Citizens Advice Exeter

Job Title: Advice Session Team Leader/Trainee Team Leader Salary Scale: Scales 3.1 - 3.4 Salary: £30,471 - £33,297 FTE. P/T hours will be considered Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week Pension: 3% employer contribution Annual Leave: 25 days plus Bank Holidays Place of Work: Citizens Advice Exeter, Dix s Field, Exeter, EX1 1QA with the possibility of some home working Join us and help make a real difference Do you care passionately about making sure people get the advice they need to find a way forward? Are you motivated by tackling injustice and influencing social policy change? Whether you re looking to take the next step in your advice giving career, or you re already an experienced Citizens Advice supervisor seeking a fresh challenge in a new part of the country, this could be the perfect opportunity for you. At Citizens Advice Exeter, you ll join a supportive, forward thinking team who are committed to empowering local people, driving positive change, and working together to create a fairer society. If you re someone who thrives on helping others, enjoys problem solving and wants to make a genuine impact every day, we d love to hear from you. What we re looking for Ideally, you will already have experience as an Advice Session Supervisor within a local Citizens Advice. If not, you may be an experienced adviser who is ready to take that exciting next step in your advice career and we d be delighted to support you on that journey. You will thrive on working with a diverse range of people and bring an openminded, approachable and nonjudgmental approach to your work. You will take an empathetic and compassionate stance with colleagues and with any clients you come into contact with. Strong critical thinking skills, the ability to problems solve, and the confidence to support others will be key to your success in this role. As a valued member of our Advice Services Team , you will: provide supervision and support to our team of volunteer and paid advisers and caseworkers play an active role in shaping, monitoring and delivering our Business Plan help us maintain and develop high quality services, including supporting the growth of new volunteer roles take on people management responsibilities, following our agreed policies and approaches around recruitment, equal opportunities, performance, wellbeing, discipline, grievance, training and health and safety contribute to our budgeting and financial monitoring support the continuing evolution of our services so they remain responsive to national guidance and local needs help promote our aims, principles and achievements across the organisation and within the wider community ensure we continue to meet the requirements of the Citizens Advice Membership Scheme participate fully in Advice Services Team meetings and shared learning Key Work Areas and Tasks Supervise advisers and caseworkers both paid and volunteers. Attend project meetings with partners, if required. Set up new projects by liaising with partners and funders and supporting with the recruitment process. 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 from Black, Asian and other racially minoritised backgrounds, as these groups are currently underrepresented at Citizens Advice Exeter. We also actively welcome applications from LGBTQ+ candidates. Person Specification Essential criteria Two years recent and ongoing experience of advice work. Experience of managing volunteers and caseworkers. Ability to demonstrate how s/he keeps knowledge up to date. Ability to analyse and interpret complex information. Understanding of the importance of support, development and motivation. Effective oral communication skills Effective writing skills. Understanding of the issues involved in interviewing clients. Numerate to the level required by the tasks. Ability to prioritise own work and the work of others, meet deadlines and manage workload in a pressured environment. Ability to use IT in the provision of advice and the preparation of reports and submissions. Ability to give and receive feedback objectively and sensitively and a willingness to challenge constructively. Ability and willingness to work as part of a team. Ability to monitor and maintain recording systems and procedures. Understanding of the issues affecting society and their implications for clients and service provision. Understanding of and commitment to the aims and principles of the CA service and its equal opportunities policies. Desirable criteria Experience working as an Advice Supervisor for Citizens Advice Experience of supervising/giving debt advice Experience of working within a Citizens Advice charity Experience of working with the public in an advisory capacity

