Adviser / Trainee Adviser Job pack

Thanks for your interest in working at Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire. This job pack should give you everything you need to know to apply for this role and what it means to work at Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire.

In this pack you’ll fi nd information about:

● Our values

● 3 things you should know about us

● The role profi le and person specifi cation

● Terms and conditions

● The recruitment process and how to apply

● Information about working a 4 day working week

Want to chat about this role? If you want to chat about the role further, you can contact samantha.lister@citizensadvicenlincs.org.uk

Our values and behaviours

Our values are the core beliefs we hold as an organisation. They act as guiding principles setting out our purpose and direction.

Our values are:

● We’re inventive. We’re not afraid of trying new things and learning by getting things wrong. We question every idea to make it better and we change when things aren’t working.

We’re generous. We work together, sharing knowledge and experience to solve problems. We are honest and open and tell it like it is. We off er support and respect to everyone.

● We’re responsible. We do what we say we’ll do and keep our promises to each other, to our community and clients and our funders and partners. We remember we work for a charity and use our resources eff ectively.

Our values are upheld by our behaviours. Our behaviours demonstrate how we live our values every day and in every thing we do.

Our behaviours are:

● Compassion, consistency and connectedness. We are one team, whether working in project teams, across Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire or with our partners for the benefi t of our clients and services. We demonstrate empathy and understanding and treat others with respect and kindness.

● Innovation, fl exibility and resilience. We continuously seek more innovative ways of delivering services and overcome challenging situations. This enables us to fi nd more eff ective and effi cient ways of working that improve services to clients and enables the organisation to be sustainable ensuring continuity of support for our community.

Integrity. We do the right thing even when nobody's watching. We act in the best interests of clients and the organisation at all times in all we do and consistently operate to the best of our ability. We maintain high ethical standards, showing integrity and fairness in dealings with colleagues, funders, partners and clients.

● Accountability. Taking ownership for all we do, think and say is vital to creating an environment of honesty, openness and transparency particularly when it comes to delivering great services. We take responsibility for our own performance, the success of our colleagues, our teams and the wider organisation.

3 things you should know about us

1. We’re listened to - and our work has real impact. Our trusted brand and the quality of our work mean we make a real impact on behalf of the people who rely on us.

2. Working collaboratively with our partners is important to us. We work closely with our partners across our Place. We believe we can achieve more for our clients and the community by working together.

3. We’re committed to doing things diff erently. We have introduced a 4 Day Working Week to support wellbeing and productivity, with opportunities to opt in following probation.

Role Profi le

This is an opportunity for you to join an established charity that has an excellent reputation locally as a trusted partner and as a great place to work. You’ll be a part of a small, but committed team with big ambitions that works cohesively and eff ectively together to get things done.

You will provide generalist level advice and casework focused on welfare benefi ts, housing and energy as well as off ering non-monetary debt advice about priority debts and budgeting.

You’ll help people to understand their rights and responsibilities by exploring their problems in depth. You'll proactively encourage clients to take responsibility for completing actions to resolve problems themselves. Taking responsibility for cases and advocating on behalf of clients where appropriate.

You’ll work closely with our key partners across North Lincolnshire within the statutory and voluntary and community sectors and ensure clients receive a good quality and holistic service that supports individuals to remove the fi nancial and psychological barriers to achieving positive outcomes and build resilience for the future.

This role is off ered both on a trainee and a qualifi ed basis. For the trainee position we’re not necessarily looking for someone who has previous experience working within the advice sector, as long as you’re empathetic and able to provide person-centred support in a non-judgemental way we can provide full training.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

● To deliver comprehensive advice, casework and advocacy services that meet the required quality standards

● To identify emergencies and refer clients to other specialist services quickly where necessary

● To act for clients where appropriate by negotiating with external parties

● To draft and/or submit written work on behalf of clients including benefi t applications and grant applications

● To prepare cases to the appropriate statutory bodies, tribunals and courts as appropriate

● To support people in-person, via telephone and email, making home and outreach visits where appropriate

● To build trust with people, providing non-judgemental support, respecting diversity and lifestyle choices

● To gather and collate statistical and other information and data, reporting on activity and outcomes and ensuring eff ective qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation of the service

