Housing Benefit Officer jobs in Leicester

Our Values

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

This is an exciting time to join Coventry City Council's Housing & Homelessness Service. Although the post sits within Housing & Homelessness, the successful candidate will be part of Coventry's cross-departmental Supported Exempt Accommodation Team, working collaboratively with internal services and external partners to improve standards and outcomes across the sector.

The team is leading the city's response to significant changes within supported exempt accommodation, including preparations for the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act and the delivery of Coventry's Supported Housing Strategy.

Coventry is committed to being at the forefront of these changes. We are strengthening our approach to quality assurance, compliance, safeguarding and partnership working, while developing a long-term vision for high-quality supported housing across the city.

As our Quality Officer, you will play a key role in driving service improvements, influencing policy and practice, and ensuring residents receive safe, high-quality accommodation with the support they need to achieve positive outcomes. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to both strategic development and operational delivery in a rapidly evolving area of housing policy.

What is the job role?

As Quality Officer for Exempt Accommodation, you will lead on monitoring and improving the quality of non-commissioned supported accommodation across Coventry.

This is a varied and rewarding role combining quality assurance, inspection, partnership working, safeguarding and service improvement. You will work closely with supported housing providers to promote best practice, challenge poor performance and support continuous improvement across the sector.

You will coordinate and undertake inspections, review support plans, assess the quality of support being delivered and work with providers to ensure services are meeting residents' needs. You will also support the scrutiny of Housing Benefit claims, helping to ensure support arrangements represent value for money and deliver positive outcomes.

The role requires close collaboration with Housing Benefit, Housing Enforcement, Community Safety, the Police, Fire Service and other partners to address concerns, improve standards and ensure accommodation is safe, compliant and effectively managed.

This position provides a unique opportunity to contribute both operationally and strategically. You will help shape the Council's response to emerging regulation, influence local policy and play a central role in delivering our ambitions for the supported housing sector across Coventry.

Key responsibilities include:

• Monitoring the quality and effectiveness of exempt supported accommodation.
• Delivering a programme of scheduled and unannounced inspections.
• Reviewing support plans and assessing whether support is meeting residents identified needs.
• Providing advice, support and guidance to accommodation providers to improve standards.
• Supporting the scrutiny of Housing Benefit claims and value for money assessments.
• Participating in multi-agency inspections and responses to safeguarding, quality and compliance concerns.
• Working with enforcement and regulatory colleagues to improve accommodation standards.
• Assessing proposals for new exempt accommodation schemes and making recommendations.
• Producing performance information and reports to support service improvement and strategic decision-making.

Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have the Right to Work in the UK.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for an enthusiastic, resilient and motivated individual who is passionate about improving outcomes for vulnerable people.

You will have:

• Knowledge of supported accommodation, including the challenges facing the exempt accommodation sector.
• An understanding of the support needs of people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
• Experience of working with vulnerable individuals, including those with mental health needs, substance misuse issues or offending histories.
• Experience of partnership and multi-agency working.
• Strong communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Experience of risk assessment, safeguarding and person-centred approaches.
• The ability to manage competing priorities and work independently.
• Excellent organisational and analytical skills.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Knowledge of housing and homelessness legislation would be advantageous but is not essential.

Most importantly, you will be committed to raising standards, challenging poor practice and helping to ensure some of Coventry's most vulnerable residents receive the quality accommodation and support they deserve.

If you are passionate about improving standards in supported housing, influencing change within a rapidly evolving sector and making a lasting difference to the lives of vulnerable residents, we would love to hear from you.

Interview Date(s) Week commencing 21st September 2026

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies