Crisis & Resilience Fund Assessment Officer

We're recruiting a Crisis & Resilience Fund Assessment Officer to play a key role in delivering Herefordshire's new Crisis & Resilience Fund (CRF), designed to support residents facing financial hardship while helping them move towards long-term resilience. This is more than an assessment role. It's an opportunity to make a real difference every day, supporting people at difficult moments, making fair and informed decisions, and helping them access the wider support they need to thrive. You'll assess applications for crisis support, ensuring decisions are timely, fair and consistent, while taking a person-centred, trauma-informed approach. Alongside decision-making, you'll look beyond the immediate issue, helping residents maximise their income, understand their options, and connect with the right services and community support. Working in a fast-paced environment, you'll carry out proportionate checks, and make evidence-based decisions aligned with policy and national guidance. What you'll be doing

• Assessing applications and making fair, timely decisions to prevent crises escalating
• Supporting residents experiencing financial hardship with empathy and professionalism
• Having meaningful conversations that go beyond the immediate need
• Identifying underlying issues such as debt, affordability or wider challenges
• Connecting people to advice, services, and community support
• Working closely with colleagues and partners to provide joined-up support
• Contributing to a new service that is shaping how we respond to financial hardship in Herefordshire
  
  You might come from a background in benefits, housing, debt, welfare, advice, or customer services, but more importantly, you will be someone who:
• Cares deeply about supporting people through difficult situations
• Can balance empathy with sound judgement and confident decision-making
• Is organised and able to manage competing priorities in a busy environment
• Communicates clearly and builds trust with residents
• Enjoys problem-solving and finding practical solutions
• Is committed to a person-centred, trauma-informed approach
Experience of working with the public and making decisions using policy or guidance will be important. If you're motivated by helping people, making fair decisions, and being part of a service that creates lasting change, we'd love to hear from you.

Community Wellbeing is connecting and belonging to the place where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community. We welcome applicants whatever their personal characteristics or social identity. All requests for flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments will be considered. The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:
• Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the "Disability Confident" scheme;
• Those who indicate in their supported statement that they serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, or their families. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant.
• Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.
Stronger Together, Building Brighter Futures

All Locations is a required field All Departments Not Specified All Departments is a required field Advertising Salary £28,142 to £32,062 per annum Interview Date: Not Specified
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• Crisis and Resilience Fund Assessment Officer, A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:
• Starting Salary of £28,142 to £32,062 per annum
• Pension Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
• Career progression: clear pathways to progress
• Annual Leave: 31 days' annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum with line manager approval.
• Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours and, in some instances, home working
• Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling
• Payment of professional membership fees
• Pick your perks - our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.
Why Choose Us? You will probably have heard a lot about how beautiful it is in terms of countryside and open spaces (and it is!) but there is so much more going on here, including world-class cultural assets like the Mappa Mundi, vibrant theatres and a thriving food and drink sector. One of Herefordshire's biggest assets is the strong and diverse communities. Our Talk Community approach brings that together supporting people to help themselves, encouraging them to help their communities and identifying how communities can help individuals. Our ambitious transformation programme aims to further build on this to offer an all-age approach. We're excited about the potential of what we can achieve for the benefit of all residents of Herefordshire, stronger together and building brighter futures. To find out more about what it's like to live, work and thrive at Herefordshire Council please visit our dedicated recruitment website: www.spiritofherefordshire.com. Reasonable Adjustments Our recruitment process runs in partnership with Hoople Resourcing. If you require any reasonable adjustments or alternative methods for the online application process, please contact the resourcing team by email: [email protected] Creating an Inclusive Workplace Employee Network Groups play an important role in strengthening the voices of employees at Herefordshire Council. Embedded in the Council's values is a commitment to listen to people's views and needs. Employee Network Groups are a collective of colleagues who often share identities, life experiences or cultures and who come together to initiate positive change in their work place. Our groups include: Black and Asian Staff Networking Group, LGBTQ+, Parents & Carers, Climate and Nature Emergency, Diff-abilities and Armed Forces/ Veterans.