Financial Assessment and Inclusion Officer

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

London Living Wage

Volunteer days

Pension scheme

Cycle to work

EV leasing

Wellbeing support

Job summary

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is recruiting for a pro-active finance and welfare benefits role within the Financial Assessment and Inclusion Team. You will combine analytical skills with customer service to maximise benefits for adult social care clients and coordinate with ASC colleagues.

This is a hybrid, London-based position with a minimum of two days in the office per week, and a supportive environment offering learning, development and a range of employee benefits.

Qualifications

• Pro-active and ambitious with excellent welfare benefit knowledge.
• History of working within a finance and customer service team in the adult social care sector.
• Be analytical and a problem solver.
• Possess a ‘can do’ attitude and be willing to work collaboratively with other departments and teams.
• Be ready to take up the challenges and to be a team player.
• A knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and charging principles for social care services will be desirable.

Skills

Welfare benefits

Finance experience

Analytical

Team player

Proactive attitude

Care Act knowledge

Job description

About The Borough

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Sutton and Kingston councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one Council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Sutton and Kingston offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both Sutton and Kingston. We are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. We are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in Kingston, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

You should choose Sutton and Kingston if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan “Ambitious for Sutton”, that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushy Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan “Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together”, that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

About The Role And Our Ideal Candidate

• The successful candidate will be pro‑active and ambitious with excellent welfare benefit knowledge.


• You will be able to demonstrate a history of working within a finance and customer service team in the adult social care sector.


• Be analytical and a problem solver.


• Possess a ‘can do’ attitude and be willing to work collaboratively with other departments and teams.


• Be ready to take up the challenges and to be a team player.


• A knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and charging principles for social care services will be desirable.

About Us

The Financial Assessment and Inclusion Team is responsible for the provision of a financial assessment and benefit maximisation service for all recipients of care services arranged by Adult Social Care. The team also administers, monitors and processes payments to care providers. The team works collaboratively with ASC colleagues and other internal teams as well as external stakeholders. We are hybrid working team, it is expected that you come into the office minimum of 2 days per week.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro‑rate if part‑time working hours apply) depending on service and grade


• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave


• Two volunteering days per year


• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)


• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks


• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses


• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres


• Interest free season ticket loans


• Local Government Pension Scheme


• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme


• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
  
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities. However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values. Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward. 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.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points‑based immigration system affecting EU and Non‑EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case‑by‑case basis.