Income Officer

Job Introduction
**Job Title: Income Officer**

**Salary**:£27,898 - £29,000**

**Contract: Permanent**

**Location: Homebased (North West)**

**Weekly Hours: 35**

**So. What is this role exactly?**

This is an exciting opportunity for a customer focused member of YHG, to step into the role of Income Officer.

We are looking for an individual who is resilient, well organised and be able to handle both challenging and sensitive conversations with customers.

**What will my working week look like?**

You will be working 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You will be homebased, living within a 25 mile radius of Warrington and a reasonable travelling distance of our Head Office in Birchwood, to attend meetings and training courses.

You will visit Head Office frequently throughout your induction period, but once that’s completed, you’ll be required to visit a minimum of once a week.

Your day-to-day will involve managing a caseload of customers;
- reviewing rent accounts
- contacting customers by telephone and through our digital platforms
- identifying reasons for any arrears
- discussing repayment options and making affordable, sustainable arrangements
- offering basic benefit advice

Where a customer’s circumstances are more complex, you will work closely with our specialist money advice, tenancy support and housing management teams, to ensure we get the best outcomes we can for our customers and for YHG.

In this role, there is no requirement for you to visit customers in their homes.

**What will I be responsible for doing?**

First and foremost, as an Income Officer, you will be designated a patch of properties for which you are responsible for collecting the rent and/or charges. You will make calls and take action to recover outstanding rent, mitigating loss of income by being proactive in terms of supporting customers with making sustainable payment arrangements and benefit claims.

One of the great things about this role is it has never been more important than it is now, YHG is committed to supporting our customers through the cost-of-living crisis and by joining us you have an opportunity to help us make a real difference to someone’s life.

As well as managing your own caseload you will handle inbound calls from our customers on a daily/rota basis, ensuring referrals are made to internal and external agencies, so that we can be confident that our customers are getting the support they need. You will also make decisions around progressing cases to legal action, when all other avenues have been exhausted.

**And what would make me stand out from the crowd?**

To be a successful Income Officer**,** here at YHG, you will have.
- Strong experience of collections
- Excellent communication skills, not afraid to ask probing questions to get to the root cause of any financial issues
- Experience dealing with complex customer situations, some of which may stem from a temporary or longer-term vulnerability
- A good working understanding of the benefits system (Housing Benefit, Universal Credit)
- the ability to manage a varied caseload in a fast-paced environment

Ideally you will.
- have excellent customer care skills
- be well organised, self-motivated and a problem solver
- have strong communication and interpersonal skills

This role is really suited to someone who can understand our customers and their circumstances, someone who isn’t afraid to ask questions, and through professional curiosity, can get to the underlying issues, someone who will make our customers feel supported and work with them to find solutions to their debt issues.

This role offers genuine progression opportunities and is a great first step into the role of Income Officer.

If you feel this could be the right role for you, we would love to hear from you

**That all sounds great, what’s in it for me?**

In return we offer a salary in the range of **£27,898 - £29,000 **for a 35 hour week working Monday to Friday. You’ll also have 25 days annual leave (holidays also increase with length of service) plus Bank Holidays, but our employee deal offers much more than just a competitive salary and holiday allowance.

At #TeamYHG we measure performance on outputs and quality, not hours and minutes. We offer a flexible, homeworking culture where you’re trusted to get the job done. If you need time for an appointment, the school run or an exercise class, if it fits with business needs, we’re open to what works for you too. And when you need to collaborate with your team, you can visit Youggle House - our purpose-built collaboration, wellbeing, and social space in Birchwood, Warrington.

On top of this, we’ll provide you with a great benefits package, including a contributory pension where we match whatever you choose to contribute (up to 8%), an advanced level Healthcare cash plan through BHSF, that doesn’t just provide dental and optician cashback but also health and wellbeing benefits (such as 24/7 GP Access, money b