Description Housing Officer – Temporary Accommodation – Housing Benefit North East Locality Office Salary: £33,287 - £39,129 per year Hours: 36 per week An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Rent Collection Housing Officer position in The City of Edinburgh Council’s Temporary Accommodation Service. You will be a housing professional with significant experience of working in a social housing role in a housing association, council or similar organisation. With an excellent knowledge of social housing, property management and homelessness, coupled with a passion and track record for delivering high quality work within a limited timescale. You will put your customers first, respect and understand their concerns and needs when delivering services to them and inspire confidence and respect in your customers for you and the service you work for. You will be sensitive and responsive to the needs of all your customers, many of whom may experience significant challenges in their lives. This post is regulated work with children and/or protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The preferred candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check. Where an individual has spent a continuous period of 3 months or more out with the UK in the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. An unconditional offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of both these pre-employment checks being deemed satisfactory. As part of our goal to improve our organisational culture and create a great place to work together for the people of Edinburgh, we want to make sure that we’re bringing the best people into our roles, not just in their skills and experience but also in their approach to work. To help achieve this, we’re changing the way we interview and assess candidates by moving from a competency-based interview approach to a behavioural and technical (skills for the job) based approach. This new way of interviewing will allow us to assess how you think and how you would bring Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility into your ways of working. We're committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits that a diverse workforce with different values, beliefs, experience, and backgrounds brings to us as an organisation. You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council Our salary range typically reflects the initial starting salary and annually increases until it reaches the top of the range. Happy to talk flexible working. Follow us on Twitter at @edincounciljobs View Housing Officer Job Description Responsibilities Experience Skills in verbal, written and other communication in the context of services to customers and partnership working. Essential Personal organisation and analytical skills in the context of solving complex problems and prioritising competing demands. Essential Up to date knowledge of housing and related responsibilities of the Council and the services available for your customers in meeting these responsibilities. Essential Ability to build strong and effective relationships with a wide range of other services, professionals, voluntary and private sector organisations and businesses to ensure that customers have access to the help and support to improve their quality of life. Essential Ability to communicate effectively in a range of different circumstances with other customers, internal and external services, support agencies, elected members and other professionals. Essential Make decision on a daily basis in your area of responsibility in line with legislation and regulatory framework. Essential Knowledge, skills and understanding Up to date knowledge of Homelessness legislation relating to Private Rented Sector. Essential Up to date knowledge of advice and support available to support people to remain in their current home – preventing homelessness. Essential Up to date knowledge of the Housing Options available to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. Essential Up to date knowledge of welfare benefits/ welfare reform including the roll out of Universal Credit. Essential Understanding of homelessness and housing legislation. Essential Knowledge and understanding of the support available for people experiencing difficulties with debt/arrears and access to employment. Essential Ability to work on own initiate and without direct supervision. Essential Excellent written and oral communication skills. Essential Ability to deal sensitively with conflict and difficult situations. Essential Excellent and demonstrable IT skills specifically MS Excel and Word. Essential Ability to identify customers who have complex issues and to build positive relationships. Essential Ability to organise and manage own workload in a dynamic environment where priorities can change quickly. Essential Takes personal responsibility for delivering an excellent service to meet the needs of internal and external customers. Essential Committed to working with team and partners to achieve common goals and ensure performance at highest levels. Essential Takes personal responsibility for own actions, sets high standards for personal performance and shows determination to meet goals. Essential Ability to analyse and make recommendations on a variety of issues to contribute to homelessness prevention. Essential Ability to assess the suitability of housing solutions to ensure they are sustainable and meet the needs of the customer. Essential Qualifications and training Must have, or have ability to work towards, SVQ Level 3 in Social Services and Healthcare or equivalent in a related discipline. Demonstrated and significant experience in a related environment will be considered in place of the above qualification Essential Membership of the Chartered Institute Housing. Desirable Job specific requirements PVG Scheme membership (vulnerable adults). Essential