Council Tax Recovery Officer

At West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), our vision is simple: to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive. We’re looking for a motivated and customer‑focused individual to join our Revenues & Benefits service, where you’ll help us maximise income by delivering timely, effective and proportionate Council Tax recovery.

You’ll work closely with residents to help them find sustainable ways to manage their Council Tax debt, whilst ensuring recovery action follows legislation and council policy. It’s a role where attention to detail, clear communication, and sound judgement truly matter — and where your decisions will have a direct impact on both customer outcomes and our wider financial sustainability.

This is a part‑flexible role, with the expectation of:

• attending the office a minimum of two days per week, and
• attending court on a monthly basis to interview customers.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our successful Recovery Team, where you’ll play a key role in collecting outstanding Council Tax income owed to the Council. This vital work helps fund essential local services, supporting communities across West Northamptonshire.

This is an interesting and varied role, ideal for someone who enjoys problem‑solving, talking to people, and working as part of a dedicated team. We’re looking for enthusiastic team players who can bring a positive attitude and a commitment to delivering excellent customer service.

As a Council Tax Recovery Officer, you will:

• Negotiate affordable payment arrangements with customers, helping them find sustainable ways to manage their debt.
• Maintain accurate and detailed records, ensuring information is logged correctly to support effective decision‑making.
• Assess cases and determine the most appropriate recovery actions, balancing fairness, customer circumstances and legislative requirements.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, contributing to a supportive team environment where you can learn, grow and make a real impact.

You do not need experience across all aspects of the role as we will support you with a full development plan, however, we would like to hear from prospective new colleagues who can demonstrate:

• Knowledge and practical application of, or the ability to learn, revenues legislation
• Excellent communication and customer service skills
• Ability to work as part of a team and on your own initiative
• Ability to work methodically, accurately, and to agreed deadlines
• Ability to use a wide range of IT packages
• Ability to build and maintain good working relationships with colleagues and managers
• An interest in career development within Local Government

We’re building a culture at West Northamptonshire where amazing and talented people like you can do their best work. If you want to provide excellent customer services, are ready to develop your career, and are excited by the opportunity to help shape the way we do things, apply now!

Your supporting statement should clearly outline how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description and person specification.

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.