Senior Welfare Rights Adviser

**Salary: £43,004**

**Location: 5 Pancras Square N1C 4AG**

**Contract Type: 1x Permanent & 2x Secondment/Fixed Term - 12 months**

**Hours: Full Time (36 hours)**

**Closing Date: Monday 30**th** September 2024; 23:59**

**About Camden**

Camden is changing on the inside to make life better for everyone. Our residents and communities are at the heart of everything we do. We’re home to the most important conversations happening today and we’re making radical social change a reality, so that nobody gets left behind. Here’s where you can help decide a better future for us all.

**What You’ll Be Doing**

We are looking for someone to join our Welfare Rights Team based in Adult Social Care. You will provide specialist advice on welfare benefits, advising adults, who are unable to access benefits services in the community, and their carers. Referrals for our services are made by third parties and so the role involves a lot of partnership working. Advice will involve income maximisation, better off calculations, new benefit claims and benefit reviews/challenges and appeals at the First Tier Tribunal.

The role requires expertise in benefits coupled with an empathetic and patient approach as many of our people have serious health issues and often need to be visited in their own home. This is a core element of our service.

You will also maximise your impact through supporting other frontline Adult Social Care colleagues, health practitioners and community partners, and you will do this by giving 2nd tier advice, organising and delivering training, seminars and lunch and learn talks on welfare benefits and upskilling colleagues and community groups.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require an Enhanced DBS.

**All About You**

You will need to have an up-to-date extensive knowledge of welfare rights benefits, rules, changes and legislation.

An understanding of physical and mental health issues and how these impact on someone’s life and on their ability to claim and retain their welfare benefits.

You will be passionate about providing good quality advice and information and will recognise that, when this is given in the right place and at the right time, it can improve the lives of Camden’s citizens.

You will be working in a team where team collaboration is encouraged. You should also be able to work under your own initiative and can manage a complex and diverse workload.

You will also need to show evidence of the following:

- Two years’ recent direct experience in giving detailed benefits advice and undertaking benefit checks, including a detailed knowledge of means and non means tested benefits, disability benefits, and with extensive knowledge of Universal Credit, natural and managed migration.
- Excellent communication skills both verbal and in writing. Including experience of training or giving talks to large groups of people.
- Ability to professionally advocate for people to the Department of Work and Pensions and other relevant organisations, and experience of working to deadline, representing in first tier tribunals, in person and by providing high quality written submissions for reviews and tribunals.
- Experience with supporting people to make benefit claims within deadlines.
- Trained by a known professional welfare rights organisation e.g. Advice UK, Child Poverty Action Group, Shelter, Citizens Advice, Rightsnet, or an identifiable freelanced trainer.

**How To Apply**

**What We Offer**

At Camden, you’ll receive a host of benefits. From flexible working to 27 days annual leave (+ bank holidays). We also know that a work life balance is extremely important so we also offer family leave, loan schemes and access to our incredible staff networks. We also have an incredible pensions scheme.

**Inclusion and Diversity**

**Anonymised Application** - _in keeping with Camden’s commitment to inclusion the recruitment to this role is anonymised and supports the objective of reducing the impact of unconscious bias._

**Asking for Adjustments