Salary starting at NJC Scale 18 – £27,344
(Salary based on experience/qualifications)
Full Time (37 hrs per week)
Hybrid between Office and home (Flexible working)
We provide free, confidential and independent advice to help people overcome their problems. We are a voice for our clients and consumers on the issues that matter to them.
Join our dedicated Advice Team, providing specialist advice and casework in a very busy working environment.
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced adviser to:
- Act as Money Adviser, advising clients with complicated debt problems
- Help client to consider the debt strategy & debt options they have based on their spare monthly income, current circumstances and any future changes, which is in their best interests.
- Assist clients to implement the chosen debt strategy, as far as you are able, which is suitable, realistic and sustainable for the client’s needs & is in the client’s best interests.
- Assist clients to draw up income & expenditure sheet to help budget and manage their money, helping them to reduce their expenditure & looking where possible to balance their budget
- To assist and support local clients with a practical, tailored, income maximisation, including benefit checking and grant searches
- Provide benefit checking & assist clients to claim benefits identified
- Help clients deal with emergencies
- Negotiate with creditors as appropriate
- To deliver advice face to face (at least 3 days in the Cambridge Office) & over the telephone
Benefits
- 7% pension contribution
- Death in Service insurance for those in the company pension scheme
- Holiday: 24 days pa plus Bank Holidays. 1 additional day each 12 months. Up to 4 days Christmas closure
- Flexible working hours
- Variety of learning and development options
- Family Flexible policies including job sharing
Closing date: Friday, 18th September 2023 at 9am
Interviews to be held: : W/C 25th September 2023
Job Title: Money Advice Caseworker
Employer: Cambridge & District Citizens Advice
Responsible to: Specialist Projects & Outreach Manager
Based at: 66 Devonshire Road, Cambridge, CB1 2BL
Hybrid between office and home (flexible working)
Purpose of Job: This role is to provide money advice to debt clients, to not only help them draw up an accurate budget sheet, which you will verify, but to help deal with emergencies, help maximise their income, help reduce expenditure, provide budgeting & money management skills. You will help negotiate with creditors, look at all the debt options and develop a debt strategy which is tailored to the individual client and which is in their best interests. You will help the client implement their chosen debt strategy to a successful conclusion.
Main Responsibilities
- Advice and support to clients
- Planning and development
- Service delivery
- Administration
- Training, development and recruitment
- Research and campaigns
- Other duties and responsibilities
Advice and support to clients
- Apply income maximisation (e.g. Benefit Checks, Grant Checks) to money advice and debt work;
- Help client to consider the debt strategy & debt options they have based on their spare monthly income, current circumstances and any future changes, which is in their best interests.
- Assist clients to implement the chosen debt strategy, as far as you are able, which is suitable, realistic and sustainable for the client’s needs & is in the client’s best interests.
- Act as Money Adviser, advising clients with complicated debt problems
- Negotiate with creditors as appropriate;
- Assist clients to budget and manage their money, helping them to reduce their expenditure & looking where possible to balance their budget
- Look to empower our client’s where appropriate
- Carry out full energy advice to include assisting client with managing their energy account, looking at energy benefits, energy trust funds and hardship funds & energy switching
- Help the client to draw up an income & expenditure sheet so client can see their financial picture, ensuring that it is accurate & verified, using documentation, such as bank statements, household bills & benefit award letters.
- To see clients for one off appointments, as well as multiple appointments as part of casework.
- To manage a caseload of clients to ensure clients are working to agreed timescales, to achieve agreed actions to achieve getting their debt situation resolved satisfactorily, in their best interests
- Accept referrals from the ASS team, the benefits team, partner referrals, task lists and from National Contracts for local clients
- Identify any other issues such as employment, housing or other problems & emergencies and look to deal with these, as appropriate
- Ensure work conforms to the Bureau’s Quality Standards and procedure
Planning and development
- The development of suitable outreach locations by new methods and with new partners
- Advise Management on service delivery issues and problems
- Contribute to activities, procedures and systems so as to promote common practices within the advice team
- Utilise IT systems and other resources
- Participate in bureau initiatives as appropriate and contribute to the work of associated committees, working parties and projects
Service Delivery
- Provide support for clients over the web, email, video, face to face and telephone
- Work from the office at least 3 days per week and 2 days from home, as agreed
- Deliver the above services both at Devonshire Road outreach locations within Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire.
