Benefits and Housing Needs Officer

Job Title: Benefits and Housing Needs Officer

Location: Hackney

Salary / Pay Rate: £25 P/H (Umbrella)

Job Type: Temporary

The Role

We are currently seeking a Benefits and Housing Needs Officer to formally respond to all stage 1 assigned casework / follow-ups, Members Enquiries, MP enquiries, Mayor & Cabinet Enquiries and Freedom of information requests within the standard KPI turnaround time and to occasionally assist the exploratory enquiries of the Business Improvement & Complaints Team (BACT) with stage 2 escalated complaint investigations and to complete Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigation outcome action points.

The Candidate

To have strong verbal and adept written communication skills during casework engagement with; customers, staff colleagues and partners of the Council and a successful track record of positively de-escalating and settling matters during challenging conversations with various vulnerable customer groups and appointed legal/voluntary community based advocates.

Must have a strong understanding of the key challenges facing local and national government in the professional field of benefits, Council tax reduction scheme and all statutory obligations applicable under Part 7 (Homelessness) & Part 6 (Allocations) of the Housing Act 1996.

Must have a minimum of at least 5 years experience of working in Local Government and/or any other government / political organisation.

To efficiently track, monitor and prioritise business critical casework responses and FOI's by order of deadline or by instructions from line management or higher.

To implement robust measures of casework management / investigation methods to ensure all lines of enquiries are sufficiently explored, managing expectations and offering the most up to date deliverable solutions to successfully resolve formal disputes and all other forms of casework.

How to apply

Please submit your application via the contact details provided and you will be contacted with further information about this opportunity or email your CV to me directly; or call me on;