● To deliver presentations and briefi ng about the project and contribute to the overall development of the service

● To meet individual performance targets and contribute to the achievement of team targets

● To represent the organisation in a knowledgeable and professional manner at all times

● To maintain appropriate professional boundaries at all times

● To identify your own training and development needs and participate in training opportunities keeping up with legislation, case law, policies and procedures relating to advice

● To refl ect on practice and participate in team meetings, practice development forums and supervision

● To refer safeguarding issues in line with local and organisational policy

● To adhere to organisational policies and procedures relating to health and safety, risk and personal safety

● Carry out any other tasks that may be within the scope of the post

Person Specifi cation

1. Knowledge and recent experience of delivering client or customer focused service

2. Ability to hold and manage diffi cult conversations and a willingness to challenge constructively

3. Ability to research and analyse complex information and be able to tailor this to the situation as required.

4. Understanding of the wider determinants of health

5. Ability to use sensitive listening and questioning skills to get to the root of the issues whilst maintaining structure and control of conversations

6. Ability to support people in a way that inspires trust and confi dence, motivating others to take actions for themselves

7. Experience of positively infl uencing others and where appropriate persuading them to change their views, intentions or actions

8. Ability to use Microsoft Offi ce and Google Suite systems to create plans and reports and record outcome data

9. Ability to demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and ability to work well under pressure

10. Ability to demonstrate initiative, think ahead and take prompt action to solve problems and complete tasks to a high standard

11. Committed to achieving results and demonstrates personal accountability, able to prioritise competing demands in a busy environment and meet deadlines

12. Ability and willingness to work to local policies and procedures, including confi dentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance and health and safety

Desirable Criteria

13. Citizens Advice generalist advice qualifi cation or external equivalent

Terms and conditions

1. Profi cient salary

Trainee - £27,836 (per annum)

Profi cient Salary - £30,006 (per annum)

2. Contract type

Permanent.

3. Flexibility

We are open to all discussions about fl exible working. We want to enable you to have a good work/life balance that suits your needs as well as those of the business.

4. Employee assistance scheme

We provide an employee assistance scheme managed by LifeWorks. Benefi ts include:

● 24/7 - 365 telephone helpline

● LifeWorks online support website

● LifeWorks app

● 6 sessions of face to face counselling per issue – unlimited issues per annum

● Employee legal helpline

● Consulting services – fi nancial, debt advice, housing, relocation, parenting, eldercare, work performance, health and wellness advice and much more

● Childcare and eldercare matching service

● Savings on everyday purchases and life events

● Access for family members and dependants – excluding counselling and legal advice

5. Annual leave

Annual leave is 28 days from 1st January to 31st December, plus 8 bank holidays. We off er additional long service leave of 5 days after 4 years of employment.

6. Pension scheme

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire provides an employer pension scheme via Nest Pensions. Our contribution to the pension is 3 percent.

Further details of this scheme will be provided to the successful applicant at off er and contract stage.

7. Learning and development

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire has a coordinated staff training and development strategy. This will mean that training for your current job, and future career developments will be provided and you will be encouraged to take an active role.

8. Disclosure and Barring Service checks (DBS)

The post is subject to disclosure of convictions under the Rehabilitation of Off enders (Exemption) Act 1974.

9. Equality and diversity

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges unfair discrimination. We recognise people with diff erent backgrounds, skills, attitudes and experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions, and we wish to encourage and harness these diff erences to make our services more relevant and approachable. We are a Disability Confi dent employer. We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability, and making sure disabled people have the chance to fulfi l their aspirations.

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire will not discriminate or tolerate discriminatory behaviour on the grounds of race, colour, sex, transgender, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, marital/partnership or family status, sexual orientation, age, social class, educational background, employment status, working pattern, trade union membership or any other irrelevant factor in any aspect of employment.

Our values include a commitment to equality and fairness, and to valuing each other. All our employees are expected to have read and understood our Equality and Diversity Policy and to ensure they behave in accordance with its principles. Breaches of the policy may lead to disciplinary action.

10. Dignity at work

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire is committed to providing a culture in which all staff value each other and are able to work together to

their full potential in an inclusive environment free from harassment, bullying and other unacceptable forms of behaviour.

