Financial Assessment Visiting Officer

About The Role
Job Title: Financial Assessment Visiting Officer
Contract: Permanent - Full Time
Location: Plough Lane, Hereford & Remote
Hours: 37
Salary: HC06 (£27,269 - £31,067)
Closing date: 31/03/2025
Interview: 11/04/2025

The role
We are looking for a self-motivated, customer-focused individual to join our Welfare & Financial Assessment Team as a Welfare & Financial Assessment Officer. As a Welfare & Financial Assessment Officer, you will be responsible for completing accurate financial assessments for both residential and non-residential services to determine if and how much a person needs to contribute towards the cost of their adult social care service. You will demonstrate compassion and knowledge when working with people to quickly build rapport while calculating charges for care in a professional, diplomatic, and supportive manner.

You will be part of a supportive, busy team but will also work independently managing your own workload. The team offers comprehensive guidance on Financial Assessments to colleagues across Adult Social Care teams, support workers, carers, financial representatives, partner agencies, and service providers.

This role involves regular travel across Herefordshire to visit clients in their homes or other locations to conduct financial assessments. The ability to travel across Herefordshire to visit service users, ensuring timely visits and efficient service delivery, is essential.

You will be responsible for delivering complex messages to service users, whether in person, over the phone, or through written communication such as letters or emails. This involves using different communication styles to ensure everyone understands.

In this role, you will provide advice to service users on general welfare benefit matters and help to maximize service users' income by identifying potential welfare benefit entitlements. You will offer information to individuals on where to find independent financial advice.

Knowledge of the Care Act 2014, statutory guidance on charging and financial assessments, and the council's care and support charging policy would be desirable for this role.

About You

• You will be enthusiastic, hardworking, flexible, and motivated.
• You will be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills.
• You will have good verbal communication skills.
• You will have a high level of attention to detail, empathy, and strong analytical skills.
• You will be proficient in the use of computerised systems, including accurate data entry on a personal computer and use of Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel, and Outlook.

We Offer

• A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:
• Starting Salary of £27,269
• Pension Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
• Career progression: clear pathways to progress
• Annual Leave: 31 days' annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum with line manager approval.
• Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours, and, in some instances, home working.
• Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling.
• Payment of professional membership fees.
• Pick your perks - our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday, and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back, and discounts.

Why Choose Us?
You will probably have heard a lot about how beautiful it is in terms of countryside and open spaces (and it is!) but there is so much more going on here, including world-class cultural assets like the Mappa Mundi, vibrant theatres, and a thriving food and drink sector.

One of Herefordshire's biggest assets is the strong and diverse communities. Our Talk Community approach brings that together, supporting people to help themselves, encouraging them to help their communities, and identifying how communities can help individuals. Our ambitious transformation programme aims to further build on this to offer an all-age approach.

To find out more about what it's like to live, work, and thrive at Herefordshire Council, please visit our dedicated recruitment website: .

If you are enthusiastic about this opportunity and want to make a difference, we encourage you to consider an application or to get in contact; you may be the perfect fit we're seeking!

Reasonable Adjustments
Our recruitment process runs in partnership with Hoople Resourcing. If you require any reasonable adjustments or alternative methods for the online application process, please contact the resourcing team by email: .

Creating an inclusive workplace
Employee Network Groups play an important role in strengthening the voices of employees at Herefordshire Council. Embedded in the Council's values is a commitment to listen to people's views and needs.

Our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults is serious, and we expect all of our staff, visitors, and volunteers to share in this commitment. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check and further pre-employment checks.