Income Recovery Officer

Job Title: Income Recovery Officer
Service: Financial Services, Debt Recovery

Liaison With: Customers, Council Officers and Councillors, Landlords, DWP, Enforcement Agents, External Collection Agencies, Other Local Authorities, Customer Representatives, Community & Voluntary Organisations, and Stakeholders.

Purpose of the Job:

To effectively manage and recover sundry debtor invoice balances, ensuring efficient and appropriate debt recovery procedures are followed.

Main Responsibilities:

1. Account Monitoring: Oversee and manage customer accounts in arrears, issuing reminder letters and escalating recovery actions as required.
2. Arrears Recovery: Ensure debt recovery actions are appropriate, proportionate, and in compliance with regulatory requirements and procedures.
3. Customer Financial Assessment: Assess each customer's financial situation and establish sustainable payment plans to clear outstanding debts.
4. External Collaboration: Provide relevant information to third-party customer representatives, including advice agencies and community organisations, concerning arrears cases.
5. Absconder Tracing: Locate absconders, gather necessary information, and make recommendations for cases to be considered for write-off.
6. Invoice Management: Process invoice cancellation requests and ensure the timely production of monthly periodic invoices.
7. Reporting: Generate management reports related to outstanding invoices and arrears analysis.
8. Administrative Support: Perform administrative tasks such as managing incoming post and emails, adjusting payment arrangements, reviewing escalated cases, updating customer records, and other related duties.
9. Other Duties: Undertake any additional responsibilities that align with the grade of this position.

Person Specification

Qualifications:

• Essential:

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs (Grade C or above) including Maths and English.

• Desirable:

• Credit Control & Debt Management - QLS Level 3 qualification or equivalent proven experience in debt recovery.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Essential:

• Experience working in a high-pressure income recovery and customer-focused environment.

• Knowledge of financial solutions available to customers, including the ability to establish sustainable payment arrangements to maximise council income.

• Understanding of financial regulations related to customer payments, such as the Direct Debit Guarantee.

• Familiarity with security protocols for processing customer payments and handling sensitive information.

• Strong communication skills to manage frequent inquiries related to income collection from customers, colleagues, members, and third-party representatives.

• Ability to proactively contact customers and confidently discuss their debts.

• Flexibility to adapt to changing demands in customer service and daily collection tasks.

• Independent decision-making skills when negotiating payment arrangements with customers.

• Excellent negotiation skills to communicate the seriousness of debt situations to customers.

Special Requirements:

• Essential:

• A flexible and reliable team player with a positive and approachable attitude towards both customers and colleagues.

• Emotional resilience and the ability to remain calm in challenging customer interactions.

• Integrity in handling sensitive and secure information.

• Ability to work accurately under pressure.

• Self-motivated and enthusiastic, with a proactive "can-do" approach.

• Strong organisational skills with the ability to multitask effectively.

Please note that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and ability to perform the duties of the job.