Locality Management Officer

The Temporary Accommodation Income Team forms part of the Rents Service within Finance, providing a co‑ordinated approach to income collection and debt recovery. This is an exciting time to join our developing team, with these new roles enhancing the existing structure and strengthening our ability to support residents, prevent debt escalation and reduce the Council's overall debt. We're looking for proactive, resilient and customer‑focused Temporary Accommodation Locality Management Officers to join our Income Team.

You'll manage a varied caseload and work directly with households experiencing homelessness and financial difficulty, taking a supportive but firm approach to prevent arrears from escalating and help residents sustain their accommodation. You'll take responsibility for monitoring licence accounts, engaging with customers to address outstanding arrears and taking appropriate action to support income recovery. This will include advising customers on their licence obligations and repayment options, undertaking home visits and progressing legal and enforcement action where necessary.

Working collaboratively with colleagues, Legal Services and external partners, you'll help minimise financial losses, ensure compliance with legislation and Council procedures, and deliver a fair and effective approach to debt recovery. You'll also contribute to service improvements, provide accurate performance information and help ensure customers are treated consistently and appropriately throughout the recovery process.

• Manage temporary accommodation licence accounts, monitor arrears and take timely action to maximise income recovery and minimise financial loss.
• Engage proactively with customers through telephone calls, written correspondence and home visits to discuss outstanding balances, explain licence obligations and agree appropriate next steps.
• Provide advice and guidance on arrears recovery options, payment arrangements and relevant legal processes, ensuring decisions and actions are fair, proportionate and consistent.
• Progress legal and enforcement action where required, including serving notices, preparing witness statements and evidence bundles, submitting court applications and overseeing eviction activities.
• Maintain accurate account records and update case management systems with recovery actions, decisions, outcomes and enforcement activity, ensuring information is complete and up to date.
• Identify safeguarding concerns and additional support needs, make appropriate referrals and work with internal teams and external agencies to support customers while progressing recovery activity.
• Prepare performance information, management reports and statistical data; respond to enquiries from Councillors, MPs, senior managers and other stakeholders; review cases for potential write‑offs in line with Financial Regulations; and contribute to audits and service improvements.

• Experience of managing accounts, analysing financial information and reviewing arrears data to support effective decision‑making and income recovery.
• Experience of managing a complex workload, prioritising competing demands and working effectively under pressure with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication and customer service skills, with the ability to engage confidently with customers, colleagues, senior managers, Councillors and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written communication skills, including experience preparing reports, presenting information and maintaining accurate records.
• Good IT skills, including experience using case management systems, analysing and retrieving information, and working with Microsoft Office applications.
• Knowledge of housing legislation, welfare…