Homechoice Officer

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Job details

**Salary**

Grade 7 £25,856 per annum pro rata (£15,723 for 22.5 hours)

**Contractual hours**

22.5

**Basis**

Part time

**Region**

South

**Job category/type**

Housing

**Date posted**

29/02/2024

**Job reference**

001938

Job description

**About the Role**
- The Homechoice Team are looking for an officer to help deliver the Council’s housing allocation scheme fairly and consistently so that residents can access the affordable housing of their choice.
- This is a part-time position working 22.5 hours per week, Monday to Wednesday, based at our Maidstone House office in Maidstone town centre, with the scope for agile/home working under the Council’s Hybrid working arrangements, dependant on the needs of service.

**About Maidstone Borough Council**
- Maidstone Borough Council is a confident organisation with ambition and aspirations to deliver high quality services to our residents and local businesses. We strive to make the borough an attractive place for all and secure a successful economy. We continue to build on our strengths - assets, knowledge and expertise and our track record for innovation and improvement to create a financially sustainable future so that we can continue with our undiminished plans.
- We will only achieve the results we are aiming for through the talents and hard work of all our people. You are encouraged to become part of our vision and in return you can expect support, training, and fair reward from us. We will give you the opportunity to develop the skills to do your job well and create a positive working environment where your ideas about improving how we do things are valued and we manage the changes needed for new ways of working well.
- At Maidstone Borough Council we recognise the importance of flexible working and the benefits this can bring to both our staff and the Council. We know that by offering employees a range of flexible working opportunities we can positively impact their wellbeing and engagement, and drive productivity in return. As such we have developed a highly flexible hybrid working policy, alongside our flexi time and flexible working policies, enabling staff to shape their working patterns around building a greater work life balance.

**Our Offer**:

- A range of benefits including:

- Highly flexible hybrid working opportunities
- 7am to 7pm flexi time to suit personal circumstances for most roles
- Generous holiday entitlement which increases after 5 years LG service plus bank holidays with the option to buy additional leave.
- Additional 3 days leave given to enable a close down of the offices between Christmas and New year.
- Free parking
- Range of flexible working opportunities to accommodate people’s home/work life balance including compressed hours, 9-day fortnight, part time.
- Invitations to staff events to celebrate success and support wellbeing that include holistic therapies and outdoor activities
- Employee Assistance Programme which provides confidential & independent information and access to counsellors
- Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with valuable life cover and financial protection for your family.
- Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
- Season Ticket Loan - to help with the cost of your rail/ bus journey, to & from work
- Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand-new car. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax.
- Annual flu vaccine
- Cycle to work scheme
- Staff benefits discounts on leisure, eating out, holidays and shopping
- Excellent learning and career opportunities for committed individuals
- A professional fee payment, if required for the role

**About You**:

- You will provide a key role in providing high quality administrative support to the Homechoice Team, including gathering the supporting evidence required to ensure applicants are eligible to be on the register for social housing and are suitable for any properties that they are nominated for.
- Your experience of working in a housing or customer service role will help you to remain calm under pressure while delivering the highest levels of customer service. You will also have experience of maintaining accurate records and producing statistical information using a variety of IT packages.
- You will provide a key role in securing sustainable housing solutions for the wide spectrum of Maidstone’s residents from a young family just starting their housing journey, to those looking to move into a new and innovative extra-care housing scheme.
- The Council considers this to be a customer focused role and the ability to converse at ease with customers adapting communication style to suit differing audiences and provide advice in accurate spoken English is fundamental to the role.

**Selection Process**:

- Maidston