Financial Support Officer

Coventry City Council; Coventry; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

Coventry City Council is seeking a proactive Customer Services role focused on helping residents to become more financially resilient. You will contact low-income families, discuss welfare benefits, assist with applications, and use data to target support.

A strong emphasis on communication and problem solving is required to build trust and improve outcomes. The role operates within the Council’s Customer Services department, offering a challenging yet rewarding career path with the city’s local

Qualifications

• Experience of benefits and knowledge of support services available across the city.
• Ability to resolve complex difficulties for customers.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Pro-active outbound contacting of low-income families to discuss welfare benefits and support.
• Assist with benefit applications and appeals where applicable.
• Use data to target support to those most in need.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

People skills

Benefits experience

Knowledge of welfare services

IT skills

Ability to resolve complex issues

Tools

Benefit calculator

Job description

This is an exciting new role for someone who is passionate about helping people, supporting Coventry residents to become more financially resilient through tailored advice, early intervention, and access to financial support services. If you are passionate about helping people, delivering excellent customer service, and making a meaningful difference to local communities, we'd love to hear from you. Are you passionate about supporting people and making a real difference in your local community? Do you have excellent communication and people skills, together with experience of benefits and knowledge of the support services available across the city? If so, you could be exactly who we're looking for. You will identify and contact low-income families to understand whether they could be supported to apply for additional benefits to increase financial stability, prevent homelessness and build resilience. You should have a good knowledge of income benefits and have the skills and ability to help customers resolve complex difficulties. Duties will include:

• Pro-active outbound contacting of families identified as on a low-income or at risk of crisis to discuss welfare benefits and possible avenues of support. Assisting with applications and appeals
• Using the benefit and budget calculator to support families to claim benefits that they may be entitled to
• Using data to target support to people who need it most now and uncover hidden pockets of poverty. Identify families who are struggling and who may never have engaged with is before.
• Responding to people and their specific circumstances, gaining their trust, and identifying when their support needs may be deeper than the original request. You will need to have both excellent communication and problem-solving skills
• Using your network of contacts both within the Council and across the voluntary network to assist with enquiries and identify opportunities to help people, including working with partner organisations in community sites

There will be times when you'll need the ability to deliver difficult messages and manage expectations, while we try our best there aren't always straight forward solutions to the challenges that people face. Resilience is important in this equally challenging and rewarding role. Assessments will consist of an interview and scenario-based activity. 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). All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

• Care about delivering an excellent service to every internal and external customer
• Excellent communication skills, confident in face to face, telephone and written activity
• Ability to support a diverse customer base
• Ability to deliver in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to respond to change positively
• To Be Flexible to the needs of the service
• Good IT skills
• An understanding of the range of services provided by the Council.

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

Customer Services is one of the largest departments in Coventry City Council and are the front face of the organisation. We are usually the first port of call for customer enquiries across the council. Our fast-paced telephone teams deal with thousands of calls and emails a week, we have a dynamic Customer Service Centre with around 2500 visitors a week approaching us for a wide range of enquiries from paying their council tax to seeking help to access services and dedicated support teams who process bookings, timesheets and general administration work for the whole organisation. You may be based in one of several locations, we have a Customer Service Centre right in the heart of the city; Friargate - a large purpose built office by the train station along with several reception points across the city. Joining Customer Services is a really good stepping stone into a long term career with the Council, depending on the role you are offered you will learn about other parts of the organisation We want every single customer to have a positive experience when approaching the council and would welcome you being part of the team. Our Values In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do., Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse. At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things. To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities. If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition