Financial Assessment Assistant

at  Dorset Council

FURTHER INFORMATION

You will be joining a friendly and supportive team and the role is key in supporting users of social care and their families to understand the financial contribution they may need to make once it has been agreed that they have eligible social care needs. You will be one of three financial assessment assistants who all work closely together, supporting the wider team.
The post is based at County Hall in Dorchester, though the post holder may be able to work from home some of the time if they wish, once they have received their initial training.
Interviews will be held on the 9th of August.
This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.
For further information about the role, please contact Nikki Fowler on nicola.fowler@dorsertcouncil.gov.uk

ABOUT US

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our successYou will:
• have access to a range of employee benefits
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.
We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.
We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.
If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.
We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.
Find out more about how to apply

The financial assessment and benefits team works within adult social care in Dorset. Where a person requires care, they can apply to the Council for financial support if they meet the eligibility criteria. The financial assessment team undertake financial assessment of these individuals and calculate the maximum amount they can afford to contribute towards their care costs.

You will be:

• Booking financial assessments for the financial assessment officers
• Ensuring we have received correctly completed, signed paperwork from members of the public
• Managing spreadsheets of data
• Allocating work to the financial assessment officers
• Working closely with social workers to resolve outstanding issues
• Managing the team email inbox
• Taking calls from members of the public with queries
• Dealing with the post and the printing

This role is critical in helping members of the public to prepare for their financial assessments and ensuring that assessment officers are able to use their time efficiently to assist as many applicants as possible.
You need to be a very organised, self-sufficient person, able to manage your own workload. Although training is given and support is always available, the post holder will be largely expected to manage their own time. This is a very busy role and communication is key, both internally and to the public, whether by email, letter or phone call.