SUMMARY OF MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

The Highland Macmillan CAB Partnership, established in 2004, provides a welfare benefits advice service across the Highland region (excluding Lochaber) to people affected by cancer and their families. Based at Raigmore Hospital, our award winning team works alongside the Macmillan Person Centred Care Project and other professionals, such as Clinical Nurse Specialists and GPs, to provide holistic, high quality advice and assistance to our clients at any point in their cancer journey.

We are seeking to recruit an additional welfare benefits caseworker to join our friendly team.

The successful candidate will provide holistic advice to our clients on a range of welfare benefits issues, offer advice and information to maximise their income and ensure they are receiving the correct entitlements. This will include conducting full benefit checks, carrying out better-off calculations, assisting with revisions, supersessions and appeals of benefit decisions and also assisting client to navigate their benefit claims. The role will require the candidate to provide advice on all areas of entitlements for clients such as energy, grant applications or assistance with health costs for example. The post will require someone who has in-depth experience or understanding of the benefits system, ideally in provision of advice, information and representation.

This role will suit a resilient and empathetic person who is able to work under pressure but enjoys the challenges of advice delivery and is able to work in a non-judgmental and impartial, confidential manner.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1) Service Provision

• Provide a full welfare benefits casework service to people affected by cancer, including UK and Scottish disability benefits, and other sources of financial support, such as charitable grants, energy advice and help with health and travel costs.
• Assist clients to prepare for benefit appeals and provide representation at Tribunals as required.
• Liaise and negotiate with other statutory and voluntary organisations to progress the client’s case and ensure they receive all assistance available.
• Ensure that all work conforms to the bureau's Quality Standards at the appropriate level.
• Assume responsibility for the day-to-day management, maintenance and prioritising of own case load.
• Maintain, to a high standard, detailed (computerised) case records for the purpose of continuity of case work, statistical monitoring, information retrieval and report preparation in line with the requirements of Citizens Advice Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support.
• 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, information and cancer-specific benefits awareness training to colleagues and other health and social care professionals working with the client group as required.
• Support Citizens Advice Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support’s social policy work by providing case studies and feedback on issues of concern for people affected by cancer.

2) Service Design and Development

• Gather statistics and feedback in order to monitor and evaluate the service, provide information to the Health Projects Manager for reports to advisory groups, funders and partners.
• Assist with initiatives for the improvement of services to people affected by cancer
• Develop working relationships with health professionals supporting the client group
• Network with other professionals in the advice work field
• Represent the project at meetings with other agencies as appropriate

3) Professional Development

• Maintain an up to date knowledge of the benefits system and policies and procedures relevant to the post.
• Identify your own personal strengths and weaknesses, including identifying personal training needs, and attending in-house and external training courses and meetings as appropriate
• Undertake training and personal development in order to develop skills and increase knowledge and understanding of cancer and its treatments, and its impact on people affected by cancer and their ability to access financial help.
• Prepare for and participate in internal team meetings, supervision and appraisals.

4) Adherence to Citizens Advice Scotland Policies and Procedures

• Have responsibility to uphold the Aims and Principles of the Citizens Advice Scotland Service and its Equal Opportunities policies.
• Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues.
• Any other duties commensurate with the post.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following:

• Considerable recent experience (paid or unpaid) in advice work or related field
• Recent representation experience (paid or unpaid), or willingness to undertake training
• Good current knowledge of the UK and Scottish benefits systems, particularly that relating to people affected by cancer, sickness and disability benefits
• An understanding of the issues affecting people affected by cancer
• Experience of managing a complex caseload
• Ability to work under pressure, on your own initiative, but also to be part of a team
• Ability to work in a systematic manner and plan own workload
• Excellent organisational, communication and report writing skills
• Good IT skills – especially word-processing, and database entry
• Good working knowledge of the statutory and voluntary agencies in the area
• Understanding of community care issues
• An ability to deal with clients and other professionals in a sensitive manner
• Evidence of ability to carry out training in benefit issues to CAB staff and outside agencies or equivalent experience
• Commitment to the principle of a client driven, volunteer led service
• Commitment to the aims and principles of the CAB service
• Commitment to CAB & Macmillan Cancer Support equalities policies

Responsible to: Health Projects Manager

Applications should be downloaded directly from our website and submitted by the closing date of: 19th June 2023 by 5pm

For further information, please contact: Business Support Administrator, Inverness Badenoch & Strathspey CAB, 29-31 Union Street, Inverness, IV1 1QA E-mail: admin@invernesscab.org

Interviews: TBA