Description
We are working with a well-established housing organisation in East London who are looking to appoint a Service Charge Advisor to join their friendly and growing Income Optimisation team.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone with experience in service charges, rent, leasehold or housing income who enjoys getting into the detail, investigating issues and providing a genuinely helpful service to customers.
The organisation has an immediate requirement for the next 5–6 months, with the role available on either a temporary or fixed-term contract basis. As the team continues to develop, there is potential for longer-term opportunities for the right person.
The Opportunity
You will play an important role in managing and resolving customer enquiries relating to rent and service charges. Rather than simply passing queries between departments, you will be expected to take ownership, investigate the facts and see issues through to resolution.
Working closely with colleagues across Finance, Housing, Customer Services, Assets and Complaints, you will help customers understand their charges, ensure queries are dealt with promptly and identify recurring issues before they develop into formal complaints.
This is a hands-on role within a small, developing team, so we are looking for someone proactive, commercially aware and confident using their own initiative.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage and investigate customer enquiries relating to service charges, rent and ground rent.
- Explain charges clearly, referring to relevant leases, occupancy agreements, policies and procedures.
- Take ownership of queries from initial enquiry through to resolution, ensuring customers are kept updated.
- Work closely with Finance, Housing, Assets, Customer Services and Complaints teams to establish the facts and resolve issues.
- Investigate queries escalated through the complaints process, addressing the underlying issue wherever possible.
- Support the issuing and clarification of annual rent and service charge variation notices.
- Monitor outstanding enquiries, maintain accurate records and ensure actions are progressed within appropriate timescales.
- Identify recurring issues, data discrepancies and opportunities to improve customer communications and internal processes.
What We're Looking For
Essential experience:
- Previous experience in a customer-facing role within housing, finance, service charges or a similar environment.
- A proven ability to investigate and resolve customer queries rather than simply redirecting them.
- Confidence working with financial information and explaining figures clearly to customers.
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to establish the facts before providing a response.
- Experience managing a busy workload and prioritising competing enquiries.
- Excellent communication, organisation and stakeholder management skills.
Desirable experience:
- Previous experience within a housing association or local authority.
- Knowledge of service charges, rent structures or leasehold matters.
- An understanding of rent setting or annual service charge processes.
- Experience handling complaints or working within a customer resolution function.
- Familiarity with housing or finance systems.
The Team
You will be joining a genuinely nice, collaborative team at an exciting stage of its development. The organisation is investing in improving its rent and service charge services, with a real focus on getting things right for customers and building better processes.
This would suit someone who enjoys problem-solving, is comfortable rolling up their sleeves and wants to make a tangible contribution rather than simply working through a queue of enquiries.
Contract & Interview Process
- Salary: £38,000 per annum
- Contract: Temporary or fixed-term contract – both options available
- Initial requirement: 5–6 months, with longer-term opportunities potentially available as the team develops
- Start date: Ideally within 1–2 weeks
- Interview process: An initial 15-minute telephone conversation with the Director of Income, followed by a face-to-face interview at the organisation's offices.
Interested?
If you have relevant housing, rent or service charge experience and are available to start at short notice, we'd be keen to hear from you. Please get in touch with your up-to-date CV to find out more.