Supervisor – Advice Session (Welfare Benefits)

Supervisor - Advice Session

        (Welfare Benefits)

Job pack

Thanks for your interest in working at Citizens Advice Enfield. 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.

In this pack you’ll find:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Our values

Three things you should know about us

Overview of Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Enfield

The role profile.

Person specification

What we give our staff

Equality and diversity

Terms and conditions

How to apply

 Our Values

We’re inventive. We’re not afraid of trying new things and learn 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 tell it like it is and respect everyone.

We’re responsible. We do what we say we’ll do and keep our promises. We

remember that we work for a charity and use our resources effectively.

Three things you should know
about us?
1. We’re local and we’re national. We have 6 national offices  and offer direct
support to people in around 300 independent local Citizens Advice services across
England  and  Wales.    In  Enfield  we  operate  from  one  main  office  location  and
provide advice by phone and at various outreach locations across the Borough.

2.  We’re  here  for  everyone.  Our  advice  helps  people  solve  problems  and  our
advocacy  helps  fix  problems  in  society.  Whatever  the  problem,  we  won’t  turn
people away.

3. We’re listened to - and we make a difference. Our trusted brand and the

quality of our research mean we make a real impact on behalf of the people who

rely on us.

How Citizens Advice Enfield works
The Citizens Advice service is made up of Citizens Advice - the national charity -
and a network of around 300 local Citizens Advice members.

This role sits our network of independent charities, delivering services from:

•  over 600 local Citizens Advice outlets
•  over 1,800 community centres, GPs’ surgeries and prisons

They do this with:

•  6,500 local staff
•  over 23,000 trained volunteers

Our reach means 99% of people in England and Wales can access a local Citizens
Advice within a 30-minute drive of where they live.

 The Role

Citizens Advice Enfield is a busy service helping around 6,000 clients a year to

solve around 25,000 problems.  We are open 5 days a week and currently

operate a telephone adviceline triage service from 10am to 4pm Monday to

Friday.

Our priority commissioned areas are Benefits, Debt and Housing and we have a

small team of caseworkers for each.  Appointments are booked through a

combination of self-referral via the adviceline and referrals from funded

partners.

 Role Description

The purpose of the role is to work with the Head of Service and Quality, Project
Manager and the Trainer to ensure smooth running of the day-to-day service and
to  mentor  and  support  paid  advice  staff  and  volunteers  to  maintain  national
Citizens Advice standards. This will involve:

•  Supervising advice and gateway/triage sessions and caseworkers

•  Supporting  the  delivery of  the  training and development plan along  with

the rest of the team

•  Providing mentoring and support to caseworkers, advisers and adviceline
Team members (gateway/triage volunteers) as required by the Service and
Quality Manager and in line with the needs of the overall service

Citizens  Advice Enfield is a great place to work  – with a friendly and supportive

team.

Supervisor – Advice Session
(Welfare Benefits)
Role description

Job Title:

Supervisor – Advice Session (Welfare Benefits)

Reporting to:

Head of Service and Quality

Salary:

£14,975 - £15808 (Actual) (SP32-34) depending on
experience.

Hours:

14 hours (2 days)

Employers’ Pension
contribution

4%

Location:

Based in Vincent House. Hybrid working available after
the initial qualifying probation period.

Purpose of the job:

To provide benefits advice and casework service to
clients within our community.

About the role
l). Supervising advice sessions and / or casework

•  Manage  the  practicalities  of  the  advice  session  and  ensure  adequate

staffing and resources.

•  Provide  an  appropriate  level  of  support  and  supervision  to  individual

workers depending on their level of competence.

•  Ensure referrals and  bookings for projects are being properly  monitored

and clients are supported in a timely manner.

•  Undertake supervision leadership tasks, achieving a specialist supporting

role in one of the key advice areas. (Benefits, Housing, Debt)

•  Review/Monitor the quality of case records / telephone calls of designated

staff to meet quality standards and service level agreements.
•  Assist the Service and Quality Manager to undertake the QAA.
•  Ensure remedial and developmental issues are identified and acted on to
develop  individuals,  improve  the  quality  of  advice,  and  ensure  clients  do
not suffer detriment due to poor or inadequate advice.

•  Keep  technical  knowledge  up  to  date  and  provide  technical  support  to

advisers and / or caseworkers.

•  Undertake advice work/gateway as required e.g. during staff absences.
•  Refer complex issues such as breach of confidentiality and safeguarding to

senior management.

•  Provide  statistical  reports  on  outputs  and  outcomes  as  required  by

management.

ll). Support learning and development

•  Support  the  development  of  volunteers  to  enable  them  embrace
continuous  learning.  For  example,  provide  timely  feedback  on  cases
reviewed to adviceline/ gateway, and advisers.

•  Make recommendations to the Trainer for staff training and development

areas of need.

•  Support the Trainer to make decisions on competence of the advice staff.
•  Support  volunteers  to  develop  knowledge  and  skills  in  identifying  and

responding to research and campaigns issues.

lll). Supporting staff recruitment and development

•  Create a positive working environment in which equality and diversity are
well-managed, dignity at work is upheld and everyone can do their best.

•  Participate in recruitment and selection activities as delegated.

•  Support Participate in the induction of new staff as delegated.
•  Ensure that Staff and volunteers receive appropriate support, supervision
and  appraisal  and  have  opportunities  for  continuous  learning  and
development.

lV). Staff Supervision

•  Responsible for the line management and supervision of a team of advisers

and support workers within a specialist area of advice.

