Housing Triage and Support Officer FTC

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Housing Triage and Support Officer to join our busy Housing Advice Team working full time on a 1 year fixed term contract. With some experience of working in a customer service environment or assisting vulnerable customers, you will need to have the key skills and knowledge required to ensure that the Council offers an excellent Housing Advice service or the willingness and aptitude to learn. This role is an initial step into housing advice and homelessness and will allow an individual to build up key skills to progress within this busy sector.
Your main duties will be to act as the initial contact for customers approaching the Council for housing advice and assistance both face-to-face and over the telephone; providing housing advice and information to prevent homelessness; making decisions on whether further enquiries under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 need to be made; assisting other members of the housing team in carrying out homelessness investigations through speaking to customers and key agencies; and maintaining accurate case notes., This is a full time position working 37 hours per week, on a fixed term contract. The postholder will be based in the Council's offices Trinity Foyer; however, there will be the opportunity for flexible working and homeworking under the Council's Hybrid Working policies.
For further information or to discuss this opportunity in more detail, please contact Holly Veal, Senior Housing Advice Officer on .

The successful candidates should have experience of providing housing advice, working in a housing related field or with vulnerable customers in a front facing service. Working as part of a team, you will need to demonstrate excellent organisational skills, an ability to multi-task and prioritise your workload, whilst working in busy fast paced service. You should have excellent interpersonal and IT skills and be able to treat customers sensitively whilst remaining calm but assertive.

Maidstone Borough Council is a confident organisation with ambition and aspirations to deliver high quality services to our residents and local businesses. We strive to make the borough an attractive place for all and secure a successful economy. We continue to build on our strengths - assets, knowledge and expertise and our track record for innovation and improvement to create a financially sustainable future so that we can continue with our undiminished plans.

We will only achieve the results we are aiming for through the talents and hard work of all our people. You are encouraged to become part of our vision and in return you can expect support, training, and fair reward from us. We will give you the opportunity to develop the skills to do your job well and create a positive working environment where your ideas about improving how we do things are valued and we manage the changes needed for new ways of working well.
At Maidstone Borough Council we recognise the importance of flexible working and the benefits this can bring to both our staff and the Council. We know that by offering employees a range of flexible working opportunities we can positively impact their wellbeing and engagement, and drive productivity in return. As such we have developed a highly flexible hybrid working policy, alongside our flexi time and flexible working policies, enabling staff to shape their working patterns around building a greater work life balance.
Our Offer:
A range of benefits including:

• Highly flexible hybrid working opportunities


• 7am to 7pm flexi time to suit personal circumstances for most roles


• Generous holiday entitlement which increases after 5 years LG service plus bank holidays with the option to buy additional leave.


• Additional 3 days leave given to enable a close down of the offices between Christmas and New year.


• Free parking


• Range of flexible working opportunities to accommodate people's home/work life balance including compressed hours, 9-day fortnight, part time.


• Invitations to staff events to celebrate success and support wellbeing that include holistic therapies and outdoor activities


• Employee Assistance Programme which provides confidential & independent information and access to counsellors


• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with valuable life cover and financial protection for your family.


• Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)


• Season Ticket Loan - to help with the cost of your rail/ bus journey, to & from work


• Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand-new car. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax.


• Annual flu vaccine


• Cycle to work scheme


• Staff benefits discounts on leisure, eating out, holidays and shopping


• Excellent learning and career opportunities for committed individuals


• A professional fee payment, if required for the role