Job Description
Housing Revenue and Booking Officer
Hours: 37 per week
Contract: Maternity cover (9-month fixed-term contract)
Salary: £36,457 per annum (pro rata)
About Watford Borough Council
Watford is an urban borough in South West Hertfordshire. The borough has excellent transport links with mainline rail connections to London. Watford is the centre of a sub-region serving around 500,000 people living within a 20-minute travelling time catchment.
As part of the London commuter belt, Watford is strongly influenced by London, which brings the benefits of a buoyant economy.
At a glance
- £1.4bn local investment happening – mix of public and private funding
- 5 major development and regeneration projects happening
- 3,500 registered businesses
- Higher than average working age population
- Skilled workforce
- Affordable local housing market
- Home to many major international head offices
The role
We are seeking a highly organised and detail-focused Housing Revenue & Booking Officer to take lead responsibility for the administration of temporary accommodation bookings and the associated financial processes within the Housing and Wellbeing Service.
As the sole officer managing this function, you will oversee the end-to-end process for bed and breakfast and nightly-let placements. This includes sourcing and arranging accommodation, maintaining accurate records, setting up and managing rent accounts, updating housing and finance systems, raising invoices, monitoring payments and taking action to recover outstanding accommodation charges.
You will maintain detailed financial records across multiple systems, including the council’s housing and finance systems and Excel spreadsheets. You will reconcile payments, track balances, ensure charges are applied correctly and make sure all records remain accurate and auditable.
You will notify households of their accommodation placements and clearly explain booking details, including location, costs and any limitations.
This will sometimes involve sensitive conversations. You will therefore need to communicate decisions confidently, sensitively and professionally while managing expectations.
The role involves regular direct contact with customers to explain accommodation charges, issue rent statements, agree repayment arrangements and actively follow up on arrears, maintaining a firm but customer-focused approach. You will also liaise with accommodation providers and internal teams to ensure placements remain suitable, bookings are reviewed regularly, and all administrative and financial information is kept up to date.
This is a varied role with significant amounts of manual administration and the use of different IT systems, plus Excel.
The role requires strong organisational skills, attention to detail, confidence working with financial information and the ability to take ownership of bookings, income monitoring, and customer communication.
What we are looking for
Essential
- Education to GCSE level or equivalent experience
- Experience working in a finance, invoicing, income collection, housing or administrative role
- Experience raising invoices, maintaining accounts or monitoring payments
- Strong Excel skills, including maintaining spreadsheets, tracking payments and reconciling figures
- Experience using finance systems or databases to maintain accurate accounting records
- Strong numeracy skills and excellent attention to detail
- Experience providing a customer-focused service and working with the public
- Ability to explain charges, discuss payments and follow up on arrears with customers
- Ability to remain calm and professional when dealing with distressed or frustrated clients
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- Strong organisational and time-management skills
- Ability to manage your own workload with minimal supervision
Desirable
- Knowledge of Housing Benefit or rent accounting processes
- Experience working with vulnerable households or complex cases
Closing Date: 18/3/2026.
For an informal discussion, please contact Laura Marland, Housing Enabling and Development Manager.
A Basic Disclosure check will be carried out for this post.
At Watford Borough Council, we consider equality issues alongside other factors when making decisions as an employer of choice. We are committed to ensuring that we have effective policies, strategies, procedures, and processes and that we encourage behaviour which promotes equality, encourages diversity, and contributes to an inclusive organisational culture