•  Provide  technical  support  to  advisers  and  identify  areas  of  further

development for individuals and the team.

•  Manage staff through the provision of regular support and supervision and

hold annual appraisals.

•  Provide appropriate level of support and supervision to individual workers

depending on their level of competence.

•  Participate in the recruitment & selection  process as  well as  induction of

new staff as delegated.

V). Research and campaigns

•  Promote  the  importance  of  research  and  campaign  delivery  within  the

bureau and deliver training to support identification of issues.

•  Use social media to communicate key service messages as appropriate.
•  Make  recommendations  to  the  research  and  campaigns  staff  and
management for local areas for campaigns based on trends in case reviews.
•  Keep up to date with research and campaigns issues and ensure research
and campaigns is promoted and integrated in a way relevant to the role.

Vl). Other duties and responsibilities

•  Work  with  the  IT  team  and  take  responsibility  for  supporting  the  daily
administration  of  ICT  and  case  management  systems  to  ensure  smooth
service delivery (to take out or modify)

•  Where  needed  assist  the  Head  of  service  and  quality  with  authorising
payments and reconciliation of petty cash and authorise payments using
available systems and procedures as required.

•  Keep  up  to  date  with  Citizens  Advice  aims,  policies  and  procedures  and

ensure these are followed.

•  Ensure that work reflects and supports the Citizens Advice service's equality

and diversity strategy.

•  Develop and maintain effective admin systems and records relevant to the

role.

•  Monitor  and  evaluate  activities  appropriate  to  the  role  and  contribute  to
the  organisation’s  planning  process  by  providing  regular  reports  and
feedback on the areas of responsibility.

•  Attend regular internal and external meetings relevant to the role.
•  Work cooperatively with colleagues and encourage good teamwork, clear
lines  of  communication  and  common  practices  within  the  organisation’s
team.

•  Abide  by  health  and  safety  guidelines  and  share  responsibility  for  own

•

health and safety and that of colleagues.
Identify own learning and development needs  and take steps  to address
these.

•  Carry  out  any  other  tasks  within  the  scope  of  the  post  to  ensure  the

effective delivery and development of the service as required.

 Person Specification

Essential Criteria

l). Qualifications

•  Possession of a CAB certificate in generalist advice
•  Qualifications GCSE at grade A-C in English Language and Mathematics (or

equivalent)

•  Competent IT and digital skills

ll). Supervisory / Advice experience

•  Be able to demonstrate a good technical knowledge of generalist advice,

including challenging benefit decisions up to First Tier Tribunals

•  Two  years  current  experience  of  advice  and  casework  at  generalist  or
specialist level. Or one year experience of supervising a generalist advice
session  (either  CAB  or  within  a  legal  setting)  and  the  ability  to  meet  the
Citizens Advice competence requirements for an advice session supervisor,
with  an  in-depth  knowledge  of  the  main  subject  areas  (benefits,  debt,
housing)

lll). Staff management

•  Ability

to  manage,  motivate  and  appraise  others  performance

constructively.

•  Ability to review and analyse client case write ups and promote constructive

feedback to advice staff for improvement.

•  Commitment to developing staff and ability to understand their strengths
and  weaknesses  and  work  with  these  to  provide  a  positive  and  fulfilling
working environment.

•  Ability to identify ongoing training needs and deliver appropriate support
including on the use of case management systems to ensure high quality
of service is maintained.

•  Experience of supporting, mentoring and guiding staff and volunteers in a

respectful manner.

lV). Teamwork

•  Ability to work well in a team of paid staff and volunteers sharing skills and

knowledge.

V). Equality, diversity and inclusion

•  Ability to work in a diverse team and with diverse clients in line with equality

principles.

Vl). Client focused

•  Ability to put the needs of our clients first and to be constantly looking to

improve our services to them.

•  Ability  to  treat  clients  with  respect,  empathy  and  kindness  and  handle

conflict and challenging situations.

Vll). Reporting

•  Ability to monitor and analyse statistics.

Vlll). Communication and flexibility skills

•  Ability to embrace change and work flexibly.
•  Good verbal and written communication skills.
•  Ability to multitask and work quickly under pressure.

lX). Other

•  Commitment to own continuing professional development.
•  Ability to commit to, and work within, the aims, principles, and policies of

the Citizens Advice service.

Desirable Criteria

•  Ability to speak a Community Language such as Somali, Turkish,

Bulgarian, or other eastern European language.

•  Specialist knowledge and experience/accreditation of a key area of advice

e.g. debt, housing, or benefits.

Note: In accordance with Citizens Advice national policy, we may have the
successful candidate screened by the DBS. However, a criminal record will
not necessarily be a bar to your being able to take up the job.

 What we give our staff

 We offer a range of employee benefits including:

•  30 days annual leave (FTE).
•  An employer matched pension contribution currently at 4%
•  Access  to  Telus,  an  Employee  Assistance  Scheme  which  offers  help  and

support with mental, financial, physical and emotional well-being.

•  Opportunity  for  hybrid  working  following  completion  of  probationary

period.

Citizens  Advice  Enfield  is  an  equal  opportunities  employer  and  encourages
applications from all applicants who meet the person specification irrespective of
sex,  gender  reassignment,  marriage  or  civil  partnership  status,  pregnancy  and
maternity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, age, or disability.

IMPORTANT
Please note, we do not accept CVs/Cover Letters as a form of application for our
vacancies.  Use the application form that forms part of this job pack and please
read the accompanying notes on how to complete.