Benefits and Housing Needs Officer in London

12 Month Fixed Term Contract / Secondment Opportunity

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values. Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work, such as our fight for equity in Hackney, with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there; we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life, including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

The post is within the Benefits and Homeless Prevention Service. The service is high performing and is committed to helping residents and the challenges they face while supporting staff to perform to the high standards of the service. The London Borough of Hackney has one of the highest Housing Benefit caseloads in London and receives on average nearly 4,000 homelessness approaches a year. To meet these demands, the service has been innovative, agile, and constantly improving in its aim to be a leader in this field.

We are looking for an exceptional Housing Benefit Assessor who has extensive experience assessing Housing Benefit claims from households placed in temporary accommodation. You will work as part of a team that is also responsible for the collection and recovery of temporary accommodation charges.

Requirements of this role include:

• Proven experience in processing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims in a local authority setting.
• In-depth knowledge of Housing Benefit administration, legislation, and procedures related to Council Tax Support.
• Ability to prioritise tasks and work accurately to meet targets and deadlines.
• Capable of working independently without close supervision.
• Ability to collaborate effectively as part of a team, ready to assist others, while also taking responsibility for individual work as needed.
• Competent in using Google applications, including Sheets, Docs, and Gmail.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a strong focus on customer service.
• Ability to work under pressure, managing a heavy and varied workload while explaining complex benefit and financial assessments clearly.
• Experience working with the Academy Benefits system and Civica Comino or W360, as well as Housing Management Systems.
• Efficient and accurate administration of all benefits applications received, including identifying and addressing overpayments in accordance with relevant regulations, legislation, and guidance.
• Skilled in identifying potential irregularities in benefit claims and referring these cases to the appropriate Fraud Services.
• Conducting and documenting necessary checks, while responding to queries in compliance with relevant legislation and service requirements.
• Ensuring that all decision letters, overpayment invoices, and reminders are issued promptly.
• Accurately coding payments and overpayments for subsidy purposes.
• Liaising with and guiding other Council departments (including partner authorities), external agencies, government bodies, organisations, stakeholders, members, and colleagues on all matters related to Revenues and Benefits Shared Services to ensure a high standard of service delivery whilst adhering to data protection policies.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below. The recruitment process is anonymous. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CVs. When applying, there will be a number of questions relating to the post on the application form. It is essential that you complete the application questions, responding to each using examples of your skills, knowledge and experience. This application process replaces a supporting statement. Prior to applying for a vacancy for a secondment opportunity, please liaise with your line manager and inform them of your interest in applying for the role.

Closing date for applications: 17 March 2026 (22:59)

Interview date: W/C 13 April 2026

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive and Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.