Income Plus Specialist

Sheffield City Council HQ; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Sheffield City Council is looking for an Income Specialist within the Income Management and Financial Inclusion Team (IMFIT). The role focuses on rent collection, arrears recovery, and promoting financial inclusion to support tenants amid changes such as Universal Credit rollout.

The post is primarily office-based with flexible working and occasional home visits, requiring a minimum 60% in the office and up to 40% from home. You will join a driven team dedicated to safeguarding housing income.

Qualifications

• Good numeracy and written skills.
• Experience using general office-based administration systems and procedures.
• Ability to interpret and follow procedures, policies and legislation.
• Proficiency with Microsoft IT and other relevant systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide support and advice to customers to maximise income and prioritise payments of rent.
• Take firm but fair recovery action in connection with unpaid rent from current and former tenants, including discussing difficult conversations and initiating legal actions when needed.
• Work in a team to collect rent and recover arrears while promoting financial inclusion.
• Flexible working across Sheffield offices and occasional home working, with 60% minimum time in a work location.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Numeracy

Written skills

Microsoft Office

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as an Income Specialist within the Income Management and Financial Inclusion Team (IMFIT).

Income collection is a key priority and is crucial to the health of the Housing Revenue Account - which funds all housing related services to Sheffield council tenants. With the roll out of Universal Credit continuing nationally, and the difficult financial climate many people are still facing, the challenge of supporting tenants during a period of great change, whilst maximising arrears recovery, continues to be extremely challenging. The Income Management and Financial Inclusion Team are the lead players within the Housing Service in collecting rent and recovering arrears and also focus heavily on financial inclusion initiatives whilst working in partnership with many other teams and organisations, both within the Council as well as externally.

The successful applicants will work in one of our teams based at Solpro Business Park. The work will be mainly office based but you will be required to work flexibly, from other offices across the city, and carry out home visits when necessary. The current arrangements are that staff are expected to work a minimum 60% of their weekly hours in a work location, allowing you the chance to then work up to 40% of your time from home. This is subject to change.

Working as part of a team with a proven track record you will:

• Have an effective telephone manner and excellent negotiation skills
• Be performance driven, and show a positive approach to hard work and achieving targets
• Provide support and advice to customers to maximise their income and prioritise payments of rent
• Take firm but fair recovery action in connection with unpaid rent from current and former tenants. This involves having difficult conversations with customers who are not paying their rent, and ultimately commencing legal actions where this continues

Successful applicants must also have:

• Good numeracy and written skills
• An ability to interpret and follow procedures, policies and legislation
• Experience of general office based administration systems and procedures
• An ability to use Microsoft IT and other relevant systems

We are looking to recruit people who are highly driven, motivated, professional, and enthusiastic. These are key positions, responsible for making a vital contribution to income collection and recovery and therefore protecting the Housing Revenue Account.

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.