Income Officer (Temp 2 months) - Starting ASAP

WFH

Hybrid (1 day in office minimum)

Great opportunity for an income officer to provide a coordinated, flexible, and effective income collection service that maximises income from rents and service charges. You will be responsible for achieving and maintaining lowest possible levels of current rent and former tenancy arrears and for ensuring we maximise income recovery and meet arrears targets.

This role includes establishing a working relationship with a range of external stakeholders, including Department for Work & Pensions, Housing Benefit departments, 3rd party support and advice agencies, and courts. You will work closely with team members across the housing services team as well as with team members from across the business to facilitate a smooth resident experience.

Key Responsibilities as an Income Officer:

• Effectively reduce all accounts in arrears to meet monthly individual and team targets. This will include producing arrears reports, communicating with residents in person/by telephone/through correspondence, serving Notices, home visits, providing appropriate advice and support to residents to enable them to sustain their tenancies.
• By fully conversant with county court procedures for possession claims including use of PCOL. Prepare court documents and paperwork relevant to rent possession cases including negotiating cases with residents and other representatives before hearings and presenting cases and associated evidence to the court.
• Deliver an income management service that ensures core business objectives and performance indicators are met alongside a quality resident experience.
• To manage, collect and recover debt from former tenant arrears and non-rent charges.
• Establish local partnerships with statutory agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions and Housing Benefit departments to assist the clients’ residents to access and receive benefit entitlements.
• Communicate and liaise effectively with a range of stakeholders to assist with income collection and debt prevention.
• Maintain and update records from all resident interactions, recovery actions and correspondence to ensure effective record keeping.
• Identify residents requiring specialist welfare benefit and financial inclusion advice and make referrals to the Welfare Benefit Officer.
• Identify and act upon any safeguarding risks and money laundering concerns, in line with policies.
• To monitor, track and report performance trends and provide associated analysis as required, identifying where improvements can be made.

Key Requirements:

• 5 GCSE’s, Grades A-C, including English & Maths.
• At least 2 years’ experience working in a housing association or local authority.
• Minimum 2 years of experience as Income Officer (incl. - court hearings & evictions).
• Experience of income management, including attending court.
• Experience of working with or supporting vulnerable people using a person-centred approach.
• Experience of working with a diverse resident base and addressing individual need.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Housing and Welfare Reform Legislation.
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise workload.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
• Ability to foster effective relationships internally and externally.
• Aptitude for IT and in particular Word, Excel and Housing Management software.
• Ability to analyse data.
• Passionate about service delivery.
• Flexible and adaptable with a positive 'can do’ attitude.
• Strong sense of integrity.
• Self-motivated and a team player.
• Able to 'live’ the organisation’s values.
• Personal Car - to use if needed (mileage and expenses allowance).

Disclaimer: Due to the high amount of interest that we receive for each of our roles, unfortunately we cannot respond to each application individually, therefore if you do not hear back from one of our consultants within 14 days then unfortunately you have not been shortlisted for this role.