Responsible to: Operations Manager Role purpose: To supports people in the local community through the provision of holistic Money, Debt and Budgeting Advice Salary Scale: 2.1 2.4. £27,495 - £29,400 FTE. P/T hours will be considered Key work areas and tasks Provision of advice and casework Provide money advice and casework covering the full range of debt advice topics including priority and non-priority debt and money advice issues Identify urgent situations and ensure any possible action is taken immediately Assist clients with related issues integral to their debt case such as welfare benefits advice, housing, other financial matters and income maximisation (incorporates applications for grants and other welfare schemes) Work with the client to draw up an agreed financial statement incorporating the Standard Financial Statement Enable clients to identify and explore various options they may have in addressing their situation explaining the consequences and limitations of each option Assist clients in the calculation of offers to priority and non-priority creditors with reference to their Financial Statement. Where appropriate undertake negotiations with clients creditors and other relevant bodies and/or act for the client by drafting or writing letters and telephoning and negotiating with third parties as necessary Prepare and present cases to the appropriate statutory bodies and courts as required including DRO, Breathing Space and bankruptcy applications Maintain timely, accurate and detailed case records and adhere to administration systems Maintain statistical information and other required documents and undertake client feedback surveys and facilitate client evaluation Manage an agreed caseload of debt and money advice cases Ensure all work casework conforms to Operational Policy including meeting the requirements of the Advice Quality Standard, FCA and MAPS Provide basic welfare benefits advice to clients, to include assessing eligibility for benefits, better-off calculations and other income maximisation advice Assist clients with other problems, referring to other advisers and/or agencies as appropriate Provide representation for clients at county or magistrates courts when appropriate Provide support, guidance and supervision to the money advice trainee caseworker/caseworker s assistant and other less experienced staff and volunteers Research and Campaigns (social policy work) Assist with social policy work by providing information about clients' circumstances through the appropriate channel. Research and campaigns, monitoring and relationship building. Assist with the development and implementation, in conjunction with the Operations Manager and in consultation with other charity workers, the Charity s Research and Campaigns Plan. Assist with research and campaigns work by providing information about clients' circumstances through the appropriate channel. Administration Maintain and monitor effective and efficient administrative systems. Monitor health and safety policy with regard to staff, equipment and premises within statutory requirements. Ensure complaints are brought to the Manager s attention as soon as is practicable. Training and Development Identify and implement own training and development needs (in consultation with the Operations Manager). Identify the training needs of charity workers through support and supervision and contribute towards the charity s training and development plans. Contribute to organising training activities in conjunction, as appropriate, with the Operations Manager. Other Duties and Responsibilities Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues. Abide by data security and information assurance guidelines. Ensure that work undertaken reflects and supports the Citizens Advice service s equality and diversity strategy Any other relevant tasks or duties required to ensure the effective running of the charity and our services. To contribute to the induction and on-going training of charity workers within the team. Person specification Essential criteria Qualified and competent money advice and debt caseworker holding the relevant accredited quality standard and other competencies set down by Advice Quality Standard, Money and Pension Service, FCA and/or Institute of Money Advisers Demonstrable and thorough understanding of the application of the debt process in a busy advice organisation and of doing so in a client- centred and efficient way including through working on a Money Advice Service or MAPS funded programme A positive approach to quality of advice audit (including peer review and external audit) and a commitment to constructive feedback as part of the quality assurance and learning process (as a recipient and as a supervisor) The ability to sift through large amounts of information and gather essential details during a client interview Excellent negotiation skills with experience of conducting negotiations with a range of agencies and creditors Proven ability to plan and prioritise your workload, meet deadlines and work calmly and with focus within a busy and fast paced environment Experience of using a casework recording and quality assurance system and IT platforms Experience of providing effective guidance and support to peers and junior colleagues and the ability to plan and co-ordinate the workload of others Experience of working effectively within a team including paid and volunteer staff Excellent communication skills (spoken and written) and the ability to develop and maintain positive, professional, working relationships with clients, funders, stakeholders, colleagues, volunteers, creditors and other agencies Proven IT skills including very confident and competent use of Word, Excel, databases, cloud-based systems etc to maintain effective records, administrative and reporting systems A commitment to travelling to various locations as required Understanding of the issues affecting society and their implications for clients and service provision Understanding of and commitment to the aims and principles of the CA service and its equal opportunities policies Desirable criteria Hold a current registration as a DRO intermediary Experience of working within a Citizens Advice charity Experience of working with the public in an advisory capacity