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The role Southern Housing is Seeking a Financial Inclusion Officer to join our Social Impact team. Do you have proven working experience and knowledge in an advisory role with extensive knowledge of a wide range of Government benefits, including completing applications for benefits, grants, appeals and funding? Do you have an understanding of the principals of budgeting for low-income families? If so, join us as a Financial Inclusion Officer and deliver a customer-focused financial inclusion service to help customers manage their finances and improve their financial capability avoiding legal action and potential eviction. The Financial Inclusion Team supports all of our Southern Housing residents. We deliver a customer focused service where we help to empower residents to sustain their tenancies, delivering both welfare benefits advice and money guidance support. We inform residents of their welfare rights with the aim to ensure they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to and support residents with possible grant applications. Working closely with Income/Housing Teams, you will review pre-eviction cases ensuring appropriate support has been offered prior to action. Providing advice and assistance to customers, helping them to find solutions to difficulties with claiming benefits, multiple debts and poverty will also be an important part of this role. You will also ensure good standards of case management are maintained on the relevant Financial Inclusion/Income and CD, computer systems, recording all notes/action clearly, accurately and appropriately. Location We can offer a hybrid working arrangement for this full-time, position - you will be able to split your time between working from home and from our offices in Farringdon or Croydon. What you will need <ul> <li>Extensive knowledge of a wide range of benefits (including welfare reform) together with excellent knowledge of working an advisory role </li> <li>Experience of handling case work and referring to relevant organisations</li> <li>Understanding the principals of budgeting for low-income families</li> <li>Communicate effectively and concisely, displaying good interpersonal skills in multiple modes (phone, face-to-face, emails and in writing) using customer friendly language.</li> <li>Able to build collaborative relationships and work productively with other departments and external bodies.</li> <li>Able to develop partnership working with other agencies to generate effective solutions to problems.</li> <li>Firm knowledge of MRI housing &amp; CRM Systems</li></ul>The role will work with a range of residents and colleagues, so a positive approach to collaborative team working is essential. You'll need to live our one team culture. If this sounds like you, we look forward to receiving your application. In your supporting statement, please address how you meet each of the above criteria providing real examples. Closing Date: 13th July 2025 at 23:59 Shortlist: W/C 14th July 2025 Interviews: W/C 21st July 2025 Applying for roles with us About us At Southern Housing, our residents are at the heart of everything we do. As one of the largest housing providers in the UK with over 77,000 homes across London, the Southeast, the Isle of Wight, and the Midlands, we give over 167,000 people somewhere affordable to call their own!We also understand the difference that safe, secure, and affordable homes can make to people's lives. A career at Southern Housing will allow you to make a difference every day you come to work. Working in the housing sector with us will bring fresh challenges and give you the opportunity to grow and develop, too. What's in it for you Pension Life assurance Healthcare cash plan Eyecare &amp; dental Birthday leave Retailers discounts Cycle to work Buy &amp; sell annual leave Season ticket loan In-house academy &amp; career development Flexible working Inclusion &amp; Diversity We work hard to create a diverse and inclusive culture and environment where people are respected for who they are. Encouraging inclusion is not just about protected characteristics, it's about celebrating differences of thought, opinion, experience and perspective of each individual. We're all different in our own way and we want our colleagues to feel comfortable, that they belong, and are safe to be themselves at work, without fear of being judged or excluded, but valued for their contribution to our One Team approach.

Financial Inclusion Officer

About the Borough Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two. Sutton and Kingston councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one Council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies. We work flexibly in both Sutton and Kingston offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver. There are some really exciting things happening in both Sutton and Kingston. We are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. We are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in Kingston, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact. You should choose Sutton and Kingston if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do. Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan "Ambitious for Sutton", that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government. Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushey Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan "Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together", that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London. About the Role and our Ideal Candidate About the Role The role of Financial Inclusion Officer is to provide an in depth income maximisation and money management service to Kingston Council tenants to support them to sustain their tenancy. Within the role of financial inclusion officer you will be expected to: <ul><li> Achieve income maximisation including the completion of welfare benefits applications. </li><li> Provide support and advice on money management and effective budgeting. </li><li> Complete income and expenditure forms to support tenants to set up affordable repayment plans for outstanding debts. </li><li> Complete welfare benefits mandatory reconsiderations and appeals. </li><li> Work collaboratively with both internal and external departments and partner agencies to support tenants to manage their finances in the best way possible. </li></ul> Our Ideal Candidate The essential qualifications for the role of financial inclusion officer is a minimum of 5 GCSEs. Additionally it is essential that you have full in depth knowledge of welfare benefits and are able to evidence providing money management and budgeting advice in a previous role. We are also looking for candidates with excellent verbal and written communication skills who are able to provide detailed and clear case recording. You will be expected to work empathetically with financially vulnerable tenants who may present with a range of support needs. We offer our tenants face to face appointments in Guildhall 2 so it is essential that you are able and willing to attend our offices in Guildhall 2, Kingston for a minimum of 2 days per week. It would be desirable if you have completed Citizens Advice Adviser training . Along with this a knowledge of NEC/Iworld and Civica systems would be advantageous but full training will be provided if required. About Us The team works with tenants to develop financial capability and independence by offering: <ul><li> The delivery of a proactive service offering an appointment to new tenants at the beginning of their tenancy. </li><li> Free impartial advice and support on a range of welfare benefits and tax credits. </li><li> Face to face appointments offered to support tenants with their welfare benefit or debt issues. </li><li> Assistance with housing benefit disputes and back dates. </li><li> Guidance and support when making benefit appeals. </li><li> Advice concerning Universal Credit. </li><li> Expected to manage casework for an average of 30 households/individuals </li><li> Money guidance advice and signposting to specialist agencies when necessary. </li><li> To provide monthly statistics on performance and financial outcomes for those we support. </li></ul>Our Offer To You As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team. In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include: <ul><li> Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) </li><li> Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only) </li><li> Three volunteering days per year in Sutton or Kingston </li><li> Comprehensive learning and development programme </li><li> Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities </li><li> Interest free season ticket loans </li><li> Local Government Pension Scheme </li><li> Car parking scheme </li><li> Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme </li><li> Zip car scheme </li><li> Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses </li><li> Confidential wellbeing and counselling support </li><li> Subsidised gym membership </li></ul>Application Process Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application. The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Additional Information We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda. The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance. Job Profile

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