Our Values

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

About the team we are recruiting to

Coventry City Council’s Benefits Service is comprised of diverse, multi-talented teams who all have the same aim, to help the city’s most vulnerable residents.  

Our work is varied and covers the assessment and administration of schemes that provide financial help and support for those in need. 

Specifically, the teams are responsible for the delivery of: 

• Housing Benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments which we administer on behalf of the Department for Works and Pensions. We also recover any overpaid housing benefit 
• Council Tax Support which is a local scheme that helps residents with their Council Tax charges 
• Free School Meals, by working closely with schools we aim to ensure every child who is entitled has a free school meal  
• Community Support Grant Scheme which includes assistance in extreme emergency situations and can provide citizens help to resettle back into the community by providing essential furniture items.  

We embrace the ONE COVENTRY approach, working closely with our external partners and other Council teams, such as the Housing and Homeless teams and Children’s teams, ensuring we have a holistic approach to supporting our residents.

What is the job role?

Are you looking for a new challenge, if so, then why not join our Benefit Service?

We have 3, Full time permanent vacancies for pro-active, motivated individuals who, after a period of training, will be responsible for the assessment of Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claims, Free School Meals and Local Council Tax Support.

You will work as part of a team of Benefit Officers to ensure prompt and accurate processing of claims on our Revenues and Benefits and document management IT systems.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

As your job purpose is to undertake a range of administrative, technical, and customer-focused duties to support the Benefits Service; you should be able to work independently and with a high degree of accuracy, possessing experience of using a wide range of computer systems, including Microsoft packages.

The ideal candidate will have an awareness of the need for confidentiality and a non-judgemental approach when dealing with customers. You will also have excellent customer service skills to deal with customers on a face-to-face basis and over the telephone, in accordance with corporate standards.

If you have good customer service skills, a basic knowledge of welfare reforms: the effects of Universal Credit on Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support, and are used to working in a fast- paced changing environment, then this is the role for you.

There will be a test that forms part of the interview process, this will involve mathematical calculations and letter writing. 

The test will be held on Wednesday 17th May 2023 in Friargate, Station Square

If successful interviews will be held on the following days:

Thursday 18th May 2023 and Friday 19th May 2023

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 4800 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

Coventry City Council