Technical Support & Development Officer

at  Dorset Councils

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU:

We are looking for an experienced Revenues and Benefits officer and/or System Support officer, with strong technical aptitude and problem solving skills, to join our friendly and supportive team as a Technical Support & Development officer, undertaking system administration duties, in a Revenues and Benefits environment.
The post is a full-time, permanent role working alongside very busy and hard-working Technical Support & Development Officers. System administration training on the applications in use will be provided.
Do you have experience in working in a Revenues and Benefits environment or in a System supporting role, have meticulous attention to detail, supported by good interpersonal skills, are you motivated by a varied workload, problem solving and helping others and aspire to deliver a first class service then we would like to hear from you.

ABOUT YOU:

The experience, knowledge and skills required for this role are specified in detail in the person specification and within the job description.
You will have demonstrable knowledge of the core services delivered by the Revenues and Benefits team with a keen interest in exploring IT solutions and technology to deliver value for money and improve the customer experience.
Ideally you will have an excellent working knowledge of Housing Benefit, Council Tax or Business Rate software and legislation, and will be experienced in using a document management system. Full system training will be provided.
Ideally you will also be fully conversant with Microsoft Office products and have the ability to learn and understand software packages without guidance. SQL reporting experience would be desirable.
You will be open to meeting the challenges that this varied and interesting post brings, providing careful attention to detail and accuracy when working under pressure and demonstrating knowledge and practical application of IT systems and databases.
You will be able to work positively and efficiently under pressure.
You will be a self-motivated team player who can prioritise tasks, work to deadlines and communicate effectively with others. You will be proficient in handling a wide range of highly sensitive data and have the ability to communicate complex information in easy-to-understand Plain English. You must have excellent communication skills as you will be liaising with a number of different people.
You will be able to analyse, investigate and apply solutions in relation to Revenues and Benefit system related issues, whilst working on multiple projects and tasks with changing priorities.
You will be able to work at a fast pace and have the flexibility to cope with the pressures of changing priorities and tight deadlines.
You will be able to follow instructions, guidelines or procedures, and demonstrate how having these skills allow you to organise your own workload and use your own initiative to achieve our challenging targets and be capable of working with minimum supervision.
You will also be able to work collaboratively, communicate clearly and share knowledge effectively.
This is a full time role at 37 hours per week.
With hybrid working in place, you will be able to work both from home and from the office, with a balance to suit you and us.
This post requires you to have access to sensitive information. It will be subject to a Basic Criminal Records Check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

The Technical Support & Development Team administrate, develop, support and maintain the core Revenues and Benefit applications and users -

• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support
• Housing Benefit Overpayments
• Council Tax
• Business Rates
• Business Rate BID
• Creditor Payment systems
• Document Management systems
• Online Services

This role involves liaising with software providers and system users to continuously improve and develop the use of the applications and ensure that they are used to their full potential enabling the service to meet its statutory responsibilities.
In addition to performing daily and scheduled routine tasks which enable the Revenues and Benefits service to operate effectively, efficiently and accurately, we undertake a variety of ad hoc and statutory projects throughout the year, often to very tight timescales, which can include weekend working. This can involve regular testing of new software or developing system functionality to gain efficiencies, automation, responding to changes in Legislation, routine BACS submissions, Annual Billing and End of Year processes. We are a small, friendly and supportive team, fully collaborative in dealing with any challenges.
We are passionate about working to high standards, providing quality service and ensuring the integrity of the information held on the system database. Your daily work will be varied and often subject to changing demands as the team are impacted by over 100 system users who navigate the complex software systems to administrate Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing Benefit in line with statutory legislation, encompassing a wide geographical area of Dorset.
You will provide support, guidance or training to all system users on software applications or functionality. You will investigate and find solutions for problems that users experience in manipulating the system. Your user experience as a Revenues and Benefits practitioner or Systems officer will ensure this can be delivered in compliance with statutory legislation, policies and procedures, and to the highest standard.
Future development is supported with access to training and development including consideration for professional qualifications. We offer flexible hybrid working, however the successful candidate will be required to work from our office based in Dorchester until a certain level of knowledge and understanding has been achieved through 1:1 training. Following completion of an initial training plan we will discuss the right mix of home and office working in line with service demands.