the telephone to ensure claims are processed quickly and accurately.   

Experience of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction administration is not essential, full training will be provided (experience and knowledge is essential for grades Scale 5 to S01). 

The successful candidates will need to: 

• Be able to accurately interpret and input data, using the IT systems, 
• Have some experience of delivering an excellent service to customers, their representatives and stakeholders face to face and by telephone, 
• Provide clear and concise written and verbal explanations to customers,  
• Have a positive attitude, be flexible, and enjoy working as part of a team, 
• While not essential some knowledge of welfare benefits would be helpful.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Chris Carman on 0208 871 7058, e-mail christopher.carman@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or Penny Lovatt on 0208 871 5662, e-mail penny.lovatt@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk. 

Agile working

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 40 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing Date:  3^rd September 2023

Shortlisting Date: W/C 4^th September 2023

Interview Date: W/C 11^th September 2023 (there will be a test as part of the interview)      

Useful Information:

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Equality

We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams, including Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic people.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

The application process for this campaign will be anonymised.

Important Information:

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils