At a Glance
- Tasks: Help customers manage finances and sustain tenancies while delivering top-notch service.
- Company: Join Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, a pioneering mutual housing society.
- Benefits: Enjoy 30 days leave, flexible working, and a supportive team environment.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team focused on collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in people's lives by providing financial support and solutions.
- Qualifications: Customer service experience and strong communication skills are essential.
Location: Rochdale
Contract: 12 Months Contract
Hours: 36.25 hours per week
Are you passionate about helping customers manage their finances and sustain their tenancies, whilst delivering excellent customer service? Rochdale Boroughwide Housing is looking for a proactive, customer-focused Income Accounts Advisor to join our Income Services team on a 12-month fixed-term contract. You'll play a key role in providing a responsive, solutions-focused service, working with customers to find sustainable ways to manage rent and other housing-related debts. This is an exciting opportunity to support customers through financial challenges whilst helping RBH maximise income collection and maintain high levels of performance.
About the Role
As an Income Accounts Advisor, you'll provide a high-quality income management service, supporting customers to maintain payments and sustain their tenancies wherever possible. Working as part of our Income Services team, you'll engage with customers through a variety of channels, helping them understand their accounts, agree realistic repayment arrangements and access the support available to them. You'll work closely with colleagues and external agencies to ensure customers receive the right advice and assistance at the right time. You'll also play an important role in supporting income collection performance, ensuring accounts are managed effectively and customer-focused solutions remain at the heart of everything you do.
What You'll Be Doing
- Managing and recovering a range of housing-related debts, including rent arrears, former tenant arrears, garage rents, service charges and other sundry debts.
- Contacting customers to discuss outstanding balances and agree sustainable repayment arrangements.
- Supporting customers experiencing financial difficulties by identifying appropriate support and referral opportunities.
- Completing rent verifications for Universal Credit and responding to notifications from the Department for Work and Pensions.
- Maintaining accurate records across housing management systems, customer databases and CRM systems.
- Working collaboratively with Income Officers, Rent Accounting and other internal teams.
- Promoting financial inclusion initiatives and signposting customers to relevant advice and support services.
- Supporting income collection campaigns and service improvement initiatives.
- Contributing to the achievement of team targets, performance measures and service standards.
- Identifying opportunities to improve customer experience and ways of working.
About You
You'll be a confident communicator who enjoys helping customers find practical solutions and delivering excellent service in sometimes challenging situations. You'll bring:
- Experience of working in a customer-focused environment, ideally within income recovery, debt collection, housing or a related field.
- Strong communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to build rapport and influence positive outcomes.
- The ability to manage sensitive conversations with professionalism, empathy and resilience.
- Experience handling customer enquiries and resolving issues effectively.
- Good numerical and analytical skills, with attention to detail and accuracy.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
- Experience using Microsoft Office applications and maintaining accurate records on computer systems.
- An understanding of financial hardship and the challenges faced by customers and communities.
- Knowledge of welfare benefits, Universal Credit or social housing would be advantageous.
- A proactive approach and commitment to delivering excellent customer outcomes.
Why Join RBH?
This is an opportunity to make a genuine difference to the lives of our customers by providing support, guidance and practical solutions that help people manage their finances and maintain their homes. You'll join a supportive team where collaboration, continuous improvement and customer service are at the heart of everything we do. Your contribution will play an important role in supporting both our customers and the long-term sustainability of our services.
What Do We Have to Offer You?
- 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Option to buy up to 5 additional days annual leave
- An additional 5 days annual leave after 5 years' service
- Pension scheme with employer contributions matched up to 8%, plus death in service benefit
- Flexible and smart working arrangements
- Healthcare cashback plan, virtual GP access and subsidised gym membership
- Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7
- Paid volunteering days
- Enhanced family-friendly policies
- Plus so much more!
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
RBH is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and supported. We operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for applicants who declare a disability, as defined by the Equality Act 2010, and meet the role's minimum requirements as set out in the advert and role profile.
Artificial Intelligence
We recognise that AI can be a useful tool when preparing applications. However, all information, examples and achievements included in your application must be truthful, accurate and based on your own experience. You are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, as we review applications as they are received and may close this vacancy earlier than indicated.
The Company
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited (RBH) is the UK’s first tenant and employee co-owned mutual housing society, with over 12,000 homes throughout the local area. As we’ve refocused our strategy back to our core housing role, we’ve taken the opportunity to work with our customers and colleagues to review and modernise the values that motivate us and will underpin everything we do. Our mutuality is focused on bringing genuine voice and influence to our customers and our colleagues in how we deliver our services. Our values get to the root of who we really are and what we stand for.
- Putting People First: We listen with empathy, respond with compassion, and make it easy for our customers to access our services.
- Doing What We Say: We earn trust through honesty, integrity, caring and keeping our promises.
- Working As One: We embrace our mutuality and work together to deliver great outcomes for the people living in our homes and communities.
- Delivering Quality: We invest wisely in our people and make it easy for them to deliver services and create places that our customers are proud to call home.
- Open & Transparent: We are curious, embrace diverse ways of thinking and seek feedback to help us improve.
The Benefits
- Buy additional annual leave
- Enhanced Pension Scheme
- Enhanced Maternity Pay
- Become part of a Mutual Organisation
- Two days paid volunteering
- Healthcare Cash plan & EAP Programme
Income Accounts Advisor in Rochdale employer: RBH
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StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Income Accounts Advisor in Rochdale
✨Get Social with Customer Support Communities
Join customer support groups on platforms like Facebook or Reddit. They often share job openings or temp opportunities. Engaging with these communities can help you learn more about the specific skills and experiences employers are looking for, plus you'll meet folks who might know about openings at companies like RBH.
✨Leverage Seasonal Hiring Trends
Since customer support roles can spike during busy seasons (think holidays and sales periods), keep an eye out for timelines when companies ramp up hiring. Make sure to apply early and stay active; sending a quick follow-up a week after applying can show your enthusiasm for the role.
✨Flex Your Communication Skills
In customer support, communication is key! Prepare for hypothetical scenarios that test your problem-solving and customer interaction skills. Practising answers to common role-play questions can really help you shine in interviews—trust us, it makes a difference!
✨Make the Most of Job Boards
Use industry-specific job boards like Glassdoor or Indeed to find temporary roles. Don’t forget to set up alerts for customer support positions at companies like RBH. The earlier you apply, the better your chances, so keep your finger on the pulse!
We think you need these skills to ace Income Accounts Advisor in Rochdale
Some tips for your application 🫡
Highlight Your Communication Skills:In customer support, top-notch communication is key. Make sure your CV showcases any previous experience where you’ve had to clearly convey information or resolve issues. If you’ve handled customer queries via email or chat, mention it! Let’s see those strong verbal and written skills shine through.
Showcase Problem-Solving Experience:Employers love to see how you've handled tricky situations. Include examples in your application where you’ve tackled customer concerns or had to think on your feet. It's all about proving you can keep cool under pressure and find solutions—something super important in a temporary customer support role!
Tailor Your Approach for Temporary Roles:Since this is a temporary gig, make sure your cover letter emphasises your flexibility and eagerness to dive right in. Mention that you're ready to hit the ground running and are adaptable to new tools or systems—this shows that you understand the urgency often needed in temporary positions.
Proof of Customer Satisfaction:If you’ve got any quantifiable achievements from past customer support roles, like improved customer satisfaction scores or successful project completions, make sure to include them. Numbers speak volumes! This not only shows your capability but also gives us a reason to believe you'll bring that same success to RBH.
How to prepare for a job interview at RBH
✨Master the Customer Interaction Game
In customer support, we need to showcase our people skills. Prepare for role-playing scenarios where you'll demonstrate how to handle difficult customers or resolve complaints. Think about the types of issues common in RBH's industry and how you can respond empathetically and effectively!
✨Know Your Products Inside Out
For a temporary role, it's crucial to familiarize yourself with the products or services RBH offers. Brush up on key features, common issues, and FAQs. This knowledge will enable you to respond quickly and confidently to customer queries, showing you’re ready to jump in at a moment’s notice!
✨Flexibility is Key - Emphasise Your Adaptability!
Since this is a temporary role, we're looking to convey how quickly we can adapt to new systems or processes. Be ready to share examples of how you've quickly learned new tools or adjusted to changing environments in past roles. Show them you're the go-to person when the pressure's on!
✨Prepare for Quick Conversational Q&A
You might face a rapid-fire round of questions about customer service principles or how you'd handle specific situations. To ace this, think through different customer scenarios ahead of time, and practice your responses to ensure they're concise and impactful. The aim is to demonstrate your quick thinking and problem-solving skills!