- Ensure that systems maintained for case recording, statistics, follow up work and quality control, in partnership with other members of the team
- To ensure recording of all outcomes estimated or confirmed, in casebook
- To work in accordance with data protection and ensure specific consent and authority for recording and storing of special category data
- Meet targets set by management
- Manage own diary to ensure maximum effectiveness and client’s seen in a timely manner
- Arranged workload to maximise use of time and help the most clients
- To be a team player and attend meetings as necessary
Administration
- To ensure effective and efficient administrative systems are maintained
- Abide by the health and safety policy with regard to staff, equipment and premises with statutory requirements
- Proper case recording and recording of statistical information with regards to advice given to clients and workload, added as outcomes to the case recording system.
Training, development and recruitment
- Keep up to date with legislation, case law, policies and procedures relating to all subject areas and undertake appropriate training
- Read relevant publications provided by the Bureau
- Attend relevant internal and external meetings as agreed with the line manager
- Prepare for and attend supervision sessions/team meetings as appropriate internally and externally
- Assist with service initiatives for the improvement of services and make recommendations where improvements can be made
- Give external talks/training to partner organisations as agreed by Line Manager
- To give external talks/ training to members of the public/ groups as agreed by L.Manager
- To ensure that you make time in your own calendar, for your own development (each month)
Research and campaigns (Social Policy)
- Assist with social policy work by providing information about clients’ circumstances, either anonymously or with the client’s consent
- Provide statistical information on the number of clients and nature of cases and provide regular reports to Bureau management
- Monitor service provision to ensure that it reaches the widest possible client group
- Alert other staff to local and national issues
- Liaise with statutory and non-statutory organisation’s and represent the Service on outside bodies as appropriate
Other duties and responsibilities
All staff at CCAB are required to:
- Have a full commitment to the aims and vision for the organisation as laid out in the business plan and take part in annual processes such as business plan reviews, production of annual and other reports, etc.
- Have a commitment to on-going change management in order to achieve those aims and objectives
- Assist with current bureau projects, as required.
- Have an understanding of and commitment to, the aims and principles of the service and its equal opportunities/diversity policies
- Have an active commitment to promoting Social Policy/Research and Campaigning as a key driver for effecting a positive change for our clients
- Have a commitment to working as a team player – supporting and respecting each other in a time of limited staff resource – having a flexible approach to covering functions that may be outside a specific job
- Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for your own safety and that of colleagues
- Undertake duties in a resource efficient way, minimising impacts to the environment wherever possible
- Attend meetings, conferences and events that may entail staying away overnight; to undertake outreach work when required; .and to be able to occasionally work unsociable hours as required
- To undertake locking up responsibility when on rota or as required when working from the office
- Undertake any other duties connected with the operation of the Bureau as may be required from time to time
- To provide cover for other outreach workers during holiday or sickness periods where possible.
Person Specification
| Factor | Essential | Desirable |
| Experience | Experience of drawing up income & expenditure sheets
Experience of income maximisation Experience of budgeting & Financial capability Experience of using a benefit calculator to estimate client’s probable awards |
CAB certificate of general advice
DRO Intermediary Experience of presenting to/ training/ groups in public/ front line workers/ colleagues |
| Knowledge | Understanding of the eligibility criteria for common benefits such as UC, ESA, PIP, DLA, AA Universal Credit and Council Tax support
Understands budgeting/ money management/ Financial capability Has knowledge of income maximisation & reducing expenditure
|
Understanding of other related benefits, debt and housing
Has Knowledge of debt processes, options & strategy- DRO/IVA/Bankruptcy |
| Skills and competencies | Ability to implement and promote equal opportunities policies and relate to clients in a non-judgemental way
Numeracy skills for monitoring and analysis of statistical information for project funders and management Ability to prioritise and manage own workload, appointments letters and telephone calls. Ability to work closely with and support training of volunteers Effective oral and written communication skills with particular emphasis on ability to work with a wide cross-section of clients, reports and correspondence. Competent at using computers and other IT equipment and resources to enable good case checking Ordered approach to the prioritisation and management of work and an ability and willingness to follow and develop procedures Ability to give and receive feedback to colleagues objectively and sensitively. Ability and willingness to work as part of a team and to maintain a positive attitude whilst under pressure |