Benefits Officer

Coventry City Council’s Benefits Service is comprised of diverse, multi-talented teams who all have the same aim, to help the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Our work is varied and covers the assessment and administration of schemes that provide financial help and support for those in need.

Specifically, the teams are responsible for the delivery of:

• Housing Benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments which we administer on behalf of the Department for Works and Pensions. We also recover any overpaid housing benefit

• Council Tax Support which is a local scheme that helps residents with their Council Tax charges

• Free School Meals, by working closely with schools we aim to ensure every child who is entitled has a free school meal

• Community Support Grant Scheme which includes assistance in extreme emergency situations and can provide citizens help to resettle back into the community by providing essential furniture items.

We embrace the ONE COVENTRY approach, working closely with our external partners and other Council teams, such as the Housing and Homeless teams and Children’s teams, ensuring we have a holistic approach to supporting our residents.

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

Join Our Benefits Service Team!

Looking for a new challenge? We’re recruiting proactive, motivated individuals to join our Benefits Service on a full‑time, permanent basis.

After a period of training, you’ll assess Council Tax Support claims for customers receiving Universal Credit and help award Free School Meals. You’ll work closely with our team of Benefit Officers to ensure claims are processed accurately and efficiently using our Revenues, Benefits and document‑management systems.

We’d love to hear from you if you:

• Have strong customer service skills and can thrive in a fast‑paced, changing environment
• Bring basic knowledge of welfare reform, including Universal Credit and its impact on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support
• Are confident with numbers and able to assess claims accurately using online systems
• Understand Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and wider Welfare Benefits, always handling information confidentially
• Have good keyboard and IT skills, including email communication and use of Excel
• Can write clear responses to complex enquiries
• Can organise and prioritise your workload effectively

If you’re ready to make a real difference to residents and grow your skills in a supportive team, we’d love to receive your application!

What we offer

• Generous annual leave starting at 28 days annual leave (plus Bank Holidays) with option to purchase more and rising to 33 days following 5 years service.
• Generous local government pension scheme to help plan for your future
• Lifestyle discounts across a wide range of activities and retailers
• Hybrid working arrangements working both remotely and on-site (This is available once training and quality assurance has been completed usually after 4-6 months).
• Inclusive Employee Networks: embRace, Pride, Disabled, Young, and Women
• Certified training courses to help you grow and thrive

Explore the full range of benefits at #MyRewards – Coventry City Council

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

Interview date(s): Candidates who are shortlisted will be invited to an assessment date which has been arranged for Friday 27 March 2026 - One Friargate -Station Square Coventry

If successful after the assessment day, the formal interviews are anticipated to be held on Tuesday 31st March & Thursday 02nd April 2026 at One Friargate -Station Square Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies