Leicester City Council
Discretionary Awards Assistant
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Reference: REQ7774
Description:
Full Time / 37 Hours Per Week / Permanent
Join a team that helps some of Leicester's most vulnerable residents access vital financial support when they need it most. As a Discretionary Awards Assistant, you will play an important role in delivering our local welfare schemes, supporting people facing financial hardship with a person-centred, needs-based and trauma-informed approach. You will look beyond the immediate crisis to understand individual circumstances, provide compassionate support, and help connect residents to the wider services and assistance available to them.
Based in the Council's Welfare and Advice Service, part of Revenues and Benefits, the role is delivered as part of a no wrong door approach. You will ensure people receive the right support at the right time, helping individuals and households build greater financial stability and resilience. The team works on a hybrid basis with the expectation that you work from City Hall at least two days per week following a successful probation period. The core working hours for this role are Monday to Thursday, from 8:30am until 5pm and 8:30am until 4:30pm on a Friday. A Basic DBS check is required.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Help residents apply for discretionary financial support by handling enquiries, assessing applications, and making decisions based on the evidence provided.
- Gather and verify information, identify potential fraud or errors, record accurate information on council systems, and communicate decisions clearly and sensitively.
- Provide advice and signposting to welfare benefits and other sources of support, working closely with colleagues, partners, and suppliers to ensure vulnerable households receive the right help at the right time.
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In Addition, You Will:
- Act as a single point of contact for customers and stakeholders through telephone, email, and other access channels.
- Analyse financial information, income, and expenditure details, and supporting evidence to determine eligibility.
- Produce clear written communications, including decision letters, emails, and notifications.
What You'll Need
We are looking for someone who is customer-focused, organised, and committed to supporting residents by offering timely, needs-based assistance to those with low incomes facing financial hardship.
You Will Ideally Have:
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills, with the ability to assess evidence, interpret information accurately, and make fair, consistent decisions in line with policies and procedures.
- Excellent customer service and communication skills, with the confidence to support people in difficult circumstances, gather information sensitively, and explain decisions clearly.
- Good numeracy, digital, and organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, work accurately with financial information, maintain records, and use digital systems effectively.
- Strong IT skills, including confidence using Outlook, Word, Excel, and computerised case management systems.
What We Can Offer You
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As well as the satisfaction of helping to improve thousands of lives across Leicester, you can look forward to a work environment that encourages a healthy work/life balance. You’ll enjoy generous annual leave, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, and the option of flexible working. We’ll also give you the chance to develop your skills and expertise with a variety of training and development opportunities. In addition, you can choose from several flexible benefits, including discounts on city buses and trains. For an illustrative value of your benefits package, take a look at our benefits calculator.
Join us
We’re committed to recruiting a diverse and highly talented workforce as we continue to build a Council that is fitting and representative of our great city. That’s why we’ve designed our recruitment process to put you at your ease; make you feel welcome and bring the best out of you. We’ll do all we can to make our recruitment process as fair as possible. To help you with your application, look at the ‘our approach to recruitment’ page.
If you’d like to have an informal discussion before applying, please send an email to welfareadvice-manager@leicester.gov.uk
Interviews / Assessments will take place on the week commencing 24th of August.
Region: Central
Location: City Hall
Salary: GBP26,403 - GBP28,142 Per Year
Package: Total benefit value (includes pension contribution and full holiday entitlement): GBP38,374.53
Contractual hours: 37
Basis: Full time
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