Head of Revenues & Benefits

To provide assurance that Wirral Council is delivering high-performing, well-managed, strategic Revenues and Benefits services. To direct, lead and manage the provision of high quality, cost-effective services to the Council for the delivery of Revenues and Benefit services and to ensure that the Council’s policy objectives in relation to Revenues and Benefits are met. The post holder will lead all aspects of the Revenues and Benefits operations, ensuring the customer is at the heart of the services.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the teams responsible for revenues and benefits including strategy and policy development related to these areas.
• Establish, maintain, and foster effective working relationships with Elected Members and stakeholders (internal and external), ensuring processes, work and priorities are appropriately aligned and collectively understood, connecting parties as appropriate.
• Ensure teams are trained to provide high-quality customer service and advice to businesses, residents, and customers of the borough from a customer perspective. Ensure all communication to stakeholders is clear, free from jargon and in plain English.
• Support the implementation of a new Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) system including full engagement with the ERP project team to ensure any new system is fit for purpose for the Service and provides the most appropriate effective and efficient interface to minimise human intervention and maximise Artificial Intelligence (AI) automation.
• Implement a ‘Digital first’ approach to all aspects of the service, ensuring that where possible all elements of human to human interaction is removed and that digital solutions are enabled for all customers in a variety of ways.
• Manage the large scale service budgets providing timely, accurate and reliable financial information on financial forecasts, achievement of savings targets to the Directorate DMT. Where pressures arise, proactively work to eliminate these by redesigning services, teams or generating income to ensure a balanced budget.
• As a member of the Corporate Management Team, proactively engage in enhancing the business of the Council by challenging the norm, identifying innovative solutions for improvement, working in a matrix management approach to design and implement new and more effective ways of working.
• Responsible for compiling and implementing the service business plan to ensure alignment with strategic and financial planning, ensuring the plan and priorities support the strategic objectives in the Corporate Wirral Plan. Monitor the progress of the business plan to ensure outcomes are measurable and make a beneficial contribution to the Corporate Wirral Plan.
• Maximise the value of Government subsidy and grants received for the service, ensuring that all funding that is available has been applied for; the appropriate systems are in place to avoid loss of subsidy relating to Housing Benefit error processing to protect the Council from financial risk.
• Contribute to the Operational Performance Board (OPB) with data and intelligence regarding the service that will be relevant to the Council’s overall corporate performance. As a member of the OPB, engage with other services to provide proactive and positive challenge to data presented to ensure corporate performance is meaningful and of use to a range of stakeholders.
• Work with relevant stakeholders to ensure an efficient, effective and customer-centric approach to dealing with customer feedback and enquiries across the Council, using and sharing intelligence and insight to improve ‘customer experience’. This includes the prevention and detection of fraudulent claims.
• Foster a high performing culture within the service, ensuring a customer focused approach and a drive for continuous improvement, best practice and value for money.
• Provide support and advice role to Councillors on matters relating to the Service.
• Undertake other reasonable duties commensurate with the job role.

Essential Skills, Behaviours, Knowledge and Experience:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience relevant to job description.
• Evidence of continuously developing self and others and of creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement.
• A ‘can-do’ style of working.
• Excellent relationship management skills and ability to navigate diverse and sometimes conflicting stakeholder views and interests.
• A high level of written and oral communication skills and the ability to influence and negotiate effectively, persuasively and sensitively.
• Creative with an innovative, fresh thinking approach, challenging the status quo and bringing ideas to address new and existing challenges.
• Experience of driving or leading key projects and delivering successful outcomes efficiently and effectively.
• Strong collaborator with demonstrable ability to bring people together from across the organisation and wider, and to empower individuals and teams to deliver outcomes.
• Experience of leading strategic initiatives or of contributing towards strategy/policy development and implementation.
• Ability to monitor, analyse and predict changes in the internal and external environment to advise on risks and opportunities and to inform the development of strategy and plans.
• Ability to quickly adapt and respond to changing circumstances and to operate in an environment of uncertainty or ambiguity.
• Experience of operating with a high degree of autonomy in a self-motivated manner, prioritising competing work demands and meeting multiple deadlines.
• A role model, with demonstrable leadership skills and integrity.
• Ability to make effective evidence-based decisions under constraints or in the face of uncertainty, complexity or incomplete information.
• Experience of using insight/intelligence to improve organisational performance or to make recommendations.
• Politically astute.

Desirable Skills, Behaviours, Knowledge and Experience:

• Experience of leading a Revenues and Benefits function.
• Project management experience.
• Systems implementation experience.
• Experience of managing budgets.

Our values:

• Customer focused
• Professional
• Ambitious
• Accountable