Money Advice Officer - Citizen Housing : Job Details

Location: Worcestershire & Herefordshire/ Hybrid with 2 days per week in the office

We are brave, we are ambitious, we are honest, and we are Citizen!

A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join our highly successful and passionate Money Advice Team supporting residents impacted by the ongoing effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

As a Money Advice Officer, you will support the provision of a high-quality Income Management service to our customers. You will be responsible for providing expert advice and guidance around welfare benefits, income maximisation, budgeting and financial capability skills and supporting our residents to sins and a further 1.8 million in Social Valustain their tenancies.

Our key focus is to continue to develop essential community links and work with our residents through a variety of engagement techniques to promote money advice and our wider Energy Advice, Employment Coaching and Digital Inclusion Services.

The successful candidate should be comfortable working in a busy, fast-paced environment, have a confident and friendly manner, have the ability to work independently and as part of a team and have excellent communication skills.

We would welcome applications from individuals looking to develop into a career in financial inclusion.

In housing you can make a real difference, the role of Money Advice Officer will involve:

• Providing comprehensive and effective welfare benefits advice and liaising with the Department of Work & Pensions to ensure claims are processed and paid timely.
• Analysing individual customers’ income and expenditure and provide budgeting advice.
• Supporting financial and digital inclusion initiatives e.g. DD take up promotions, supporting customers to access their benefits and rent account online.
• Seeking out and assisting with applications for grant funding to reduce financial difficulty.

As a Money Advice Officer, we need you to have:

• Knowledge and understanding of current best practices in money advice.
• Knowledge and understanding of Housing & Welfare Benefits
• Experience of dealing with vulnerable customers some of whom may be demanding or under stress.
• Experience of working within a busy customer service environment  
• Full UK driving licence and access to a car.

We would be really excited if you have:

• Higher level education (post A level) or equivalent through relevant training/experience
• Ability to keep comprehensive and up to date case records
• Ability to manage, organise and prioritise your workload

We will be an employer of choice and invest in our people

To deliver the best services for our customers we need employees who are passionate, committed and engaged. We will create a culture where every individual feels comfortable and confident to be themselves and the wellbeing of our employees is a priority. We will work together as one team and embrace our Citizen values.

We will attract and retain the best and brightest professionals, support them to achieve their potential, and reward and recognise them for the fantastic work they do.

Competitive benefits:

• Annual leave purchase scheme – option to buy up to an additional 5 days per year
• Annual leave starts at 25 days per yearplus bank holidays
• Enhanced family leave (maternity, paternity and adoption)
• Organisational Sick Pay
• Generous Pension Scheme – The option to contribute 4%, 6% or up to 10% which Citizen will match
• Life cover of three times your annual salary if you join the pension scheme

Health and Wellbeing

• We provide IT and Home Office equipment to support hybrid working
• Occupational Health
• EAP – a 24/7 telephone counselling service providing free, confidential advice.
• Cashback scheme – cashback on optical, dental, prescriptions and a range of other medical costs meaning the costs are covered for employees. The scheme also offers digital Physiotherapy app, retail vouchers and discounts, discounted gym memberships and more!
• Access to Citizen’s Wellbeing initiatives and Wellbeing platform

Learning and Development

• Extensive learning and development opportunities.
• Opportunity to study for a professional qualification
• Opportunity to join the Staff Consultative Forum and EDI Forum.

Here at Citizen, our purpose is to provide homes that are a foundation for life.

With over fifty years of experience, we have grown to be one of the UK’s most trusted social housing providers, Citizen owns and manages 30,000 homes for diverse communities across the West Midlands, from urban tower blocks to rural villages and towns.

There are some fundamental challenges people in our communities’ face, and we want to be an organisation which can help them deal with these. So, we are working to solve some of the most pressing issues around housing and homelessness.

We adopt a proactive approach to safeguarding to ensure everyone accessing our services can do so without fear of harm, abuse or neglect.  As part of our recruitment process, we carry out robust safeguarding checks.

This post is subject to a Basic DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service).

Further information on our selection process and Equality and Diversity commitment can be found at www.citizenhousing.org.uk

Closing date: 29th November 2024

Interview date: 09th December 2024

Please note we will be reviewing applications throughout the campaign and may invite candidates to interview any time.  We reserve the right to close this role earlier than the published closing date should a suitable candidate be atidentified.