The Role

Would you like to provide help to people who are in difficult financial and personal circumstances and who need help with their Housing Costs?

If you answered yes, then we’d love to hear from you.

We are advertising for a Welfare Reform Officer on a permanent basis.

We need a highly motivated professional, who can work in an environment where the need to provide vulnerable people with a quick well thought through decision and to help and assist vulnerable households address the underlying issue which may lead to their need for DHP.

This will require interacting with clients to address challenges and resolve problems.

This will involve processing applications for Discretionary Housing Payments and providing advice and assistance to clients, including in a face-to-face setting. We feel it offers an excellent opportunity for Officers to learn new skills and develop their knowledge regarding DHP legislation and policies.

An ideal candidate will have:

• Knowledge of welfare benefits.
• Experience of administering discretionary awards.
• Ability to work with clients to identify and work through solutions.
• Ability or experience of working with vulnerable clients with potential complex needs.
• Ability to address challenges, resolve problems and achieve continuous improvement in a pressurised environment.   
• Good oral and written skills to provide clear and concise messages. 
• Ability to organise and prioritise own workload, to work under pressure and meet deadlines.  

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 or part-time 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:  30th July 2023

Shortlisting Date: W/C 31st July 2023

Interview Date: W/C 7th August 2023 (a test/presentation TBC)

If you would like more information, please contact Peter Forde, Technical Support Manager on Peter.Forde@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or Liz Keevil, Discretionary Awards Team Leader on elizabeth.keevil@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

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

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 anonymous.

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