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Recruitment pack

Post Title: Administrator Date: September 2019

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Contents:

Introduction from Kate Algate, Chief Executive Page 3

Our Values Page 4

About Citizens Advice CoventryPage 4

Terms and Conditions Page 6

How to Apply Page 8

Selection Process Page 9

Job Description & Person SpecificationPage 10

Introduction from Kate Algate, Chief Executive

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Thank you for taking the time to consider applying for a job at Coventry Citizens Advice. We are one of the largest Citizens Advice organisations in the country, helping around 20,000 people per year to make society fairer. We do that with each client, helping people solve their individual problems, and by influencing how the policies of the local authority, government and the private sector impact on our clients.

The world is changing quickly. Most people’s incomes haven’t grown for years or are being squeezed by inflation and welfare reform. Many people are struggling to pay back debts and tackle employment, family, consumer, housing and other issues.

We have been able to re-invent our services and develop many innovative models of service delivery that improve access to the citizens that we serve. We have also explored ways to prevent problems from happening through early referrals from housing providers and utility companies, through our campaigning work and through providing new tenants with practical support and money skills.

We are always looking for ways to improve our services and work more closely with partners. This means new opportunities to experiment locally through co-design and partnerships across a range of different sectors.

Looking ahead, there are some huge challenges for our clients and our service. Perhaps the biggest of these is the introduction of Universal Credit alongside further welfare reforms. Coventry Citizens Advice is always at the front line as these are rolled out and thousands will rely on our support.

Most importantly our clients increasingly need our help to access our services through different channels. We will draw on our strengths, including our extraordinary local reach and awareness, high satisfaction rates, dedicated volunteer and staff base and high quality services that change the lives of thousands of people each year.

Thank you for your interest in joining Coventry Citizens Advice at what is a very exciting time for us. We look forward to receiving your application.

Our Values:

Our core values as an organisation are: Professional, Accessible, Innovative and Empowering. We look to embed them in every aspect of the work we do, how we behave and how we support each other. Together we ensure that our values are brought into behaviours that we demonstrate every day so that we can offer the best possible service to our clients.

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ProfessionalWe are passionate about delivering high quality services. We take ownership, we keep promises and we show our integrity.

We take individual ownership for our own performance and continuing development.

We take responsibility for our actions and decisions. We have a strong commitment to the success of Coventry Citizens

Advice and we inspire others to do the same. We exercise sound judgement by being realistic and inventive.

AccessibleWe are open, we communicate and we listen to each other.

We communicate openly. We value difference and respect others. We listen to each other, to partners and the communities that we

serve. We make sure our services meet the needs of the people of

Coventry.

InnovativeWe keep questioning and thinking in order to improve the way we do things.

We welcome fresh ideas and we test new ways of working. We are more creative through having diverse teams and skills. We challenge fairly and maturely and work together to improve our

services.

EmpoweringWe take responsibility and support each other to deliver the best possible service.

We encourage leadership through every level of the organisation. We treat colleagues, clients and partners with respect. We support each other in developing skills and knowledge. We anticipate change and work through changes together.

About Coventry Citizens AdviceCoventry Citizens Advice is a progressive organisation that has been able to continually innovate and develop new services over the course of recent years when public and charitable funding has been much reduced. Coventry Citizens Advice has been able to demonstrate excellence in a number of areas and been commended for its volunteer training, information service and partnership working. We are multi, local and national award winners in areas of Research & Campaigning, Service Development and Money Advice.

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Coventry Citizens Advice has a Trustee Board of 9 people, all of whom bring professional skills and knowledge of the city and are responsible for setting the strategy and budget for the service. Day to day responsibility for the running of the organisation sits with the Chief Executive who, alongside the Operations Director, oversees the day-to-day running of local Citizens Advice office services. The organisation has around 75 paid members of staff and is proud to have in excess of 60 volunteers working for it in some capacity throughout the course of the week.Our busy core service operates on a daily basis and deals with around 40 people a day. Clients can also contact for advice on line and on the telephone and can expect to have their enquiry dealt with within 3 working days through our www.advicebuddy.org service.In recent times, the organisation service has embarked on exciting partnerships with a range of private sector organisations such as Severn Trent Water in launching the Big Difference Scheme which helps vulnerable customers of Severn Trent Water access discounts and money advice. We work with a range of energy and power suppliers to offer energy advice and support, and with banks to help increase digital inclusion. We continue to work with existing and new partners across all three sectors to deliver quality services to the most vulnerable in our society such as an Integration Project to support refugees, a holistic service with emphasis on benefits and debt advice project in foodbanks, advice and information to young people in need and housing projects to help those out of crisis.

We aim to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.

We provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.

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Other benefits

We also offer a range of additional benefits:

Childcare Voucher Scheme Bike to Work Scheme Flexible working arrangements Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies Regular professional development Health & Wellbeing services provided through Occupational Health Free eye tests and contribution towards lenses/spectacles for

Computer users if appropriate

Security Clearance

Any offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory completion of a security and pre-employment checks. Further information about the security checking procedure is available on request.

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Health Clearance

Any offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory completion of a Health Questionnaire and should you disclose any health issues, then any offer of employment will be subject to a satisfactory assessment by Occupational Health.

Nationality and Immigration Control

This post is open to Nationals of States within the British Commonwealth and the European Economic Area (EEA). There must be no employment restriction or time limit on your permitted stay in the UK.

How to Apply

Instructions

The closing date for applications is: Friday 27 September at 5pm 2019

Interviews: to be held on Tuesday 8 October 2019 (In the event that you are shortlisted, you will need to be available on this date)

Coventry Citizens Advice interviews will draw out the skills and competencies required for each role. As part of our recruitment process for this role, we will ask you to undertake a Technical Test on the day of the interview, the details of which you will receive on the day. We will use the Technical Test as part of the overall scoring for the recruitment process and consider the score an integral part of our decision making.

