Housing Officer

**Job Title**:Housing Officer
**Contract Type**: Permanent
**Salary**: £33,487.46 (£36,850.85 is achieved after 12 months successful performance in the role)
**Working Hours**: Full time 35 hours per week
**Working Pattern**: Monday to Friday
**Location**:Hybrid, Gateshead

**The difference you will make as a Housing Officer**

You will maximise the economic viability, social sustainability and self-sufficiency of the tenancies in their patch through targeted support, services and action, establishing and maintaining strong relationships with customers, acting as an ‘Account Manager’, advocating for the customer to ensure that other teams are providing services to the expected level. This will be delivered through flexible, self-led and resourceful processes that enables the front-line worker to put customer first.

**About you**

We are looking for someone with:

- Proven track record of delivering a high -quality customer service function, preferably in the housing sector.
- Effective stakeholder management, both internally and external to the organisation.
- Customer focused with excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to work at all levels within the business.
- Excellent attention to detail with the ability to work under pressure, deliver to strict deadlines and manage conflicting priorities.

**Why Riverside?**

At Riverside, we’re a housing association with a difference - enhancing the everyday for all our customers. For 90 years, we’ve been revitalising neighbourhoods and supporting communities by providing the homes they need to live full, fulfilling and rewarding lives.

We have a portfolio of over 75,000 affordable residential and retirement homes across the UK. Our work ranges from homelessness services to social care, employment support to retirement living, and we need the best people on board to help us.

Working with us, you’ll enjoy:

- Competitive pay & generous pension
- 28 days holidays plus bank holidays
- Flexible working options available
- Investment in your learning, personal development and technology
- A wide range of benefits

**Diversity and Inclusion at Riverside**:
We are inclusive. At Riverside, we value diversity in all its forms. We foster a workplace where all individuals are respected, empowered, and heard. Our commitment to inclusivity drives our success and enriches the lives of our customers and colleagues.

**Role Profile**
- Pro-actively manage, maintain and improve designated social housing neighbourhoods; dealing with all aspects of tenancy conditions, including service failures, creating, promoting and adopting a culture of customer care in accordance with agreed processes, standards, timescales and targets.
- Accountable for maximising and increasing income collection, working in partnership with Shared Service colleagues to ensure good payment practices are established from tenancy start, support customers with benefit claims, signposting for advice and carrying out home visits during arrears pursuance process.
- Represent the Group in Court for all cases brought against customers in your designated area, ensuring cases are progressed effectively and efficiently and relevant stakeholders are kept up to date with developments and outcomes.
- As an “Account Manager” for the customer and property, be responsible for identifying issues which can be resolved with early intervention, be responsible for liaising with internal & external stakeholders to ensure services and actions are effective and efficient to build lasting, satisfactory and sustainable tenancies.
- Accountable for ‘patch profitability’, minimising void rent loss, identify cash leakage, working in partnership with Shared Service colleagues to carry out inspections, property viewings and managing tenancy sign ups and new tenancy visits.
- Manage a delegated discretionary budget, making decisions regarding the allocation of your budget, ensuring Group financial controls are adhered to robustly and effectively.
- Provide quality assurance for all communal areas in your patch, escalating contracted service failures to the relevant contract owner for resolution, and resolving other issues using the relevant procedure.
- Other Information
- You will be required to work a range of shifts on a 24 hour, 7 days per week rota basis.
- You will undertake regular training to enable you to deliver your role safely.
- From time to time you may be required to undertake additional duties and responsibilities of an equivalent nature, in consultation with your Line Manager.
- Commission, direct and influence other teams as appropriate to resolve low level anti-social behaviour issues, hate crimes, domestic abuse and issues impacting community cohesion, escalating complex cases to the Community Safety Team as appropriate.
- Maximise the use of mobile technology to ensure the provision of an efficient and proactive customer service to customers.
- Champion and promote u