Are you interested in making a real difference to the lives of disabled people? Want to work in a fast-paced environment using your advice skills?
Benefits Advisor Job Description – Hounslow Borough
Richmond Advice and Information on Disability (Richmond AID) is an organisation of and for disabled people, working to improve access, choice, quality of life and independence for disabled people in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and surrounding areas. We are looking for an enthusiastic, hardworking and highly motivated person to join our team.
Position: Benefits Advisor – Hounslow Borough
Location: From our office in Teddington, Richmond Upon Thames, London and some potential to move to hybrid working between home and office when more experienced.
Salary: £27,000 – £31,500 depending on experience, incl OLW
Hours: 21 hours per week or full time, 36 hours per week (potential for part-time work if that is preferable)
Contract: 2 year contract, with potential to extend
Annual Leave: 25 days leave plus bank holidays
Closing Date: 11.30pm on Friday 10th November 2023
Please note: Interviews will be held on an ongoing basis, we may close the position early if a suitable candidate is found. Also, we can be flexible in hours please tell us in your application.
About the role:
Richmond AID have 3 main advice teams: Information Navigation, Benefits Advice and Money Advice. We also administer a number of grants on behalf of local grant giving charities and the local authority.
We are looking for an experienced Benefits Advisor to join our busy Benefits team. The role will involve working in Hounslow borough and a potential for a further 15 hours working in the Richmond borough, if you are looking for full-time work. Richmond AID full time employees work a 36-hour week.
Our priority is to get the right person for the role and we can there have some flexibility in terms of days/hours worked. We will discuss this with you if you are selected for interview. We are open to job/share and part-time applicants. You must indicate in your covering letter whether you are applying for a full-time or part-time role.
You will be based in our office in Teddington and provide outreach and home visits to people living in Hounslow and Richmond. You will work with our experienced team of benefits advisors and volunteers.
The Benefits Service provides disabled people and carers with one-to-one confidential advice on disability benefits including support with form filling, application forms and appeals, outreach work and home visits.
Our clients are often in very difficult and challenging circumstances. This role requires someone who is resilient, empathetic, organised and has attention to detail. You will enjoy empowering people and making people aware of their rights and entitlements. You will have a background in advice giving, with knowledge of welfare and benefits, particularly those for disabled people and carers. The work can be stressful at times with a lot of pressure and deadlines, but it can also be very rewarding.
About you:
You will have experience of successfully supporting people to form fill and claim benefit such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP), ESA 50, Housing and Council Tax benefit and more. You will lead our Hounslow benefits advice service and give advice face to face, by phone and email and also do outreach sessions in community locations. You will have experience of giving advice and managing a caseload of complex advice queries. You will be able to work in fast paced environment and work under pressure.
We welcome experienced benefits advisors to apply for this role. Further or refresher training can be provided and our priority will be to get the right skills and approach. You will work within our busy team of advisors. You will receive some on the job training and one to one support from our team and we can provide comprehensive training courses for you to develop your skills.
Our advisors are often our clients’ first point of contact with our service. Your role will be to assess each client’s needs and decide with the client the best next step to help resolve the issue. Mostly we are supporting people with multiple issues and you will need to be able to build trust and confidence. You will interview clients using sensitive listening and questioning skills to identify the root of the issues, and advice should give choice and control to clients and empower them.
You will have excellent communication and IT skills, administrative skills and be fully competent on Microsoft applications. You will have the ability to work independently as well as part of a team. The ideal candidate will be passionate about social justice and the empowerment of disabled people and excited to learn valuable skills on the job.
Other roles you may have experience of could include: generalist advisor, adviser, social worker, social prescriber, link worker
To apply:
To apply for this role, please send your CV and a covering letter of up to 2 sides of A4 stating how you meet the Essential and Desirable criteria in Experience and Knowledge section of the Job description. Please apply via the Charities Job website via the following link:
https://www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/view/930848?tsId=8
Disabled Candidates
The charity is an equal opportunities employer and particularly welcome applications from disabled candidates and has been awarded the Disability Confident Employer quality mark, meaning any disabled candidates that meet the minimum criteria will be invited for interview. Please advise if have a disability or long-term health condition that you would like considering when you apply.
Regd charity No. 1074788. Company limited by guarantee, Regd in England No. 3612476.