Job Introduction Job Title: Financial Assessment & Income Officer Starting Salary: £31,537 opportunity to progress to £34,434per annum Hours: 37 Location: Stevenage Contract Type: Permanent Directorate: Adult Care Services About the team The Adult Care Services Income and Financial Assessments Team play a crucial role in ensuring that adults receiving social care services are assessed fairly and accurately for their ability to contribute financially towards the cost of their care. The team is responsible for carrying out financial assessments, maximising benefit entitlement, collecting & reviewing financial information and monitoring income. They provide guidance and support to individuals and work closely with other departments, including social care practitioners, whilst applying relevant legislation such as the Care Act 2014. About the role The successful candidate will take on a vital, customer-facing role within the Income and Financial Assessments Service, playing a key part in delivering excellent support as part of our Customer and Business Support team. Are you someone who enjoys helping others, solving problems, and making a real difference? You'll be at the heart of our Income Service, managing a wide range of enquiries about financial assessments and charging in line with the Care Act 2014. A key part of this role involves handling a high volume of calls, delivering a responsive and professional service while managing enquiries efficiently. You will also respond to written correspondence, supporting individuals with queries relating to financial assessments and how care charges are calculated. As a key point of contact, you'll guide people through the process, ensuring they feel informed, supported, and confident that their queries are being effectively resolved. Working closely with colleagues across the service, you'll play an important part in keeping everything running smoothly, triaging cases, allocating work, and making sure enquiries reach the right teams quickly and efficiently. This is a varied and rewarding role where you'll build relationships, use your judgement, and make a meaningful impact every day. About you Essential: We are seeking individuals who can demonstrate: Experience within a customer service or call handling environment Strong customer service skills, with experience handling enquiries and resolving queries in a professional and empathetic manner Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain financial assessment processes clearly and sensitively Experience of managing queries relating to appointments or processes and supporting individuals through service pathways Ability to triage and prioritise work effectively, ensuring cases and tasks are allocated appropriately Experience working in a fast-paced environment with competing demands Strong organisational skills, including coordinating appointments and managing workloads Good numeracy skills and ability to understand financial information IT proficiency, including use of databases, spreadsheets and case management systems Ability to work collaboratively across multiple teams High level of attention to detail and accurate record keeping Desirable: Understanding of Adult Social Care processes, financial assessments, or Care Act 2014 legislation This role is primarily office-based. However, following an initial settling-in period, there may be an opportunity for some hybrid working, subject to business needs. In addition to a generous pension scheme membership and annual leave entitlement, you will be provided with excellent support and opportunities to grow. We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role. This job role is Level 8. Please locate the job profile here: Job profiles: Business support services To hear more about this opportunity please contact cliona.ilett@hertfordshire.gov.uk for an informal discussion about the role. Interview Date: to be confirmed Benefits of working for us How to apply As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences. Additional information Disability Confident We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. Safeguarding This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. English Fluency The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.