You’re in the right place if you’re interested in helping me help others

Job Description: Welfare Benefits Advisor

Salary: £25,291 per annum

Working hours: 35 hours per week

Contract: Fixed Term for 12-months

Closing date: Tuesday 26th November @ 5pm

Interview date: Monday 9th December 2024

At Gaddum, we treat everyone as individuals. We really get to know those we help, understanding their world to offer a range of support that’s right for them. Our promise of tailored support is made possible by our breadth and depth of knowledge, through our unwavering commitment to the local people of Greater Manchester.

Our experience listening to generation after generation, for nearly 200 years, has taught us the importance of considering not just the individual but also the relationships around them. Our innovative approach means we can, not only build resilience, but identify further risks and offer preventive support now and in the future.

At Gaddum, we believe that by supporting individuals, we ultimately help support entire communities. Our aim is to empower and enhance the lives of people in Greater Manchester.

Job Summary:

In this role you will be helping the Carers Manchester Team and Manchester Carers Forum to provide welfare benefits advice and support to carers living in the south of the city.

You will assist Carers to maximise their incomes and provide them with advice, support and assistance to enhance their financial circumstances and wellbeing.

With empathy and understanding of the financial challenges facing Carers in the current climate, you will deliver a responsive and sensitive service and will help assess what kind of support they need.

Providing advice, guidance and assistance on how to maximise income, advise on benefits entitlement to and improve financial wellbeing.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide casework support across the full range of welfare benefits to Carers.
• Act for the Carers where necessary by calculating benefit entitlement, negotiating, drafting or writing letters.
• Negotiate with third parties as appropriate.
• Ensure income maximisation through the take up of appropriate benefits.
• Assist clients with other related problems where they are an integral part of their case and refer to other advisors or specialist agencies as appropriate.
• Attend home/outreach visits as necessary
• Be an active member of the Carers Manchester South team locality team meetings.
• Ensure that all casework conforms to accepted high quality advice provision, including keeping written records of advice; keeping records well organised; ensuring conflict of interest checks are carried out; keeping a key dates system.
• Maintain case records for the purpose of continuity of casework, information retrieval, and statistical monitoring and report preparation.
• Ensure project monitoring and reporting takes place in a timely and effective way.
• Monitor service provision to ensure that it reaches the widest possible client group.

Additional Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain positive relationships with a range of professional stakeholders, including partners.
• Adhere to Gaddum Policies and Procedures, including Safeguarding, Information Governance and Health and Safety.
• Maintain a general understanding of the work of the whole organisation and attend staff meetings/events.
• All other duties reasonably associated with the role associated with the role.

Training and development

• To keep up to date with relevant policy, legislation and case law relating to the role.
• Attend and participate in training as required.
• Effectively engage in supervisions and appraisals.
• Effectively engage in team meetings and peer support discussion with colleagues.

Our values and policies:

• To adhere to the Carers Manchester Service Operating Procedure and Gaddum Policies and Procedures, including Safeguarding and Confidentiality.
• To uphold Gaddum’s values of being: Supportive, Empowering, Professional, Diverse, and Innovative.
• To work as a team with colleagues.

The details contained in this job description, particularly the principal accountabilities, reflect the content of the job at the date the job description was prepared. It should be remembered, however, that it is inevitable that, over time, the nature of individual jobs will change; existing duties may be lost and other duties may be gained, without changing the general character of the duties, or the level of responsibility entailed.  Consequently, this job description may be revised from time to time.

 All staff are expected to work within all Gaddum policies and procedures

Welfare Benefits Advisor JD and PS