Direct Payments Officer

About the role

An opportunity has arisen for a Direct Payments Officer to join the Direct Payments Team. The role will support the Direct Payments Senior Officer and Team Leader to be responsible for the day to day operational management of a caseload of Direct Payment clients for North Northamptonshire Council.

The Direct Payments Team provides an effective, customer focused support service to Direct Payment recipients and Adult Social Care colleagues through the efficient use of systems and processes.

What will you be doing?

The post holder will be working in a busy team with deadlines. This will be a varied role in terms of data entry, general query management and handling customer information. You will need to be able to prioritise effectively and be able to work both on your own initiative and as part of a team with a flexible approach

The post holder should:

• Be a personable and excellent communicator in order to liaise with managers, members of the public and our service providers and partners.
• Have excellent IT skills and high attention to detail which is essential for this role as is having an aptitude for analysing financial data and delivering excellent customer service.
• Be able to identify and investigate potential situations where service users may not be managing their direct payments in an appropriate way and to recommend actions to address any issues.
• Be a key contact for colleagues and services users for queries and manages more completx issues when required.

About you

The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic and motivated individual who is willing to learn and display the following:

• In-depth experience of working in a financial operations environment.
• Ability to understand, interpret and adhere to local policies and procedures.
• Adopt a flexible approach to work.
• Proven customer service background with experience of conflict resolution, negotiation, and diplomacy skills. Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, able to influence and negotiate when advising and supporting clients.
• Experience of working independently, scheduling, and prioritising own work to meet service requirements, as well as being able to work with the other managers and senior officers to improve performance and move the service forward.

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please click here The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council

Armed Forces Community

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)