Job profile for Senior Revenues Officer

Job Details

Job title: Senior Revenues Officer

Salary/Grade: Grade 4

Service: Financial Services

Reports to: Recovery & Revenues Manager

Manages/Supervises: Support to the Revenues & Recovery Manager, with day to day management of Revenue Officers including some line management responsibilities

Job purpose

To support the Recovery and Revenues Manager to deliver and develop a full Recovery and Revenues Service for the Council.
To ensure the full functionality of all Revenue and Recovery processes and procedures, including attending and representing the Council in Court/ Tribunal proceedings.
To conduct the functions and processes required for the accurate maintenance of the Revenues database and to provide guidance and supervision of other staff within the team.
To ensure the timely issue of demands and invoices in respect of Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debtors.

Principal Accountabilities

Provide day to day management of Revenue Officers. The post holder will be expected to undertake line management responsibilities for nominated officers depending on the focus area within overall functions of the Revenues Service

To undertake functions across the Revenues Service in conjunction with the other Senior Revenues Officers, as directed, and which may include:

Preparation and presentation at Magistrates Court in connection with obtaining Liability Orders for Council Tax and Business Rates and BID levy.
Preparation and presentation at Valuation Tribunal.
Responsible for ensuring timely and accurate processing of enforcement agents Batch Importing, Refunds, Automated Direct Debit Amendment and Cancellation Service (ADDACS), and Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) files for Council Tax, Business rates and Sundry Debtors, ensuring that accounts are kept up to date.
Preparation and Processing of Recovery functionality to ensure prompt collection of Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debtors, to include charging orders and Insolvency functions.
Responsibility for co-ordinating and responding to Freedom of Information requests.
Completing Government report and returns, providing information to the Recovery and Revenues manager and/or co-ordination and completion of reports/returns as required, including those submitted through the Government’s on-line reporting system (e.g. DELTA)
To be responsible for the testing and reconciliation of system updates and to work with the Recovery and Revenues Manager and Systems Control team to ensure correct implementation.
Maintain the Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debtors person/property database, ensuring that it is accurate in accordance with all current information. To work with the Revenues & Manager to ensure work is prioritised and workloads are effectively distributed and managed.
To manage and process all reliefs, discounts and exemptions in Council Tax and Business Rates.
Maintain and co-ordinate the inspections of properties to ensure the Council Tax and Business Rates of new properties are reported to the VOA in a timely manner. To liaise with the VOA and any other agencies or departments.
Ensure processes for the Sundry Debtor system are maintained in an accurate and timely manner.
To be responsible for work allocation on a daily rota basis, using the Civica Workflow system
To coach and support the development of Revenue Assistants/Officers.
To deputise for the Revenues and Recovery Manager as required in their absence including management of the team.
To work with the Revenues and Recovery Manager to undertake ongoing development of the Revenues system including any new development work for changes in regulations and any other Government initiatives or schemes.
To ensure the proper checks, reconciliation, and post payment assurance procedures are undertaken where the service is required to distribute or allocate funding on behalf of government or another third party.
To provide support and guidance to the Revenues Officers, dealing with general and complex telephone and counter enquiries, processing correspondence and issuing and despatching demand notices, statements and other correspondence

Corporate Accountabilities

To take responsibility for maintaining own health and attendance.
To support, contribute and comply with quality and governance procedures as directed by management.
To apply and actively promote the principles of the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy in all areas of employment and service delivery.
To apply and actively promote the principles of the Council’s Safeguarding Procedure in all areas of employment and service delivery.
Any other duties as required to support the business, including maintaining business continuity and during civil emergencies. All staff may on occasions be called upon to support the Council to deal with emergency situations affecting the community we serve. In the event of an emergency or a rehearsal for such an event, you may be required to attend at times and at locations outside of the normal hours and duties of the post and to adopt duties directed by the Chief Executive or their nominated representative for the duration of the emergency.
Any other associated duties detailed by Head of Service or his representative.
To advise Line manager if, at any time, the above duties and responsibilities cannot be performed.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

(Tested at application and interview stage)

Experience and Qualifications

IRRV qualification
Experience of attending Magistrate Court hearings & Valuation Tribunals
Extensive experience of working in a Revenues environment dealing with Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debtors
Experience of BACS processes and requirements in relation to collection of income through Direct Debits and payments made using Direct Credits
Proven experience of dealing with ratepayers and other business customers
Experience of supervising teams and work allocation, ideally with a related qualification (e.g. NVQ Leader/Supervisor)

Skills and Knowledge

Detailed knowledge and understanding of Council Tax and Business Rates legislation
Understanding of the Magistrates Court rules and Valuation Tribunal procedures
Detailed knowledge and understanding of Revenues systems.
Proven ability to work as part of a team
Previous knowledge of dealing with customer enquiries, including those of a complex nature, in-person, by telephone, or in writing
Strong aptitude for using IT and MS Office based applications
Excellent communication skills.
Ability to build effective working relationships.
Excellent administration & organisation skills.
Able to use own initiative and work independently
Willingness to take ownership of duties and responsibilities.
Understanding of and commitment to maintaining confidentiality and dealing with sensitive information.

