Senior Client Funds Officer

The purpose of the role is to provide a financial and safeguarding service to vulnerable adult service users that are subject to an appointeeship or deputyship to ensure financial affairs are managed appropriately and to offer protection from financial abuse. Ensuring duties are carried out in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Financial Regulations, Taxation, DWP legislation, The Office of the Public Guardian Standards and Court of Protection guidelines.

Resolve legal, financial, family and emotional matters that can often be challenging and complex in order to effectively manage client’s personal financial affairs who have been assessed as having no capacity themselves to do so.

Responsible for day-to-day management of service users’ affairs and in line with current legislation and the stated policies of the organisations involved, making sound judgements / decisions. Work closely with the Team Leader and Corporate Deputy, keeping them informed of service user, process, system or performance issues and take responsibility for resolving issues or recommending options for resolving them as appropriate.

Manage and prioritise own case load which includes dealing with correspondence, making payments, providing emergency funds, claiming benefits to maximise a service user’s income, negotiating agreements, debt settlements, reporting information to the OPG / COP / DWP / Tax Office, representing and supporting service users at Tribunals and other legal / benefit related / tenancy related issues in order to meet the service user’s and organisation’s needs. Assisting with the administration of Estates and funeral arrangements

Knowledge of Welfare Benefits processes and entitlements / Mental Capacity Act 2005 / the MCA code of practice / Court of Protection and Office of the Public Guardian procedures and regulations, financial regulations and personal taxation.

Ability to manage and prioritise your own workload.

Ability to communicate with and influence people whilst demonstrating empathy, diplomacy and understanding of their care and disability needs and / or mental health needs.

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.