Do the levels of financial insecurity and injustice in the UK leave you seething and impatient to have a real impact on making things better? Are you an expert in welfare benefits, dedicated to improving access to the benefits that your clients are entitled to? The Welfare Benefits Specialist is a vital part of the team delivering this work. We can promise that the level of impact of our work together will exceed anything you can achieve doing face to face work. For example, last year alone, 2.5 million people used our benefits calculator to understand what welfare benefits they were entitled to claim

Turn2us is a national charity tackling poverty and the structural causes of poverty. We work with co-producers and partners to provide people in financial crisis with the means and agency to get back on their feet, build resilience, move forward with their lives and thrive.

If you’re a benefits expert who wants work that will stretch your intelligence and creativity, who is willing to be led by the people you want to support and who genuinely wants to have an outsized impact, we really want to meet you!

Job Description

Department: Information Programmes

Reports to: Welfare Benefits Programmes Manager

Location:  Head Office, Hammersmith, London W6 7NL and flexible or hybrid working

Purpose of the Role: The Welfare Benefits Specialist provides specialist expertise in Welfare Benefits across all programmes and supports and contributes to the creation and maintenance of welfare benefits customer journey content.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

1. Develop, review and contribute to the creation, maintenance, improvement and expansion of our range of welfare benefits information resources

2. Provide expert analysis on the rules for entitlement to welfare benefits internally and (as directed) to external partners

3. Co-produce our customer journeys and resources for the benefit of all users of the welfare benefits system and help drive forward our safe-guarding and co-production culture

Duties:

1. Develop, review and contribute to the creation, maintenance, improvement and expansion of our range of welfare benefits information resources, including the Turn2us Benefits Calculator and content specifically targeting priority audiences.

a. Plan, write, review and update content and information for welfare benefits information resources, including the Turn2us Benefits Calculator and content specifically targeting priority audiences.

b. Ensure accuracy, accessibility and relevance of welfare benefits information resources and user journeys, and content and communications relating to Welfare Benefits to ensure that our information and campaigning is accurate, up-to-date, adheres to our Turn2us Information Standards and provides the best possible welfare benefits support for our users.

c. With the support of line management, commission and deploy external expertise to provide additional quality assurance as necessary.

d. Proactively identify gaps in information provision across our programmes and implement  solutions.

e. When required, produce clear briefs for the technical development team outlining changes/additions to rules for statutory benefits, linked entitlements and concessions in order to make changes to the Turn2us Benefits Calculator.

f. Provide expert information, training and presentations to colleagues, external partners, the Turn2us helpline and external organisations from time to time.

2.     Provide expert analysis on the rules for entitlement to welfare benefits internally and (as directed) to external partners

a. Research, analyse and interpret policies, legislation and programmes relating to changes in the rules for assessing entitlement to welfare benefits making claims and appeals in all countries of the UK.

b. In collaboration with the Insight and Impact team and co-production partners, deploy insights, data and research from internal and external sources to achieve a deep understanding of our customers and how the our Welfare Benefits information and customer journeys can support them.

c. Handle information requests regarding welfare benefits, including contributing to media features and taking part in media interviews.

d. Attend and contribute to external meetings on welfare benefits holding Turn2us’s policy position and advocating appropriately for change.

e. Support colleagues across all programmes to design and deliver programmes with potential elements relating to welfare benefits.

f. Learn from people accessing our programmes directly, or through evaluations and insight reports of the key challenges facing people’s access to benefits and income and contribute to our insight gathering

3. To co-produce our resources or the benefit of all users of the system and help drive forward our safe-guarding and co-production culture.

a. In collaboration with the coproduction team develop approaches to coproduce resources as far as possible.

b. Work closely with the Safeguarding Manager to ensure that the relationships and services set up to deliver welfare benefit information resources enable people’s safety throughout.

These are the normal duties, which the Charity requires from the position. However, it is necessary for all staff to be flexible and all employees will be required from time to time to perform other duties as may be required by the Charity for the efficient running of the charity.  This Job Description is non-contractual. It will be reviewed from time to time and may be subject to change.

At Turn2us, we are committed to protecting personnel, children, adults, and service users from any harm arising from each other, themselves, our activities, or organisational failings whilst in contact with us. The post holder will be required to follow the safeguarding policy and will be responsible for integrating safeguarding into all aspects of their work.

The post holder will be expected to ensure that their work complies with contractual terms and conditions, the Charity’s policies and procedures and key legislation, such as data protection and charity law.

Person Specification

Skills:

• Commitment to accuracy and attention to detail

• Excellent relationship building and management skills and able to show either directly relevant or transferable success in this area

• Excellent planning and admin skills and effective prioritisation of competing tasks using own initiative

• Comfortable using technology and digital products to achieve project goals or with the ability to develop this skill

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills

• Ability to plan, balance and manage competing priorities                

Knowledge:  

• Extensive, up-to-date, in-depth knowledge of welfare benefits, including the ability to deconstruct the rules for entitlement to statutory benefits linked entitlements and concessions.

• Good knowledge of GDPR and data sharing protocols

• Data literate

• Experience of working within the welfare benefits advice or legislation sectors

• Experience of co-production of new services with users or ability to develop this skill

• Able to demonstrate understanding of the Information, Advice and Guidance in a charitable or social enterprise context

• (Desirable) Experience of delivering relationship-focused projects in a purely digital space

Attributes:

• Personal commitment to the work of Turn2us

• Resilience, good problem-solving skills

• Initiative/self-starter: able to operate independently

• Experience of poverty themselves or of tackling poverty          

Personal Attributes:            

Turn2us is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in our sector. We want this to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us and we are particularly interested in applications from people from all backgrounds.