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Are you passionate about making a direct, positive impact on people's lives? Do you have a deep understanding of welfare rights and a drive to prevent homelessness?
Connect2Hackney, the internal talent team for Hackney Council, is seeking a dedicated and empathetic Welfare Rights Officer to join us as a Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) specialist.
This is more than just a processing role; it's a chance to provide a vital lifeline to residents facing financial hardship. You will be at the forefront of our mission to prevent homelessness, using your expertise to help individuals and families sustain their tenancies and move towards long-term financial stability.
About the Role
As a DHP specialist, you will take a holistic and compassionate approach to supporting residents who are struggling with their rent or housing costs. Your primary goal will be to use DHP awards to overcome immediate financial challenges while empowering residents to build a more secure future.
You won't just look at the numbers; you'll consider the person. This means creating a larger package of support that includes maximising their income, providing clear advice and guidance, and effectively signposting them to other helpful services both within and outside the council.
What You'll Be Doing
- Making a Difference: Assess residents' requests for support with their housing costs, making fair and effective decisions on DHP awards and other discretionary funds to help them sustain their tenancy or secure alternative accommodation.
- Empowering Residents: Work collaboratively with residents to create shared plans. You'll provide crucial advice on steps they can take (such as downsizing or increasing working hours) and work closely with our Benefits and Homelessness Prevention teams.
- Collaborating for Success: Liaise with landlords to prevent evictions and coordinate with other key professionals to ensure residents receive joined-up, comprehensive support.
- Providing Clarity and Empathy: Write clear, empathetic, and tailored decision letters that residents can easily understand.
- Maximising Income: Use your benefits knowledge to spot potential underclaiming of disability benefits and work with our 'Here to Help' colleagues to support residents with new applications.
- Ensuring Accuracy: Manage a weekly caseload of approximately 10-15 residents, ensuring all outcomes are accurately recorded and all data is held securely.
- Being a Team Player: Actively participate in team meetings and regular 1:1s with your line manager, contributing to a supportive and high-performing team environment. This is a hybrid role, and you will be expected to work in person at least one day a week.
About You: Skills and Experience
We're looking for an experienced Welfare Rights Officer or Housing Benefits Assessor who is ready to specialise and make an impact. You will have:
- In-depth knowledge of Discretionary Housing Payments, with proven experience in making DHP decisions in line with policy and guidance.
- Proficiency in using benefits systems, especially Academy. Experience with Comino and Searchlight is also beneficial.
- A strong background in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction assessments, including the ability to process Changes in Circumstances (CICs).
- A comprehensive understanding of the wider welfare benefits system and a talent for spotting opportunities for income maximisation.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to contact residents directly and provide empathetic, human-to-human support.
- A collaborative mindset and experience working with different service areas to achieve the best outcomes for residents.
If you have the expertise and the passion to support our community, we would love to hear from you.
Apply today to join a team that makes a real difference in Hackney.
Commercial Services Trading Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.
