Assistant Recovery Officer

Gwynedd Council; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 25,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Gwynedd Council is seeking a dedicated professional to supervise the recovery of debts owed to the authority, including council tax and business rates. The role emphasizes strong communication and legal knowledge to resolve complex cases while ensuring compliance with policy.

The post requires collaboration with CAB and other teams, with attention to Welsh/English language requirements and a commitment to equitable service delivery for Gwynedd residents.

Qualifications

• Experience of working in taxes, recovery, or a related field.
• Good information technology skills and the ability to use case systems.
• Strong communication skills with the public, officers and elected members.
• Knowledge of local taxation matters and relevant law.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and monitor the recovery process for debts owed to the Council.
• Attend court with the recovery manager to discuss options with taxpayers.
• Prepare summons lists and arrange checks before sending summons.
• Refer cases to bailiff and ensure wage/benefit deductions are processed.
• Collaborate with CAB to support taxpayers and arrange temporary arrangements.
• Adhere to Health and Safety rules and information management standards.

Skills

Communication skills

IT skills

Tax knowledge

Team collaboration

Education

GCSE level

A Level

Degree

Professional qualification

Job description

Gwynedd Council offers an attractive employment package, for more information please. Gwynedd Council operates internally through the medium of Welsh, and offers all its services bilingually. The applicant will be required to reach the linguistic level noted as one of the essential skills in the Person Specification. We encourage everyone who applies for a job with Gwynedd Council to submit job applications in Welsh or bilingually. (Applications submitted in English only or Welsh only will always be treated equally, but we ask applicants to consider carefully what the linguistic requirements of the job in question is and if it would be more appropriate to submit an application in Welsh.) For further information about this post please contact Bleddyn Jones on 01286 682841 or via e-mail: [e-mail] CLOSING DATE: 10:00 AM, 24/09/2026 The Council will request a Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service for the successful candidate. If you are successful to be short listed for an interview you will be contacted by E-MAIL using the address provided on your application form. You need to ensure that you check your email regularly.

Person Specification

Personal attributes

Essential

• Confident, conscientious and the ability to prioritise work in order to meet specific deadlines.
• Able to communicate effectively and discuss tax and recovery activities with officers, the public, elected members, and external establishments.
• Be able to accept responsibilities and deal with a range of complex and contentious matters.

Desirable

• Seek opportunities for professional development.
• Willingness and perseverance in realising personal self-development.

Qualifications and relevant training

Essential

• Education up to GCSE level (to include Welsh, Mathematics and English) or equivalent qualification.

Desirable

• Evidence of continuous personal development in the field of taxes or recovery.
• A Level or equivalent.
• Degree or similar qualification.
• Professional Qualification.

Relevant experience

Essential

• Experience of working in the field of taxes, recovery, or another relevant area to the post.
• Experience of dealing with challenging individuals.

Skills and specialist knowledge

Essential

• An understanding of the law, procedures and local taxation matters.
• Good information technology skills.
• Strong communication skills.
• Thorough knowledge about the activities of local authorities.

Desirable

• Planning and carrying out supervised work including writing and producing reports.

Language requirements

Listening and Speaking - Higher. Able to follow a conversation or discussion through the medium of Welsh and English on a professional level and discuss general day to day topics in the field in order to present information and express opinions. Able to give a pre-prepared presentation and respond to any comments and questions on it in Welsh or English. Reading and Understanding - Higher. Able to understand standard written Welsh and English; both formal and informal. Able to gather information from various sources such as letters, reports, articles through the medium of Welsh and English in order to fulfil the post. Writing - Higher. Present written information confidently by letter, more detailed and technical report formats, and respond to written requests conveying information, ideas and opinion in Welsh and English (help is available to check the work).

Job Description

Purpose of the post

• Supervise and monitor the implementation of every aspect of the recovery process to ensure effective and efficient recovery in accordance with the unit’s aim/objective.
• Ensure that the people of Gwynedd are at the centre of everything we do.

Main duties

• To support the day-to-day work of the recovery service for all debts owed to the Council including council tax, non-domestic rates, business improvement districts, general debts and any other debts.
• General recovery duties in accordance with the requirement, but a specific responsibility for:
  • Attending the magistrates' court with the manager/recovery officer to discuss options with the taxpayers/debtors so that a way forward can be found without having to conduct a hearing.
  • Checking the content of arrears to be written off and present to the Head of Finance for consideration.
  • Preparing a summons list and arrange for staff to check these before sending summons out.
  • Preparing a list of the summons for court use.
  • Dealing with enquiries and objections by the public to the Council's request before the Court date.
  • Acting on debt orders, i.e. sending letters to taxpayers and their employers as relevant.
  • Referring cases to the bailiff.
  • Ensuring that wage/benefit deductions are processed correctly.
  • Keeping cases sent to bailiff companies in order and reconciling them with the system.
  • Working closely with CAB providing information to help them support taxpayers and act on CAB recommendations as regards to putting temporary arrangements in place for taxpayers having difficulty paying.
  • Collaborating with the empty housing team in the Housing and Property Department for charging orders/bankruptcy requests from the legal unit or an external solicitors' company.
  • Reconciling payments received, ensuring they reach the correct accounts.

Other duties

• Play a full part as the service establishes what is important to the people of Gwynedd.
• Play a full part in developing the team's operational principles as well as personal responsibility for adhering to them.
• Operate flexibly within the Team's operational principles to deliver what matters to the residents of Gwynedd.
• Continuously seek opportunities to improve the service and identify issues that prevent the team from delivering effectively and efficiently and take action to resolve these.
• Ensure that the information required to prove how well we achieve what matters is retained and that the information is used to improve the service.
• Contribute to and take appropriate decisions to deliver what matters to the people of Gwynedd.
• Assist other teams to achieve what matters to the people of Gwynedd.
• Work in a proactive manner; be open to a different way of thinking; energetic and committed with personal integrity to deliver the above functions.
• Be responsible for personal development to be able to fulfil the post.
• Responsible for self-development.
• Ensure compliance with Health and Safety rules in the workplace in accordance with the responsibilities noted in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Council's Health and Safety Policy.
• Responsibility for managing information in accordance with the Council's information management standards and guidelines.
• Ensure that personal information is handled in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
• Commitment to reducing the Council's carbon emissions in accordance with the Carbon Management Plan, and to encourage others to take positive action towards reducing the Council's Carbon Footprint.
• Undertake any other reasonable duty which corresponds to the salary and responsibility level of the post.
• Responsible for reporting any concern or suspicion that a child or vulnerable adult is being abused.

Special circumstances

• The post-holder will be expected to complete a successful DBS check.
• Due to the need for specific systematic information at different key periods during the financial year, the post holder will be expected to occasionally work unsociable hours.