Unacceptable behaviour in the workplace will be actively dealt with, all complaints will be taken seriously, confi dentiality will be respected and victimisation of those that raise complaints will not be tolerated. Our values include commitments to work together and value each other - all our employees are expected to have read and understood our Dignity at Work Policy and to ensure they behave in accordance with its principles.

All staff are responsible for helping to create and maintain a positive and inclusive working environment free from bullying and harassment. All managers have a particular responsibility for ensuring a supportive and inclusive working environment in which dignity at work is actively promoted.

11.Political Impartiality

An important part of the principle of impartiality is that Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire staff are seen to be upholding the principle of party political impartiality. To avoid possible misunderstanding or possible confl icts of interest guidelines have been established on staff taking part in party political activities. If you currently hold, or are intending to stand for local or national party political offi ce, we will expect you to tell us about this if shortlisted for an interview.

12. Location

Scunthorpe Central, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire.

This is a hybrid role and the successful candidate will be able to work between home, community venues and the offi ce.

13. Hours of work

This role is full time working 36.25 hours per week.

14. 4 Day Working Week

Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire operates a 4 Day Working Week model as part of our organisational approach to supporting wellbeing, retention and productivity.

Under this model, staff work 80% of their contracted hours while maintaining 100% of pay and 100% of expected productivity and outcomes. The focus is on delivering high-quality work within a reduced working week, supported by eff ective ways of working and strong team collaboration.

Participation in the 4 Day Working Week is not a contractual entitlement. The successful candidate will be eligible to opt into the 4 Day Working Week following successful completion of their probationary period, subject to meeting required standards of performance, contribution and service delivery.

The 4 Day Working Week operates within an organisational framework to ensure service delivery, team capacity and organisational priorities are maintained. Participation is therefore conditional and may be reviewed, amended or withdrawn in line with organisational needs.

The recruitment process and how to apply

Please email your CV and cover letter alongside your answers to the below questions to recruitment@citizensadvicenlincs.org.uk

1. Please tell us about your knowledge and recent experience of delivering client or customer focused service.

2. Please tell us about your ability to hold and manage diffi cult conversations and a willingness to challenge constructively.

3. Please tell us about your ability to research and analyse complex information and be able to tailor this to the situation as required.

4. Please tell us about your IT skills, including profi ciency in Microsoft Offi ce, Google Suite, and research tools to navigate information systems and databases.

*Please note we will use the information you provide in your answers to these questions to decide whether or not to invite you to an interview. Please provide examples of past experience that clearly demonstrate what we are looking for, and be precise about what you did, how you did it and the outcome or result of your actions.

The deadline for applications is 16 June 2026

Interviews will be held on week commencing 22 June 2026

Disability

Please let us know if you require any adjustments to be made to the application process or would like to provide any information you wish us to take into account when we are considering your application. If you are selected for an interview, we will ask you to let us know if you have any access needs or may require reasonable adjustments to the interview or assessment (if applicable) at that stage. Please be assured that we will be supportive in discussing reasonable adjustments with you at any stage of the recruitment and selection process.

Entitlement to work in the UK

A job off er will be subject to confi rmation that you are permitted to work in the UK in accordance with the provisions of the Asylum and

Immigration Act 1996. You will be asked to provide evidence of your entitlement to work in the UK if you are successful and an off er of employment is made.

Please note that Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire does not hold a sponsor licence and, therefore, cannot issue certifi cates of sponsorship under the points-based system.

References

All job off ers are subject to the receipt of two satisfactory references: One should be from your current or most recent employer or line manager (if you are employed through an agency), or your course tutor if you have just left full time education. The other should be someone who knows you in a work related, voluntary or academic capacity. Both referees should be able to comment on your suitability for the role. References will only be taken up for successful candidates following the interview.

Criminal convictions

Anyone who applies to work within Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire will be asked to disclose details of unspent convictions during the recruitment process.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working for Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire – much will depend on the type of job you have applied for and the background and circumstances of your off ence. However, we are not able to employ anyone with a conviction for a sexual off ence against a child or vulnerable adult, regardless of when the off ence took place. All other convictions will be considered on an individual basis.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosures are only requested where proportionate and relevant to the post concerned. If the post for which you are applying for requires a DBS disclosure, this will be noted in the application pack.