Generalist Welfare Benefits Advisor Jobs
Funded By: City Bridge Foundation
Citizens Advice Southwark has been awarded funding by City Bridge Foundation to provide a welfare benefits advice service for Southwark residents and we are now seeking to recruit a full time welfare benefits caseworker.
The caseworker will be based between our two main offices in Peckham and Walworth and will assist with raising awareness and completing benefit claims, advocating on behalf of clients and submitting reviews and appeals. The caseworker will also train a team of volunteers to increase capacity and expertise and will act in a consultancy role for generalist advisers and frontline workers in other agencies in the borough.
To be successful you will need:
· At least one year’s full time (or part time equivalent) paid or unpaid recent experience of advice work.
·An in-depth knowledge of welfare benefits including those related to disability and sickness.
·To understand, empathise with and be committed to the Service’s aims, principles and equal opportunities policies
Closing date: 9.00 am Wednesday 17th April 2024
Interviews: Monday 22nd April 2024
We are looking to employ a highly motivated GeneralistAdvisor (Welfare Benefits) for Camden Disability Action's Advice services. You will have 2 years' recent experience in a welfare rights advice role and up to date knowledge of welfare benefits especially relating to Disabled adults and young Disabled people and their families. You will work in a holistic way, managing and holding complex cases and advocating for clients across statutory services, specialist advice partners and community organisations. Although we anticipate approximately 70% of the work will be related to welfare benefits, 30% will be general advice work. You will also need a basic understanding of housing, social care and independent living issues as they impact on Disabled people and a willingness to seek further training in this area.
You will be committed to learning more about the Social Model of Disability and you will share our vision for a radically inclusive world where people with differences are never Disabled by the society in which they live.
The role is full time and based in the London Borough of Camden. Hybrid and remote working options considered for the right candidate.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
Role Profile
An exciting opportunity has arisen for someone with great energy and interpersonal skills and a thorough knowledge of social welfare advice to join our advice team. This could be the perfect opportunity for a trainee adviser to take the next step in their career, and to be part of a dynamic team who think on their feet and are passionate about making a difference in our community.
This role will allow you autonomy to make your mark and offer an opportunity to grow the team with volunteers. This busy and varied role will rely on your ability to bring your whole self to work and to ensure the highest quality of advice is delivered at the Foodbank.
We are offering flexibility in this role, which could include part-time job share for the right candidate(s).
About us
This is a fairly new partnership between Citizens Advice Barnet and Finchley Foodbank to provide support for Finchley Foodbank clients. The post holder will assess and advise clients on a range of issues and will work closely with the foodbank volunteers and management. The aim of the project is to reduce dependency on the foodbank by maximising income and helping clients to seek debt/budgeting advice.
Citizens Advice Barnet is a local charity giving free and confidential advice to everyone who lives, works, or studies in Barnet. We are an independently registered charity, a member of the Citizens Advice network, and a London Legal Support Trust Centre of Excellence. We offer generalist advice on debt, work, benefits, immigration, housing and more and specialist casework on benefits, debt, work and immigration. Last year we helped 13,110 people with 41,802 problems, over 50% more people than the previous year.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Role Profile
This is an opportunity for you to join an established charity that has an excellent reputation locally as a trusted partner and as a great place to work. You’ll be a part of a small, but committed team with big ambitions that works cohesively and effectively together to get things done. You will provide generalist level advice and casework focused on welfare benefits, housing and energy as well as offering non-monetary debt advice about priority debts and budgeting.
You’ll help people to understand their rights and responsibilities by exploring their problems in depth. You'll proactively encourage clients to take responsibility for completing actions to resolve problems themselves. Taking responsibility for cases and advocating on behalf of clients where appropriate.
You’ll work closely with our key partners across North Lincolnshire within the statutory and voluntary and community sectors and ensure clients receive a good quality and holistic service that supports individuals to remove the financial and psychological barriers to achieving positive outcomes and build resilience for the future.
This role is offered both on a trainee and a qualified basis. For the trainee position we’re not necessarily looking for someone who has previous experience working within the advice sector, as long as you’re empathetic and able to provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way we can provide full training.
You’ll really be able to make the role your own. You’ll be a part of a small, but committed team with big ambitions that works cohesively and effectively together to get things done. You'll be an important and valued member of the team and, with the support of Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire, will be responsible for ensuring people focused outcomes are met in a pressurised environment.
What we offer our staff
We provide an employee assistance scheme managed by LifeWorks. Benefits include:
- 24/7 - 365 telephone helpline
- LifeWorks online support website
- LifeWorks app
- 6 sessions of face to face counselling per issue – unlimited issues per annum
- Employee legal helpline
- Consulting services – financial, debt advice, housing, relocation, parenting, eldercare, work performance, health and wellness advice and much more
- Childcare and eldercare matching service
- Savings on everyday purchases and life events
- Access for family members and dependants – excluding counselling and legal advice
Annual leave: Annual leave is 25 days from 1st January to 31st December, plus 8 bank holidays. We offer additional long service leave of 5 days after 4 years of employment
PLACE OF WORK: Various locations around Liverpool
Citizens Advice, in partnership with The Trussell Trust, have been running the Help through Hardship Helpline (formerly the Trussell Trust Foodbank helpline) for over 3 years. The helpline has been highly successful in reaching those clients most in need. Yearly Citizens Advice Help Through Hardship line has answered nearly 57,000 calls, helped feed over 70,000 people and recorded £13 million in expected financial gains for clients.
The Helpline is now being extended to local Citizens Advice offices and we're looking for new advisers to join our team in Liverpool who will provide information and advice on the issues clients are facing and help them access foodbank vouchers.
The successful candidate will provide generalist advice in a wide range of enquiry areas such as benefits, housing and employment. You will provide telephone advice within the working hours of the service and work with the on-site supervisor to support a team of volunteers.
Applicants would need to demonstrate excellent communication skills, be confident, motivated and have some experience in giving advice in relation to benefit entitlement and calculations.
As well as a competitive salary CAL also provides access to:
- Interest free travel loans
- Generous annual leave of 27 days plus bank holidays (with an additional day per year after 4 years' service up to a maximum of 32 days plus bank holidays)
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Pension Scheme
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Lifestyles Gym Membership (20% corporate discount)
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave pay
About Citizens Advice Liverpool
The first Citizens Advice opened in Liverpool on 4th September 1939, established in the aftermath of the first world war and provided, amongst other initiatives, a casework service for families in need.
Since then, we have continued to grow as a frontline service, finding innovative solutions to the advice needs of our community through free, confidential and independent advice and information services.
Citizens Advice Liverpool is a charity, dependent on a workforce of paid staff and over 120 trained volunteers. We operate over four permanent sites (Belle Vale, Garston, Walton & Wavertree) and over 30 outreach locations in the city, which we are continually reviewing to ensure we are reaching the people most in need of our services. We have also developed a mobile phone app which acts as a single point of access for Citizens Advice in Liverpool, showing where to find advice in real time, access to self-help information, and telephone, WhatsApp, email & webchat advice.
We are a member of "National Citizens Advice", which provides the extensive information system we use to advise clients and sets standards for advice, training, equal opportunities and accessibility in our offices.
We receive funding from Liverpool City Council; which helps support our generalist advice service which gives advice on a wide range of subjects such as; benefits, work, debt & money, consumer, family, housing, law & courts, immigration and health. We also receive funding from other major contributors which helps run our specialist advice projects.