INTERNAL APPLICATIONS ONLY Principal Benefits Officer

**INTERNAL APPLICATIONS ONLY**

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO1 41133 to 43680

Contract Type: Full Time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36 hours

Application Deadline: 10/05/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference:2113

About Us:

Bursting with culture energy and opportunity the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused insight-led digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of Londons Good Work Standardemployers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions workplace well-being skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

About the role:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is looking for an experienced Principal Benefits Officer to join our Benefits Service.

The role is to provide support and guidance to one of the benefit teams and assist the Benefits Team Manager with the day-to-day organisation and operational efficiency of the team.

The primary focus of the Benefits Service is the administration of Housing Benefit Council Tax Reduction. The service also deals with Adult Social Care Financial Assessments Sundry Debt recovery Discretionary Housing and Council Tax payments Local Welfare Assistance the recovery of Housing Benefit overpayments free school meals and many of the discretionary schemes introduced by central government as a response to the Cost of Living Crisis.

The role is also an opportunity to develop your own leadership skills.

The successful candidate will have proven skills and experience in a housing benefit environment debt collection financial assessments. Have a detailed knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance together with the ability to drive improvements across the team whilst meeting performance targets.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

Assisting a team manager with the day-to-day supervision of one of the teams within the Benefits Service. Dealing with complex casework projects training and assisting other team members and contributing to the development and maintenance of policies and procedures in the Benefits Service.

We are looking for a highly motivated and knowledgeable individual to assist in providing a professional efficient and high-quality service.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position you should meet the following requirements:

• Experience working in a benefits environment
• Conscientious attitude and attention to detail
• Have expert knowledge of relevant legislation policy and practice.
• Have a working knowledge of local policies regarding CTR DHP LWA Adult Social Care
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills and proven experience of thriving under pressure
• A drive to learn and continually improve
• Ability to remain calm and focused under pressure
• Passionate about doing a good job and delivering results
• Flexible approach to work to accommodate and delivering results

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the Apply button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore if you are interested please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair appropriate accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2 internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore wherever possible we will consider working arrangements that suit an individuals personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council please visit Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process please contact Maria Hayzer (Benefits Team Leader) at

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post please contact our Recruitment Team via email at .

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.