Starting salary – £24,300.00 per annum
Salary scale – £24,300.00 – £25,600.00 – £27,494.61 per annum
Hours – 37 hours a week
Contract – Permanent
Work base – Hybrid work pattern with a mixture of office (Cobourg House, Plymouth), once you have achieved initial training (this usually takes approximately 12-16 weeks).

Role Context:

We support a wide range of people to find a solution for the problems they face. Our Help to Claim Team supports people in Plymouth and across the UK to make a new Universal Credit claim and be ready for when their first payment arrives.

We are seeking to recruit additional telephone advisers to join our growing team. This role is fully telephone based, with a mix of office and remote working. There’s no ‘average’ call – advice is tailored, and each client is treated equally. It can sometimes be a challenging role, but you will be fully trained and supported, working as a part of an approachable and supportive team in a rewarding environment to provide the best possible service to people across the country. Although the role is a Digital and Telephone Adviser, you may be required to work in a variety of settings including community outreach, Job Centres and local authority offices as required.

The employer for this post is Citizens Advice Plymouth. The role is 37 hours a week (9-5 Monday-Thursday and 9-4:30 on Fridays) on a permanent basis. We are happy to discuss part-time and flexible working arrangements with prospective applicants.

Training: Full training will be provided.  During your initial classroom training and on-the-job learning, you will be working at our city centre office at Cobourg House. When you have been signed off to provide independent advice (this usually takes 12-16 weeks), this role will have a hybrid work pattern, with a minimum of 8 days a month in the office at Cobourg House, 32 Mayflower Street, Plymouth. You will be expected to be able to attend the office as requested and at short notice if required.

The start date for this role is Tuesday 5th November 2024. There will be no annual leave agreed during the first 6 weeks of training.

What we’re looking for

You will thrive on working with a diverse range of people and be open-minded, approachable and non-judgmental. You will take an empathetic and compassionate approach to clients to find solutions to the problems they are facing.

Advisers need to be resilient and able to manage phone conversations well. Good communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential. You’ll have the ability to interview clients using sensitive listening and questioning skills to get to the root of the issues and empower clients, whilst maintaining structure and control of meetings.

You’ll be able to write up case notes accurately and efficiently using a range of Office 365 programs and keep databases up to date accurately.

You will have good prioritisation and time management skills to be able to work efficiently as part of a team to reach as many clients as possible as quickly as possible.

The ideal candidate will have some knowledge of the current benefits systems. Previous advice work is desirable, but not essential as full training will be provided.

We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from suitably skilled candidates from all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from candidates who are disabled, or people from Black, Asian and other racially minoritised backgrounds, as these people are currently underrepresented at Citizens Advice Plymouth. We also actively welcome applications from LGBTQ+ candidates.

To apply for this vacancy:

1. For further information please download our application pack here
2. Completed applications should be returned to recruitment@citizensadviceplymouth.org.uk by 9am on Wednesday 18th September 2024.
3. Please let us know if you need us to adapt our application process so there are no barriers for you to apply.

Closing date

Wednesday 18th September 2024 at 9am

Please note:
We will review applications as they are received.
We reserve the right to close recruitment early or withdraw an advertised post at any time.
We are not accepting CV applications for this role.