Find More Than 10K+
United Kingdom Jobs

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Revenues and Benefits Team within Housing Benefits as an Overpayments Officer.

We are a new local authority, created in April 2021. We’re at the beginning of our journey of shaping what Revenues and Benefits looks like at West Northants Council, so there is plenty of opportunity to develop processes, and shape our offering so we can provide the best possible service to our colleagues in our Finance directorate.

Within this varied role, you will work alongside the Housing Benefit Subsidy and Overpayments Team and will be responsible for the prompt, efficient and accurate billing of Housing Benefit overpayments and maximising the collection and recovery of these overpayments.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to widen your existing skills and develop as an individual within our service.

Alongside your colleagues in the Overpayments Team, you will be required to review Housing Benefit overpayments to ensure the accuracy of invoices and progress outstanding debt through the recovery cycle to determine the most appropriate action in order to maximise recovery.

Using your analytical skills, you’ll review outstanding debt and ensure recovery timescales are met and inactive debt is minimised.

You’ll have great communication skills which will enable you to support our customers and colleagues with a variety of overpayment related enquiries, and liaise with debtors to negotiate payment arrangements.

You will need to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of Housing Benefits legislation which will allow you to review housing overpayments and classifications with a view to assisting colleagues in maximising subsidy.

This role links with a range of colleagues, for example, providing feedback and support to your manager, Benefit Team leaders, quality assurance and training teams based on the outcome of quality checks carried out on overpayments and provide recommendations on training requirements to ensure quality and performance of the team.

You don’t need experience across all aspects of the job as that will form part of your development journey, but you will need experience of working within a Revenues & Benefits environment and dealing with overpayments of benefit and recovery as this is central to the role.

With a solutions driven and adaptable approach to work, you will be able to efficiently manage enquiries and collaborate effectively with internal colleagues and outside organisations such as the DWP and enforcement agencies.

You will have previous experience of working with customers and possess strong communication skills enabling you to effectively discuss and negotiate payment arrangements with customers.

To succeed in this challenging role you should have a flexible approach, work well within a team, and be able to use your own initiative to 'think outside of the box’.

We’re a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we’re embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 27 days annual leave per year, 28 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

The council is in the process of implementing a new pay structure and terms and conditions which will be applicable to this role. The outcome could result in a future variation to the advertised salary, and this will be discussed at interview.