Job Title: Housing Officer - Sandwell PFI
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: £34,776.35 per annum (£38,2622.47 is achieved after 12 months successful performance in the role)
Working Hours: Full Time – 35 Hours
Working Pattern: Monday - Friday
Role Type: Hybrid/Located (As service requires 2/3 days per week)
Location: Hawthorn Fields Neighbourhood Office, St Vincent Crescent, West Bromwich B70 0LG
If you share our values and are excited about making a significant impact at Riverside, please ensure you attach a current CV and covering letter. At Riverside we recruit to potential not just on skills and experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the essential criteria on the job description.
Please note that whilst we will accept applications on the basis of any form of valid legal permission to work in the UK, we will be surrendering the Riverside Sponsorship licence, so for the avoidance of doubt, we are unable to apply for any further sponsorships whether on behalf of existing colleagues or candidates.
The difference you will make as a Housing Officer - Sandwell PFI
The principal frontline worker will maximise the economic viability, social sustainability and self sufficiency of the tenancies in their patch through targeted support, services and action, establishing and maintaining strong relationships with customers, acting as an ‘Account Manager’, advocating for the customer to ensure that other teams are providing services to the expected level. Delivered through flexible, self-led and resourceful processes that enables the front line worker to put customer first.
You will supervise the delivery of a high-quality, compliant, customer-focused housing management service across a defined patch of general needs homes and a small portfolio of leaseholder properties. The postholder is accountable for day-to-day operational performance across tenancy management, estate management, income and arrears activity, ASB casework, customer experience/ complaints handling, cash office duties, and local partnership working – ensuring services align with Riverside policies, the Sandwell PFI contract requirements, the Local Authority and current regulatory standards.
About you
We are looking for someone with:
• Proven experience delivering front-line housing management services in a social/ affordable housing environment.
• Working knowledge of key housing management areas: tenancy management, estate management, ASB, income/ arrears escalation, and customer service.
• Demonstratable understanding of operating in a regulated environment, including applying policy, maintaining clear records, and responding to complaints effectively.
Why Riverside?
At Riverside, we’re a housing association with a difference – enhancing the everyday for all our customers. For 90 years, we’ve been revitalising neighbourhoods and supporting communities by providing the homes they need to live full, fulfilling and rewarding lives.
We have a portfolio of over 75,000 affordable residential and retirement homes across the UK. Our work ranges from homelessness services to social care, employment support to retirement living, and we need the best people on board to help us.
Working with us, you’ll enjoy:
• Competitive pay & generous pension
• 28 days holidays plus bank holidays
• Flexible working options available
• Investment in your learning, personal development and technology
• A wide range of benefits
Diversity and Inclusion at Riverside:
We are inclusive. At Riverside, we value diversity in all its forms. We foster a workplace where all individuals are respected, empowered, and heard. Our commitment to inclusivity drives our success and enriches the lives of our customers and colleagues.
Riverside is a Disability Confident Employer and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for any applicant who declares they have a disability. If the applicant meets the minimum requirements for the role (as set out in the role profile and/or person specification) they will be guaranteed an interview.
Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to be considered.
Role Profile
The principal frontline worker will maximise the economic viability, social sustainability and self sufficiency of the tenancies in their patch through targeted support, services and action, establishing and maintaining strong relationships with customers, acting as an ‘Account Manager’, advocating for the customer to ensure that other teams are providing services to the expected level. Delivered through flexible, self-led and resourceful processes that enables the front line worker to put customer first.
The postholder is accountable for day-to-day operational performance across tenancy management, estate management, income and arrears activity, ASB casework, customer experience/ complaints handling, cash office duties, and local partnership working – ensuring services align with Riverside policies, the Sandwell PFI contract requirements, the Local Authority and current regulatory standards.
• Accountable for maximising and increasing income collection, working in partnership with the PFI Income Management Team to ensure good payment practices are established from tenancy start, support customers with benefit claims, signposting for advice and carrying out home visits during arrears pursuance process.
• Work operationally alongside the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) with court action. Represent Riverside in Court as required for cases brought against customers within your designated area, ensuring cases are progressed in a timely and effective manner and that relevant internal stakeholders are updated on key developments and outcomes throughout the process.
• Act as an “Account Manager” for the customer and property, be responsible for identifying issues which can be resolved with early intervention, be responsible for liaising with internal & external stakeholders to ensure services and actions are effective and efficient to build lasting, satisfactory and sustainable tenancies.
• Provide a visible neighbourhood presence by carrying out home visits, raising repairs, identifying damp and mould in line with Awaab’s Law, completing PCFRA and RPEEP referrals in high rise blocks, and working with partners to make sure customers are safe, supported, and able to sustain their tenancy.
• You will have a key role in safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk, in line with Riverside’s policies and statutory duties. You will be expected to recognise and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns, maintain professional boundaries, and work with internal teams and partner agencies to support safe and effective outcomes for customers. Completion of mandatory safeguarding training and adherence to Riverside’s safeguarding procedures is essential.
• Accountable for ‘patch profitability’, minimising void rent loss, identify cash leakage, working in partnership with Shared Service colleagues to carry out inspections, property viewings and managing tenancy signups and new tenancy visits.
• Manage a delegated discretionary budget, making decisions regarding the allocation of your budget, ensuring Group financial controls are adhered to robustly and effectively.
• Provide quality assurance for all communal areas in your patch, escalating contracted service failures to the relevant contract owner for resolution, and resolving other issues using the relevant procedure.
