Citizens Advice Caerphilly Blaenau Gwent is one of the largest Citizens Advice services in Wales and across the Citizens Advice network. It delivers multiple services across the counties of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent and a smaller number further afield. Over the last six years it has developed a contact centre in Caerphilly which now accounts for over half its business.
Our main office is in Bargoed and it offers a range of service delivery channels including drop-in sessions, appointments, telephone, letter, and home visits when feasible. We also run weekly outreach services across Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent.
We provide a range of specialist services to help people resolve their debt and welfare benefits problems and provide advice on energy issues. Help to Claim assists people with new Universal Credit claims. Other services target those experiencing mental health issues or living with learning disabilities.
Our Caerphilly office is a 150 seat contact centre that provides a number of services under contract to national Citizens Advice.
What we give our Staff
* We offer an attractive remuneration package with excellent benefits:
* Generous annual leave package
* Hybrid Working (following completion of a successful probationary period)
* Ongoing personal training and development
* 24/7 access to our Employee Assistance Programme, which also offers perks such as high street shopping discounts
* Pension scheme
* Contractual sick pay
* Casual dress code
* Eye care voucher
* Healthy work/life balance
Role Profile
We are looking to recruit a highly motivated and experienced leader to manage, train, develop and motivate a team of Welfare benefits and generalist advisers to deliver multi-channel advice services to people across Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent.
Working with a team that provides advice on a range of issues, your knowledge, skill and enthusiasm for working with people will help your team achieve their potential and provide an excellent client experience whilst meeting our contractual requirements and quality standards.
As the Team Leader, your main duties and responsibilities will be:
* Coach and support team members to ensure they deliver a high-quality advice service in line with Quality of Advice Assessment in Wales, FCA regulations and case management requirements.
* Promote a continuous improvement and best practice approach across the teams liaising with the Service Manager, Quality Supervisor and Training Officer, as appropriate, to support team members' development.
* Inspire and foster a spirit of teamwork and a positive working environment in which staff are enabled to achieve their full potential.
* Ensure that the requisite recording systems are used accurately in order to meet agreed standards set by funders as well as to ensure that reliable performance monitoring reports can be produced.
* Promote and manage an office culture that is energised with effective, open communication.
* Encourage and coach staff to be proactive, accountable and responsible for their development and performance.
* Undertake regular one-to-one meetings and appraisals within set deadlines.
* Drive performance, ensuring delivery against targets, KPIs and advice quality standards.
* Keep track of team members’ performance against targets and address underperformance, issues or training needs as they arise.
* Ensure team members are supported to receive and act upon feedback about quality, including sharing constructive feedback or challenging unfair results.
Volunteer Management
* To lead a team of volunteers to deliver high-quality advice across multiple channels including face-to-face, phone, webchat and video.
* Manage the practicalities of advice sessions/rotas ensuring adequate staffing and resources as required.
* Provide an appropriate level of support and supervision to individual workers depending on their level of competence.
* Ensure the effective performance management and development of volunteers through regular supervision sessions, the appraisal process and learning and development.
* Identify training needs, and liaise with the training lead to ensure needs are met through targeted training.
* Create a positive working environment in which equality and diversity are well managed, dignity at work is upheld and staff perform optimally.
Relationship Management
* Develop and maintain effective, positive relationships with funders and partners.
* Support the management team in producing weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly performance reports relating to the performance of advice services.
* Attend meetings and provide reports to the service manager as required.
* Manage day-to-day queries (from staff and partners) on referral and signposting protocols and processes and escalate issues to the Service Managers as appropriate.
* Ensure that KPIs in relation to external stakeholders are met.
Personal Development and Training
* Identify your own development needs and attend training opportunities whilst contributing towards the organisation’s training and development plan.
* Attend regular support and one-to-one meetings and annual appraisal as required.
* Develop an in-depth understanding of all assigned projects to include recording, feedback, reporting and outcome/output requirements to training and manage staff.
* Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of advice areas and advice practices.
Research and Campaigns
* Ensure that CACBG fulfils its responsibilities with regards to research and campaigns, encouraging advisers to contribute to local and national research and campaigns activities alongside the Research & Campaigns officer.
* Communicate current research and campaigning priorities, initiatives and plans to the advice team.
* Monitor staff contributions to local and national campaigns.
Policies and Procedures
* At all times, promote the aims, principles, policies, interests and wellbeing of the organisation and to protect its integrity and reputation, and to ensure that the service complies with Citizens Advice policy.
Maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries at all times
* To have due regard to health and safety issues in performing your role and to effectively report on health and safety issues when they arise.
Other duties
* Carry out other tasks that may be within the scope of the post to ensure the effective delivery and development of the service.
Person specification
Essential
* Supervisory experience supporting a team providing advice on a range of topics.
* Effective people management skills to motivate, encourage, support and coach staff and volunteers to achieve their potential.
* Ability to create a positive working environment in which equality and diversity are celebrated.
* Experience of conducting quality checks/file reviews, assessing quality of advice and giving feedback.
* Ability to give and receive feedback objectively and sensitively.
* Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
* Excellent time management skills with the ability to work to deadlines.
* Excellent decision making, organisational and problem-solving skills.
* The ability to network effectively with a range of stakeholders and to represent Citizens Advice.
* The ability to understand organisational priorities and to work towards achieving agreed objectives.
Desirable
* Experience of working within an advice and information organisation within the third/charity sector.
* Understanding of, and commitment to, the aims and principles of the Citizens Advice Service in which equality and diversity is embedded throughout.
* In accordance with Citizens Advice national policy we may require the successful candidate to be screened by the DBS. However, a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to your being able to take up the job.
How to apply
Submit your CV and a cover letter telling us why you are interested in the role and how you meet the person specification, no later than 5pm on 10th January 2025.
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