About this role
Positive Employment is currently recruiting for a Finance Officer for our client, a local government organisation based in Kensington, London. The successful post holder will assess and determine entitlement to discretionary financial support for residents, including Home Start Essentials, crisis payments and housing payments, making sure public funds are awarded fairly and in line with approved policies. This role is a contract position with an initial contract of 3 months, with the possibility to extend. This role is hybrid working with 50% office attendance.
Duties and Responsibilities but not limited to:
· Assess applications across resident financial support schemes, making independent decisions on eligibility, award values and method of support
· Gather, verify and analyse financial and personal information, including income, expenditure, savings, housing costs and benefit awards, using the organisation’s systems, DWP records and other sources
· Identify residents in immediate financial hardship and prioritise urgent cases
· Assess housing-related financial need, such as rent shortfalls, to support tenancy sustainment and help prevent homelessness
· Communicate decisions clearly and sensitively to residents and their representatives by phone, email, in writing and face to face where required
· Signpost and refer residents to welfare advice, debt support and community services
· Identify potential fraud, misrepresentation or error and escalate in line with the organisation’s procedures
· Maintain accurate, auditable case records in line with data protection and financial control requirements
· Work as part of a self-managing team, sharing responsibility for covering phones, inboxes and application processing within agreed timescales
· Support decision reviews, quality assurance, audit and service improvement activity
· Produce accurate data to support service monitoring and reporting
Personal Requirements:
· No formal qualifications are required, but you will need to demonstrate the relevant experience and skills
· Experience in a customer-facing, administrative or support role where accuracy and good record keeping are important
· Working knowledge of welfare support, housing, financial support or related public services, or the ability to learn this quickly
· Ability to assess financial and housing-related information and make balanced, evidence-based decisions
· Excellent communication skills, including explaining decisions sensitively when an application cannot be awarded
· Resilience and professionalism when handling difficult conversations or distressed residents
· Ability to manage and prioritise a busy workload and meet deadlines
· Ability to work independently and as part of a team
· Awareness of the importance of following policy, procedures, data protection and financial controls
Pay: £28.27 per hr Working Hours: 9:00am - 17:00pm / Monday to Friday Please note this role is within the scope of IR35, and pay will be via an umbrella company.