Customer Relationship Manager

Customer Relationship Manager- Income SBHG (10612)

This role is with Shepherds Bush Housing Association who are now part of The Guinness Partnership.

About Shepherds Bush Housing Group

We’re a forward-thinking housing group in the heart of west London. Since we started in 1968 our ethos has remained the same: to provide affordable homes and services that build communities.

Here at Shepherds Bush Housing Group, we are passionate about what we do and apply our innovative outlook to find new ways to invest in people, communities and residents.

We offer careers that are both exciting and rewarding. We’re looking for people who bring a variety of different skills and experiences to help us continue to make a difference to the local communities we work within.

This is a unique opportunity to work for an award winning organisation and genuinely contribute to the achievement of our corporate aims and objectives. Hybrid working available office location; Mulliner House, Flanders Road, Hounslow, London, W4 1NN. This role is being offered on a 12-month fixed term contract basis. 

About the role

As Customer Relationship Manager you will be responsible for meeting arrears and collection targets for current and former arrears across all tenures, ensuring that collection rates are maximised and that arrears prevention is prioritised. You will lead on all stages of the legal process for arrears, including representing SBHA in legal proceedings.

You will also be responsible for providing excellent end to end customer service that will help support us to achieve our target of 90% customer satisfaction.

This role sits within our Income and Advice Services team and is a key part of our service. The post holder will be a ‘subject matter expert’ for the organisation and will be expected stay up to date with all relevant changes in legislation, working with the Income and Advice Services manager to ensure our policies and practices reflect these. 

Key Responsibilities

• Achieve KPI and other targets for current and former tenant arrears through pro-actively pursuing arrears to minimise the loss of income to the organisation and taking preventative and responsive actions in line with policies and procedures
• Manage arrears cases from the beginning of the arrears process up to eviction across all tenures in an effective, pro-active and customer focussed way
• Support customers by providing advice and guidance on how to pay their rent and service charges and how to effectively manage their account to avoid arrears accruing.
• Work in partnership with external agencies including DWP, Local Authorities and Debt Advice services to help customers maximise their income and sustain their tenancy
• Represent SBHG during legal proceedings and processes including court hearings and evictions
• Act as a subject matter expert on income collection and related activities for the organisation, including developing and delivering relevant updates and training for customer facing teams

Please see the job description for a full breakdown of duties and requirements.

About you

The successful candidate should have experience of working in income collection, arrears prevention or a similar role such as credit control. You will also have experience of managing a high caseload, including complex case management, and working in a busy customer-facing environment. To be successful, you will be skilled and experienced at successfully managing difficult conversations with customers and working with external organisations, such as local authority housing benefit teams, to help customers minimise arrears and to maximise income.

What we can offer you

Please follow the link to read more about our great benefits and what we can offer you: https://www.sbhg.co.uk/life-at-sbhg

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We commit to ensuring that equality and diversity are integrated at the core of our business and respond to the needs of our employees, workers, stakeholders and customers. To read more about our commitment, please visit the following link: https://www.sbhg.co.uk/equality-and-diversity

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if enough applications are received.

The Guinness Partnership is an equal opportunities employer.  We are committed to equality of opportunity for all colleagues, and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.