About us:

At Breckland Council we recognise the value of our staff who add value to our organisation and to the services we deliver. We have embraced the Government's agenda to modernise local government and our approach has been to lead change rather than follow it. We believe that Best Value can only be achieved by developing staff to their full potential and to do this, we provide them with the relevant knowledge, equipment and authority to carry out their duties. We are recognised by Investors in People and as an Employer of Choice.

Our employees enjoy excellent conditions of service including a final salary pension scheme and flexible working for a large percentage of our staff, as well as the possibility of 'job sharing'.

Our Housing Team are seeking an Allocations Officer; this key role sits within the Housing Hub and provides wider support to the entire team.

About you:

You are exceptionally well organised, ensuring that everything you do is accurate and error free. Although you like to work within fixed guidelines you enjoy working out how things can be improved or done better. You keep going no matter how difficult things get, and use setbacks as a springboard for greater success. You are quite happy to take responsibility for your own decisions and accountabilities.

You are very aware and caring of people’s feelings and this allows you to quickly establish rapport. People like dealing with you because you make things easy for them to understand and you focus on and listen to what they say. You will deal sensitively with customers who may be vulnerable and/or emotional and situations that may be challenging, demanding and stressful, but still require clear and logical decisions to be made to bring matters to an acceptable conclusion. You can regularly re-prioritise your workload to cope with unpredictable peaks in demand for the service, which requires professionalism at all times. 

You create the conditions for people in your team to learn and develop for themselves. You provide fair and accurate feedback to them so that they can develop. You are flexible in your approach to work and enable us to be the same.

About the role:

You will:

• support the Housing Options and Corporate Safeguarding Team Leader in providing day to day technical advice and support to the Housing Options and Advice Service.
• champion and demonstrate excellent levels of customer service within the team.
• provide housing options and advice on a case load basis to customers deemed in housing need in line with the Council’s statutory housing duties.
• assess and process all homelessness and broad housing advice related enquiries in a manner which is focused upon the sensitive requirements and needs of the customer.
• work closely with Breckland District Council’s Private Sector Housing team to ensure that allocations of housing are made in a way that minimises expenditure on Disabled Facilities Grants
• participate positively in a duty rota to ensure prompt responses to service requests, conducting face to face interviews and home visits
• ensure that duties owed by Breckland District Council to clients are discharged in a timely and appropriate manner
• take a personal responsibility to build and maintain relationships with key partners, including private landlords, housing associations, statutory bodies, and third and voluntary sector organisations and the general public
• develop harmony and good working relations with customers and take personal responsibility to ensure the delivery of results
• support colleagues in the promotion of an environment where continuous improvement and innovation are essential.
• ensure that a high level of customer service is maintained at all times.
• carry out any other duties commensurate with the post.

If you would like an informal chat regarding this role please contact Hannah Hooks on Hannah.Hooks@breckland.gov.uk or call 01362 656268.

Closing date – 30^th August 2019

Equal Opportunities

We are committed to being an Equal Opportunities employer, recognising the benefits of sustaining a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community we serve. We welcome applications from anyone who feels they meet the requirements of our vacancies - these are listed as essential requirements on the person specification.