Citizens Advice Exeter

Responsible to: Operations Manager Role purpose: To supports people in the local community through the provision of holistic Money, Debt and Budgeting Advice Salary Scale: 2.1 2.4. £27,495 - £29,400 FTE. P/T hours will be considered Key work areas and tasks Provision of advice and casework Provide money advice and casework covering the full range of debt advice topics including priority and non-priority debt and money advice issues Identify urgent situations and ensure any possible action is taken immediately Assist clients with related issues integral to their debt case such as welfare benefits advice, housing, other financial matters and income maximisation (incorporates applications for grants and other welfare schemes) Work with the client to draw up an agreed financial statement incorporating the Standard Financial Statement Enable clients to identify and explore various options they may have in addressing their situation explaining the consequences and limitations of each option Assist clients in the calculation of offers to priority and non-priority creditors with reference to their Financial Statement. Where appropriate undertake negotiations with clients creditors and other relevant bodies and/or act for the client by drafting or writing letters and telephoning and negotiating with third parties as necessary Prepare and present cases to the appropriate statutory bodies and courts as required including DRO, Breathing Space and bankruptcy applications Maintain timely, accurate and detailed case records and adhere to administration systems Maintain statistical information and other required documents and undertake client feedback surveys and facilitate client evaluation Manage an agreed caseload of debt and money advice cases Ensure all work casework conforms to Operational Policy including meeting the requirements of the Advice Quality Standard, FCA and MAPS Provide basic welfare benefits advice to clients, to include assessing eligibility for benefits, better-off calculations and other income maximisation advice Assist clients with other problems, referring to other advisers and/or agencies as appropriate Provide representation for clients at county or magistrates courts when appropriate Provide support, guidance and supervision to the money advice trainee caseworker/caseworker s assistant and other less experienced staff and volunteers Research and Campaigns (social policy work) Assist with social policy work by providing information about clients' circumstances through the appropriate channel. Research and campaigns, monitoring and relationship building. Assist with the development and implementation, in conjunction with the Operations Manager and in consultation with other charity workers, the Charity s Research and Campaigns Plan. Assist with research and campaigns work by providing information about clients' circumstances through the appropriate channel. Administration Maintain and monitor effective and efficient administrative systems. Monitor health and safety policy with regard to staff, equipment and premises within statutory requirements. Ensure complaints are brought to the Manager s attention as soon as is practicable. Training and Development Identify and implement own training and development needs (in consultation with the Operations Manager). Identify the training needs of charity workers through support and supervision and contribute towards the charity s training and development plans. Contribute to organising training activities in conjunction, as appropriate, with the Operations Manager. Other Duties and Responsibilities Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues. Abide by data security and information assurance guidelines. Ensure that work undertaken reflects and supports the Citizens Advice service s equality and diversity strategy Any other relevant tasks or duties required to ensure the effective running of the charity and our services. To contribute to the induction and on-going training of charity workers within the team. Person specification Essential criteria Qualified and competent money advice and debt caseworker holding the relevant accredited quality standard and other competencies set down by Advice Quality Standard, Money and Pension Service, FCA and/or Institute of Money Advisers Demonstrable and thorough understanding of the application of the debt process in a busy advice organisation and of doing so in a client- centred and efficient way including through working on a Money Advice Service or MAPS funded programme A positive approach to quality of advice audit (including peer review and external audit) and a commitment to constructive feedback as part of the quality assurance and learning process (as a recipient and as a supervisor) The ability to sift through large amounts of information and gather essential details during a client interview Excellent negotiation skills with experience of conducting negotiations with a range of agencies and creditors Proven ability to plan and prioritise your workload, meet deadlines and work calmly and with focus within a busy and fast paced environment Experience of using a casework recording and quality assurance system and IT platforms Experience of providing effective guidance and support to peers and junior colleagues and the ability to plan and co-ordinate the workload of others Experience of working effectively within a team including paid and volunteer staff Excellent communication skills (spoken and written) and the ability to develop and maintain positive, professional, working relationships with clients, funders, stakeholders, colleagues, volunteers, creditors and other agencies Proven IT skills including very confident and competent use of Word, Excel, databases, cloud-based systems etc to maintain effective records, administrative and reporting systems A commitment to travelling to various locations as required Understanding of the issues affecting society and their implications for clients and service provision Understanding of and commitment to the aims and principles of the CA service and its equal opportunities policies Desirable criteria Hold a current registration as a DRO intermediary Experience of working within a Citizens Advice charity Experience of working with the public in an advisory capacity