The Community Finance Service provides several services including financial assessments to ascertain financial assistance for care services provided, invoicing of assessed client financial charge for residential and non-residential services and providing accurate and timely advice and information as well as monitoring and reconciling direct payment accounts and ensuring accurate recharges for joint funded packages of care. An exciting opportunity has arisen for 3 candidates to join Westmorland and Furness Council as a new team is set up within the Service area. The Direct Payment Officers will provide support and guidance to the Direct Payment recipients and to operational teams as they monitor and reconcile the Direct Payment accounts and deal with any customer queries in relation to the 4-weekly statements sent out by the Council for care and support. The Officers will action recharges to partners for care and support provided through the Council. Who we are looking for… We are looking for highly motivated individuals who have a strong attention to detail, a high level of accuracy and have a naturally inquisitive nature and an ability to problem solve, they must be flexible, be able to work within competing deadlines and have excellent customer care and communication skills. They must be a team player who is committed to continuous improvement. Someone who can work within technical policies and legislation. Ideally, they will have an understanding of ASC (Adult Social Care) services. If so, then we would love to hear from you. You will be working in a busy Operational Finance Service, the successful applicant will be required to monitor and reconcile accounts and to provide support and guidance to customers and colleagues, maintaining the day-to-day operations of the service in line with legislation and local policy. You will need to have experience of working in a customer focussed environment, ideally of a financial nature, demonstrating patience and understanding. Be able to deal with clients or their representatives in a sensitive manner, whilst ensuring Information Governance legislation is always followed, when dealing with bill queries. You will need to possess good problem-solving skills. Applicants will need to be able to work on their own initiative, without close supervision, to tight deadlines, and must be able to keep accurate records and be able to use a variety of computerised systems, whilst actioning recharges to partner organisations. You will have strong organisational skills, being able prioritise work with frequent interruptions. You will be a critical thinker with the ability to understand the needs of your customers. You will have excellent communication skills and be a team player. The ability to work harmoniously with others to achieve your personal goals, the goals of the team and that of the service. The Team have adapted into Hybrid working and you will be expected to work from your local office on a 60/40 basis to enable working relationships to be forged. The successful candidate will need to show that they can deal appropriately with issues of a financial nature, in line with legislation and policy, including lone working as you may be required to visit a client in their own home or care setting for example. This is an exciting opportunity to be part or a new team. For a full list of responsibilities for the post please see the attached job specification. This post is subject to basic DBS check. If you have any queries or would like to arrange an informal conversation, please contact Tracey Lightfoot on 07917 266566. What can we offer you! Working at Westmorland and Furness Council you will receive a variety of benefits, including a competitive pension scheme, enhanced annual leave allowance and other various perks and discounts schemes. For more information about life at Westmorland and Furness Council and what we can offer you, please visit our Careers site. Our benefits | Careers (westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk) Would you like to find out more? For further information about this role, such as responsibilities and essential criteria please view the below attachments: Post Specification Role Profile To apply please click the Apply