Council Tax Recovery Team Leader

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

West Northamptonshire Council seeks a Council Tax Recovery Team Leader to guide a specialist team, ensuring efficient recovery from summons stage onwards and securing essential funding for services across the authority.

You will lead, coach and develop recovery professionals, influence service delivery, monitor performance and drive continuous improvement with a customer-focused approach.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience within a Revenues & Benefits environment.
• Strong understanding of Council Tax recovery legislation and best practice.
• Proven track record of leading successful teams and achieving service objectives.
• Able to coach, mentor and develop staff while managing competing priorities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operation of the Council Tax Recovery team and oversee performance.
• Coach and mentor staff, manage workloads and develop high-performing teams.
• Represent the Council at court, tribunals and in policy reviews.
• Collaborate with Revenues Manager and other services to improve processes.

Skills

Team leadership

Revenues & Benefits experience

Council Tax recovery knowledge

Stakeholder management

Coaching & mentoring

Compliance with legislation

Job description

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West Northamptonshire Council 2.53K subscribers

Strong leadership and technical expertise are essential to delivering an effective Council Tax Recovery service. As a Council Tax Recovery Team Leader, you'll lead a team responsible for maximising Council Tax collection from summons stage onwards, helping to secure vital funding that supports services for residents and communities across West Northamptonshire.

Working within our Revenues & Benefits Service, you'll be responsible for leading, motivating and developing a team of recovery professionals while acting as a senior specialist on Council Tax recovery matters. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Revenues & Benefits leader who is passionate about service excellence, customer experience and developing high‑performing teams.

As part of a large and ambitious local authority, you'll have the opportunity to influence service delivery, drive continuous improvement and help shape the future of Council Tax recovery across the organisation. The role offers a part‑flexible working arrangement, combining office‑based collaboration with up to three days of remote working per week.

What will you be doing?

You'll lead the day‑to‑day operation of the Council Tax Recovery team, ensuring recovery activity is delivered efficiently, effectively and in accordance with legislation and best practice. Supporting a team of Senior Officers and Recovery Officers, you'll oversee performance, manage workloads, provide coaching and mentoring, and create a positive environment where colleagues are empowered to develop and succeed.

A key part of the role will involve acting as the Council's specialist on Council Tax recovery matters, maintaining expert knowledge of legislation and case law while providing advice and guidance on complex or contentious cases. You'll work closely with the Revenues Manager to monitor performance, implement improvements, review recovery strategies and ensure collection targets are achieved.

You'll also manage relationships with Enforcement Agents, monitor contract performance and work collaboratively with Customer Services and other Revenues teams to promote a customer‑focused approach. From representing the Council at court and tribunal hearings to supporting policy reviews and service improvements, you'll play a central role in delivering a high‑quality and resilient recovery service.

About you

We're looking for a proven team leader or manager with extensive experience within a Revenues & Benefits environment and a strong understanding of Council Tax recovery legislation and best practice. You have a track record of leading successful teams, managing performance and achieving service objectives within a demanding operational environment.

You'll be a confident communicator with the ability to influence, motivate and develop others while building strong relationships with customers, colleagues, stakeholders and external partners. Comfortable working under pressure and managing competing priorities, you'll combine excellent technical knowledge with a practical and customer‑focused approach.

Experience of coaching and mentoring colleagues, managing change and delivering continuous improvement will be key to your success. Whether supporting complex cases, improving processes or developing talent within your team, you'll be committed to achieving high standards and delivering excellent outcomes. Most importantly, you'll share our THRIVE values and our ambition to provide outstanding services to the residents and communities of West Northamptonshire

About us

At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like‑minded people.

Our vision is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us .

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.