Competencies

(Tested at interview stage)

Communicating Effectively

Demonstrate the effective use of the range of communication methods available: written, spoken, electronic, and use these methods in appropriate ways suitable to the context and situation

Present spoken communication in a polite, friendly and respectful manner seeking to ensure mutual understanding
Listen well and seek clarification and understanding, avoiding jumping to conclusions or making assumptions
Present information and ideas in a clear and understandable way which avoids jargon
Seek to understand the communication needs of colleagues and customers, being mindful of equality issues and the diverse needs of the range of people we work with
Choose the most appropriate method of communication for the situation, seeking to avoid using one fixed style or approach

Performing Efficiently and Effectively

Promote good performance, developing clear, structured and efficient ways of managing workload and delivering results. Staff should challenge themselves and others to perform well, and to adhere to the Council’s performance management systems

Ensure that all work carried out by you is in line with business and service plans and supports the overall aims and ambition of the Council
Plan your workload effectively, reporting achievements and problems to appropriate managers and project leaders
See tasks and objectives through to completion
Approach challenges with drive and enthusiasm
Strive for continuous improvement in your work and manage your learning and development to enable you to perform to the best of your ability
Create novel solutions to improve services and ways of working and challenge conventional practices
Seek out income generating opportunities and efficiencies and aim to provide more for less to achieve the best possible value and high standards of service delivery
Be enthusiastic about the Council’s services and look for opportunities to promote and sell them

Using and Managing Resources Efficiently and Effectively

Demonstrate the effective and efficient use of the full range of resources used in and by the Council including time, finances, staffing, equipment, information, materials, buildings, etc.

Take responsibility for managing your time, seeking efficient ways to carry out your work, maximising your output and minimising wastage
Use and acquire materials effectively and efficiently minimising wastage, recycling where possible, and striving for cost effectiveness
Seek out ways to improve the use of resources

Engaging with the Customer

Understand the needs and requirements of their customers, to provide excellent customer service, and to involve customers in the improvement of services

Provide a helpful and friendly service to customers, both internally and externally
Take responsibility for following up on enquiries and solving customer issues
Make efforts to fully understand the customer’s needs and avoid assuming that “we know best”
Ensure that you have a full understanding of the needs and requirements of the customer
Seek feedback from internal and external customers on the effectiveness and efficiency of the service you provide

Working well Together

Actively foster good working relationships with colleagues and customers in order to collectively achieve the Council’s direction and ambition

Co-operate and work well with colleagues at all levels of the organisation, seeking collective responsibility for the achievement of goals
Demonstrate consideration and respect for other’s feelings and opinions and avoid judging and making assumptions
Maintain positive working relationships with external contacts in order to maintain the reputation of the Council
Seek to actively solve problems and avoid passing the issue on to others or leaving the problem unresolved
Demonstrate self-awareness of your style of working and develop flexibility and adaptability in order to work well with others

Other conditions

This post doesn't require a DBS check
This post is not politically restricted

Job profile updated
June 2024

Values and behaviours

Our values and behaviours are an integral part of who we are; they are the guiding principles that should inform how we work together, support each other and make decisions.

Our organisation thrives on the dedication and passion of its people and it’s important that we embody these values and behaviours and they become a part of our organisational DNA.

Our vision

We will be ambitious, support each other and work together in new ways to achieve outstanding results

Our core values

We value everyone

We respect, recognise and support our people, residents and businesses
We listen to each other, understand and treat everyone fairly
We care about our people and appreciate the unique qualities in us all

We work together

We respect, recognise and support our people, residents and businesses
We work as one team, recognising everyone's contribution
We build strong relationships and partnerships to deliver better outcomes

We are flexible

We embrace change and new ways of working
We are adaptable, open to new ideas and focus on solutions
We aim to constantly improve, and we are not afraid to challenge the status quo