Benefit Support Officer

Coventry City Council’s Benefits Service is comprised of diverse, multi-talented teams with 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 delivering:  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 emergencies 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.

Our Values

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.

What is the job role?

The Benefits Service is responsible for the assessment of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Free School Meals and Discretionary Grants. 

 To provide a more efficient and effective service, we are looking to recruit a Benefits Support Officer to join our department. 

Working closely with the Benefits, Hostel, and Overpayment Teams will be the initial focus of these posts. Although the primary focus will be on Hostels and new Claims work

Duties will involve obtaining information for benefit claims and indexing documents onto our internal electronic system. The role involves handling and analysing large amounts of data at times, accurately and efficiently.

Regarding Housing Benefit overpayments, you will trace and establish appropriate methods of recovery.

The successful candidate will use a wide range of systems and handle information subject to the Data Protection Act. 

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).

Who are we looking for?

The purpose of the role is to undertake a range of administrative, technical and customer focused duties to support the Benefit Service; you should be able to work independently and with a high degree of accuracy, possessing experience of using a wide range of computer systems, including Microsoft packages. 

 The ideal candidate will have awareness of the need for confidentiality and a non- judgemental approach when dealing with customers.

You will also have excellent customer service skills to deal with a significant amount of contact over the telephone, in accordance with the corporate standards 

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

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

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 dates:Thursday 29 May & Friday 30th May 2025 

About 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