Financial Inclusion Officer

Hybrid - office base work in Wandsworth and working from home, plus home visits this could be in or out of the borough and potentially working from other venues as appropriate to best support local residents.

Are you passionate about supporting local residents facing significant cost of living pressures?

Are you interested in working across a wide range of internal services and with external partners to help residents in temporary accommodation to navigate a complex system of information and advice locally and nationally, and access the specialist help and support that they need?

Can you role model and help to embed new ways of working within existing teams, taking the learning from evidence of what works to update and improve systems and processes whilst also supporting a culture that focuses on empowerment and engagement rather than enforcement?

Are you able to work with different individuals and teams to ensure benefit claims are processed and residents receive the best service the Council has to offer?

About the role

You will be based within the Finance Directorate, working across Council Tax, Discretionary Awards and Benefits teams and with colleagues across the Councils and with partners. You will support local residents to maximise their income, reduce reliance on crisis grants and improve their financial resilience for the future.

Residents' situations and circumstances will be widely varied and highly individualised, and it will be important for you to help identify the most appropriate support and solutions for each situation. This will include working with people one-to-one, as well as helping to facilitate workshops, road shows and other events to encourage people to access the support they need.

You will need a good knowledge of legislation and council policy for financial support and will be supported to develop a greater understanding and network of contacts across services such as housing, benefits, council tax and welfare reform.

You will be empathetic and supportive, helping residents develop and agree action plans and payment plans, and negotiate and agree these with creditors, with an emphasis on ensuring they are realistic, robust and based on sound financial assessments.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils