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Great and rewarding opportunity to join our Housing Needs, Advice & Support service as a Homelessness Money Advisor! Portsmouth City Council's Housing Needs, Advice & Support Service (HNAS) works directly with customers to help deal with housing needs including the need to find alternative housing, to prevent homelessness in the city and to fulfil the councils' statutory homeless functions. The Money Advisor team support our customers to solve their problems and meet their responsibilities, which includes sustaining their income, paying their rent and bills and budget management.
Job Responsibility:
Keeping up to date with welfare reforms as they happen and sharing this with your colleagues
Support Housing Assessment & Advice Officers (HAAO), Temporary Accommodation Officers (TAO) and Housing Register and Allocation Officers (HRAO) and Private Accommodation Sustainment Officers (PASO) to maximise the customers income, reduce debt, and manage their budget to sustain or source accommodation
Work as part of the HNAS team sharing your expertise in welfare benefits, debts and budgeting, developing the skills of others to deliver appropriate budgeting advice and assistance with maximising income
Requirements:
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of welfare benefits preferably with experience of supporting and advocating for customers
Have experience of supporting customers with budgeting advice and advising on priority and non-priority debts
Be approachable, supportive and non-judgemental, and able to foster positive working relationships with customers, colleagues and other professionals
Be able to listen well and use effective questioning skills to drill down into the root causes of customers' problems
Be competent at understanding complex information and relaying to customers in clear and simple terms
Have strong written and verbal communication skills to enable effective negotiation with creditors or other professionals
Have experience of developing others in performing effectively in their role
Be self-motivated with the ability to work without support and with a willingness to keep your knowledge up to date through your own research
Have an understanding of the wider social issues that effect the residents of Portsmouth
Be competent with using Microsoft software including: Excel, Word and Outlook and be able to use IT systems to keep clear, accurate, concise and methodical records
Be flexible as you may be required to work from any of the 7 area Housing Offices to cover periods of sickness and annual leave. You may be required to carry out visits outside of normal working hours
Ideally have a current driving licence and daily use of a vehicle