Please complete the Application Form, ensuring that you answer every question, and that your personal statement addresses each element of the Person Specification outlined in the Job Description in no more than 200 words per point.

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Please email your application to:

hbarber@coventrycab.org.uk

If you are unable to make an electronic application, you may submit your application on paper and post to:

Helen BarberCoventry Citizens AdviceKirby HouseLittle Park StreetCoventryCV1 2JZ

Please ensure your application arrives before the deadline.

Selection Process

After the closing date we will consider all applications carefully and invite those candidates who appear, from the information available, to be the best-suited for the post to interview.

It is important therefore that your application gives a full but concise description of the nature, extent and level of the responsibilities you have held.

If selected, details of the interview process will be sent to you by email or letter.

Expenses

We will refund travelling costs at the rate of a standard rail fare for the journey, or mileage rates as follows: Cars, 25p per mile.

Please note that proof of purchase will be required for all public transport expenses. We cannot cover the costs of an overnight stay.

Data Protection

We will use your application only to inform the selection process. Applications are kept on record for 12 months after

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which we will destroy it. If you are successful, it will form the basis of your personnel record with us and we will store it in a manual file. We will hold any data about you in completely secure conditions with restricted access.

We will include data that you provide on the diversity monitoring form in a general database for statistical monitoring purposes only enabling us to monitor our effectiveness of our policy on Equal Opportunities and Employment. Individuals will not be identified by name.

We shall consider that by submitting the enclosed forms you are giving your consent to the processing of your data in the ways described above.

Religious Divergence

We respect the diversity of our employees and that they come from a variety of religious backgrounds. Our policy is to respect all religious faiths and we will, where reasonably practical, be supportive when staff want to follow their regular practices connected with their religion.

Job Description & Person Specification

Job Title: Administrator

Salary: Scale 4 (SP 18-21) £18,249 - £20,338 (pro rata)

Hours: 30 per week (open to negotiation/jobshare)

Contract: Fixed term, initially till 31 March 2020 with likely 6 month extension subject to confirmation by funder

Responsible to: Joanne Adams- Project Manager

Employed by: Coventry Citizens Advice

Based at: Kirby House, Little Park Street, Coventry, CV1 2JZ

Role purpose

To help Coventry Citizens Advice (CCA) deliver its Charitable Objectives by working with the Project Manager, Senior Caseworkers and Generalist Caseworkers to deliver effective specialist and generalist casework principles and practices and embed them throughout the service. To

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provide effective administrative and clerical support to ensure the efficient operation of CCA.

To provide administrative support for Senior Caseworkers, Generalist Caseworkers, Training Support Officer and Project Manager who deliver specialist and generalist advice and casework with particular focus on Universal Credit and financial capability.

Main Responsibilities

• To provide administrative, secretarial, reception and research support to CCA.

• To act as central co-ordination and data collection point for the service team.

• To ensure that all team meetings, training, supervisions and appraisals are programmed in a central diary and have appropriate administration needs met.

• To maintain client files in an agreed format and in line with information assurance and data protections policies and procedures.

• To support the maintenance of detailed case records for the purpose of supervision, retrieval, statistical monitoring and audit.

• To assist in the preparation of monthly statistical reports and other reports as required.

• To support appointment arrangements and referral processes across all service access points.

• Responsible for taking minutes and circulation.• Work with the Project Manager to identify ways in which to improve

the administration of the service and to actively contribute to the development of CCA.

• Engage in continuous development of skills as Administrator.• Contribute to Citizens Advice’s research and campaigns work by

supporting the submission of case studies and feedback on issues of concern.

• Keep up to date with relevant policies and procedures.• Develop good teamwork between project staff and volunteers and

other colleagues across the service to develop culture and behaviours in line with CCA values as ‘one service’.

• The above list of job duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post. Job descriptions should be regularly reviewed to ensure they are an accurate representation of the post.

Other duties and responsibilities

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• Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues.

• Respect confidentiality at all times to ensure that all staff, volunteers and clients are treated fairly to comply with Equal Opportunities Policy.

• Comply with all aspects of Citizens Advice Membership Scheme.• Work with other members of staff and volunteers to promote the

work of CCA.• Comply with CCAs policies and procedures including ensuring that

the service is GDPR compliant.

Person Specification:

CRITERIA

ESSENTIAL

1. Demonstrate competence in use of multi channels (telephone/email/web).

2. Excellent knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite particularly Word, Excel and Outlook and experience of using databases.

3. The ability to prioritise tasks, and identify and work to deadlines and to manage time effectively under own initiative.

4. Excellent telephone manner.

5. Ability to take and transcribe accurate minutes.

6. Strong understanding and empathy with people experiencing difficult circumstances and potential hardship and an understanding of the need for confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach to advice provision.

7. Ability to build rapport quickly with clients who may be vulnerable and distressed at times.

8. Effective oral and written communication skills.

9. Good numeracy skills to support administrative tasks around statistical reports, research, analyse and interpret information.

10. Ability to work as part of a team and in partnership to ensure effective delivery of the project across a wide geography.

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11. IT and keyboard skills for case recording and statistics.

12. Audio-typing skillsDESIRABLE

1. At least one years’ experience in administration work (paid or volunteering) within the last three years.

2. Recent work experience within a Local Citizens Advice.

3. Understanding of and commitment to the aims and principles of the Citizens Advice service and its equal opportunities policies.

4. Have experience of using CRM Casebook.

5. Be available to work occasional evenings and weekends within the hours of the post.

6. Knowledge of GDPR.