Description
Service Charge Advisor Location: East London
Working arrangement: Hybrid
Salary: £40,000–£45,000 pro rata
Contract: Initial two-month contract, with likely ongoing work thereafter
Start date: ASAP
We are looking for an experienced Service Charge Advisor to join a small and developing finance team within a housing organisation. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys working with service charges and rents, investigating detailed queries and giving customers clear, accurate answers.
You will take ownership of customer enquiries from initial contact through to resolution. Rather than simply passing queries between departments, you will establish the facts, work with the relevant teams and ensure customers are kept informed throughout the process.
The role offers the chance to make a tangible difference to the customer experience while helping the organisation strengthen its rent and service charge processes.
The role You will manage enquiries relating to service charges, rent and ground rent, investigating individual cases and explaining charges in a clear and customer-friendly way. Your work will involve reviewing occupancy agreements, lease terms, policies and internal processes to understand how charges have been calculated and what action is required.
You will work closely with colleagues across Finance, Housing, Customer Services, Assets and Complaints. A key part of the role will be ensuring that outstanding enquiries continue to move forward and do not become unnecessarily delayed or escalate into avoidable complaints.
Responsibilities will include:
- Responding to and managing service charge and rent enquiries.
- Investigating queries thoroughly and establishing the relevant facts.
- Explaining financial information clearly to customers.
- Taking ownership of cases and progressing them through to resolution.
- Liaising with operational and finance teams to obtain information or action.
- Supporting accurate and timely responses to formal complaints.
- Monitoring incoming and outstanding enquiries.
- Identifying recurring customer concerns, data issues and process weaknesses.
- Supporting annual rent and service charge variation communications.
- Managing increased enquiry volumes following annual variation notices.
- Maintaining accurate records, actions and audit trails.
- Contributing to clearer customer guidance and frequently asked questions.
About you You will have experience in a customer-facing finance, housing, service charge or comparable role, together with a strong track record of investigating and resolving customer queries.
You will need excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to explain financial information in a way that customers can readily understand. Strong attention to detail is essential, as is the ability to work accurately with financial information and manage a high volume of enquiries without losing sight of quality.
You should be proactive, organised and comfortable asking questions when something requires further investigation. You will also need to work collaboratively across different teams and remain accountable for seeing cases through to completion.
Experience within a housing association or local authority would be advantageous. Knowledge of service charge, rent, leasehold or rent-setting processes would also be welcome, as would experience of complaints handling and housing or finance systems.
This is a hybrid opportunity based in East London. It would suit someone practical and customer-focused who enjoys solving problems, getting into the detail and helping to improve how services are delivered.
If you have the relevant experience and are available for an initial two-month assignment with the likelihood of ongoing work, we would be pleased to hear from you.