• Manage and oversee anti-social behaviour (ASB) cases within your patch, ensuring timely responses, appropriate risk assessments, and proportionate interventions in line with policy and contractual requirements. Work collaboratively with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) and partner agencies to resolve cases, share relevant information appropriately and escalate complex or high-risk cases where required to ensure community safety and tenancy sustainment.
• Manage and process medical, overcrowding and housing transfer applications, ensuring assessments are completed accurately, decisions are evidence based and cases are progressed in line with Riverside policy, local authority frameworks and agreed timescales. Provide clear advice to customers, manage expectations and maintain accurate records throughout the process.
• Oversee and facilitate mutual exchange applications, completing all required tenancy, statutory and property checks, arranging inspections where required and ensuring decisions are communicated clearly and within policy timescales. Work collaboratively with internal teams and external landlords to ensure exchanges are progressed efficiently and tenancy standards are protected.
• Deliver proactive estate management, including carrying out estate inspections, addressing environmental concerns, monitoring communal areas and escalating issues to appropriate teams.
• Manage decant processes where required, including assessing suitability, arranging temporary accommodation, coordinating with internal teams and contractors, and maintaining clear communication with tenants throughout. Ensure all decants are delivered in line with policy, health and safety requirements and minimise disruption to tenants.
• Ensure all works and service delivery are carried out in accordance with agreed method statements, policies, and procedures. Monitor performance against contractual KPIs, escalating any risks or non-compliance and working with relevant teams and contractors to drive timely resolution.
Cash Office
• Ensure safe and complaint delivery of cash/ transactional duties (e.g. receipting, balancing, secure storage, banking arrangements, audit trail, segregation of duties) in line with Sandwell Council financial controls.
• Monitor adherence, address variances promptly and sure the team is trained and scheduled to maintain service continuity.
• Act as designated cash supervisor, attending the office from 08:45am at least twice per week, to enable the cash facility for cashiering activities and remaining on site until 5:30pm to complete cash reconciliation and securely transfer monies to the approved security provider. Maintain oversight of financial controls, ensuring compliance with organisational procedures and audit requirements. For the remaining working days, operate with flexibility regarding work location; however, where staffing levels are reduced or service resilience is at risk, the postholder is expected to prioritise on-site presence and provide operational cover to maintain continuity of service.
Other Duties
• You will undertake regular training to enable you to deliver your role safely.
• From time to time you may be required to undertake additional duties and responsibilities of an equivalent nature, in consultation with your Line Manager.
• Commission, direct and influence other teams as appropriate to resolve low level anti social behaviour issues, hate crimes, domestic abuse and matters impacting community cohesion, escalating complex cases to the SMBC Anti Social Behaviour Team to support collaborative multi agency working.
• Maximise the use of mobile technology to ensure the provision of an efficient and proactive customer service to customers.
• Champion and promote usage of the online self-service facility, to contribute to ongoing financial efficiencies across the Group by reducing the demand on front line resources.
• Work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to deliver customer involvement objectives and stakeholder management within a specified area, attending community meetings where relevant to the Group and its customers.
• Build effective and strong relationships with customers, identify customer’s needs and aspirations, provide targeted support and use of customer intelligence to drive tenancy sustainability.
• Provide clear, supportive and accurate social housing advice to customers, colleagues and other stakeholders, including signposting where appropriate, to ensure awareness of the service and the effective progression and resolution of cases.
• Act as an advocate for customers, both internally and externally where appropriate to ensure their expectations are maintained and they are receiving the appropriate levels of service.
• Work with customers to minimise and resolve issues and complaints, liaising with the Customer Complaints Team to resolve escalated complaints as required.
• Promote opportunities for customers to engage with and be involved in key decision making through our customer involvement function, to ensure the delivery of a service that meets their needs.
• Work with regional colleagues, providing local intelligence on neighbourhood level issues to contribute to the regional planning process.
• Ensure internal business processes are followed in line with the Group’s policy, procedures and statutory requirements.
• Maintain accurate records using appropriate systems, ensuring the integrity and quality of Social Housing service data, to enable regular analysis to be carried out and reporting to be completed as required.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of processes and procedures.
• Accountable for organising your own work, priorities and objectives to meet the organisational goals, with the focus being “self-led” with customers need and requirements at the forefront to improve the areas for which you are responsible for.
• Respond flexibly to any necessary changes in work priorities and undertake other duties when required to support the effective operation of the service.
• Build relationships with local stakeholders in order to foster partnership working to deliver shared neighbourhood improvement.
• Ensure that all data protection requirements are met in accordance with the Group’s policy, procedures and statutory requirements.
• Ensure that health and safety requirements are met in accordance with the Group’s policy, procedures and statutory requirements.
Additional Information
• The role will be exposed to sensitive information; therefore, the role holder is expected to maintain levels of confidentiality at all times.
• In order to fulfil the requirements of this role, you will be required to work flexibly during the hours of operation.
• The role holder is expected to be committed to equal opportunities and to promote non-discriminatory practices in all aspects of work undertaken.
• Some evening and weekend work will be required; this will be planned in advance where possible in line with service demands.
Riverside is one of the UK’s leading not-for-profit social housing and regeneration organisations, owning or managing around 75,000 homes from Irvine to Kent. We are a leading provider of supported housing services, particularly for those affected by homelessness, and our track record of transforming lives and revitalising neighbourhoods dates back over 90 years. We have plans to build over 15,000 affordable homes over the next decade.
