Role Purpose
As an Income Officer, you will play a vital role in supporting customers to sustain their tenancies by providing effective income management services. You will be responsible for maximising rental income, reducing arrears, and ensuring customers receive appropriate advice, support, and access to financial assistance where needed.
Working closely with customers, colleagues, and external agencies, you will take a proactive and customer-focused approach to income collection, balancing commercial objectives with empathy and support. Through early intervention, tailored payment arrangements, and tenancy sustainment activities, you will help customers maintain their homes while contributing to the financial health of the organisation.
Key Responsibilities
You will
- Take all appropriate action to maximise income collection from rents, service and other charges.
- Take all appropriate action to mitigate the impact of Welfare Reform on tenants and the business in general. This includes ensuring tenants’ income is being maximised, signposting tenants to debt and money advice services and taking action in line with our procedures to maximise income collection.
- Ensure systems, processes and procedures are fully utilised to ensure income collection is maximised.
- Deliver a range of proactive services that respond to the needs and aspirations of customers that supports a rent payment culture, financial inclusion strategies and income maximisation.
- Take effective action that addresses performance or service quality failures.
- Work in partnership with a range of stakeholders i.e., internal departments and Somerset Council, to maximise performance, service quality and to support communities and customers.
- Work collaboratively with all other staff teams; specifically, the Housing and Independent Living Service teams, supporting them in their work, and provide cover and guidance as necessary.
- Adhere to good information security.
- Take responsibility for identifying training needs, updating knowledge of changes in legislation, best practice, and other developments.
- Support your team in the delivery of relevant performance indicators.
- Embrace hybrid working according to the needs of the service and customer. This will include the need to work flexibly both remotely and from the office.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills; both verbal and written.
- The ability to work collaboratively with other teams across the organisation.
- High level of initiative and the ability to innovate.
- A strong commitment to putting Customers First and a can-do attitude.
- High degree of problem-solving skills with a solution focused approach.
- The ability to network and develop strong partnership working.
