Senior Benefits officer

Senior Benefits Officer

Permanent

Grade C - £35,412 - £41,771

Consultation grade - subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review

Working 36.5 hours per week

An exciting permanent opportunity has arisen for a motivated and outcome driven individual to join the Benefits Service as a Senior Benefits Officer, primarily based within the Appeals Team.

The post holder will support the Processing Team Manager and wider management team in delivering a high quality service that ensures the Benefits Service meets all statutory and legal requirements.

This role involves administering complex Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support assessments with a strong emphasis on quality and accuracy. The post has arisen due a vacancy as well as increasing service demand and will support the high volume of applications, correspondence, enquiries, and appeal related work.

A key element of this post will be supporting the Appeals Team through the preparation and submission of clear, accurate and well evidenced appeal responses. This includes reviewing and analysing case information, drafting robust submissions for the Tribunal Service, managing deadlines effectively, and providing clarification or supplementary information where required. The post holder will work closely with colleagues to ensure all appeal matters are handled professionally and in accordance with relevant legislation and guidance.

The Senior Benefits Officer will ensure all work is carried out in line with legislation, regulations and established procedures, and completed promptly and efficiently.

The ideal candidate will have experience in housing benefits and strong confidence in applying relevant legislation relating to both housing and council tax benefits. Responsibilities include processing and reconsidering benefit claims, managing Discretionary Housing Payments and student claims, keeping customers informed throughout their application journey, and undertaking multifaceted cases such as customer disputes, backdating requests, deprivation or diminishing capital cases, student assessments and self employed claims. Attendance at tribunal hearing will form part of the post holders duties.

Please upload an up-to-date CV and Supporting Statement via the attachments part of your application. The Supporting Statement should outline how you meet the criteria for the role through your personal qualities, skills and experience and include your motivation for applying to the post. Note the Personal Statement should be no more than 1500 words. Unfortunately, we cannot consider any applications without a CV and Personal Statement attached

Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people.

We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application.

For any informal enquires please contact the Resourcing Team

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken.

Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.

Birmingham City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our citizens and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. You can view our Corporate Safeguarding Policy Birmingham City Council here.

Job Description and PersonSpecification