Macmillan Welfare Benefits Caseworker

Citizens Advice West Northants & Cherwell (CAWNAC) delivers advice across West Northamptonshire and Cherwell and further afield in respect of some of our projects. 

The Macmillan Welfare Benefits project is funded by the Macmillan cancer charity and provides Money Advice to people (or their carers/families) who have a cancer diagnosis. 

You will have lots of support from an experienced and friendly team and you will be responsible for managing your own caseload and achieving agreed project  KPIs.

The enquiry area that you will deal with predominantly is benefits advice and benefits casework. You can call on wider, specialist teams to address more specialist issues.

The role

Reporting to the Benefits and Generalist Group Manager, you will:

• Provide a full welfare benefits casework service for people  affected by cancer, including disability benefits and other sources  of financial support such as grants and help with health and travel  costs. 

• Liaise and negotiate with other statutory and voluntary  organisations to progress the clients case and ensure they receive  all assistance available. 

• Maintain detailed case records for the purpose of  continuity of case work and information retrieval in line with the  requirements of Citizens Advice and Macmillan Cancer Relief.  

• Refer clients on to colleagues or other agencies as appropriate for  specialist help with issues that fall outside the remit of the service,  including housing, debt and employment.

• Provide advice and information on welfare benefits and other  sources of financial help to health and social care professionals  working with the client group. 

• To provide cancer-specific benefits awareness training to  colleagues and other health and social care professionals working  with the client group.  

• To support Macmillan/Citizens Advice’s social policy work by  providing case studies, and feedback on issues of concern to  people affected by cancer.

Professional development

• Keep up to date with legislation, policies and procedures and  undertake appropriate training.  

• Read relevant publications.  

• Attend relevant internal and external meetings as agreed with the  line manager.  

• Prepare for and attend supervision sessions/team  meetings/management team meetings as appropriate. 

• Assist with Service initiatives for the improvement of services. 

Person specification

Essential Criteria 

• At least two years’ experience of advice work  

• Demonstrable in-depth knowledge of welfare benefits including  those related to disability and sickness

• Proven ability to work sensitively with a diverse range of clients  

• An understanding of the issues involved in interviewing clients,  particularly clients for whom English is not their main language, and  who may be experiencing stress and anxiety  

• Good professional boundaries and emotional resilience when faced with complex and potentially life threatening situations  

• An ordered approach to casework and an ability to follow set procedures concerning casework and file management etc.

• Ability to use IT in the provision of advice and the preparation of reports and submissions. 

• Good oral communication skills with particular emphasis on  negotiation and representation skills on the telephone. 

• Ability to communicate effectively in writing with particular emphasis on negotiation and representation skills and on preparing reviews, reports and correspondence. 

• Numeracy skills required to understand statistics and check calculations. 

Desirable Criteria

• An understanding of the issues facing people affected by long-term  illness and disability.  

• Ability to monitor and maintain own work to comply with set standards.  

• An understanding of and commitment to the Aims and Principles of  the Citizens Advice service including the services Equal Opportunities policies. 

• Ability to work independently without close supervision, to  prioritise own work, meet deadlines whilst contributing to the wider  Citizens Advice team 

• Knowledge of or willingness to gain an understanding of Macmillan services and policies. 

What's in it for you:

Salary:          £24,457 pa pro rata

Hours:           22.2h/week

Pension:        We offer an auto-enrolment workplace pension scheme, details on appointment

Holiday:        23 days pro rata plus Bank Holidays pro rata.  This means your holiday is calculated based on the number of   hours you work.  We operate a closedown between Christmas and New Year when you are required to take leave. 

Contract:     Fixed Term end 31/12/2025

Based at:     Home & office/medical locations in West Northants 

Expenses:   Travel expenses are reimbursed from home address