Service Charge Specialist - Fixed Term Title: Service Charge Specialist Contracts: Fixed Term – 12 months Hours: 35 hours per week Persona: Agile (20-40% in office and 3-4 days working from home) Office Location: Stratford, London or Sale Point, Manchester (Our office in Sale Point, Manchester will be relocating to Old Trafford by Spring 2025) Salary: £34,904 per annum (London); £31,250 per annum (Outside London Role Profile - Service Charge Specialist.docx Closing date for completed applications: 3rd September, 2024 at 11:59 pm **Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to close the advertisement and interview earlier than stated Do you consider yourself a proactive problem solver with a knack for financial accuracy and a passion for delivering exceptional customer service? If so, L&Q has an exciting and rewarding opportunity for you to join our Service Charge team as a Service Charge Specialist. About the Role: Join our dynamic Service Charge team and make a tangible impact on the lives of thousands of residents. As a Service Charge Specialist, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring fair and accurate service charges for around 80,000 homes. You will manage a portfolio of approximately 8,000 homes, working closely with local neighbourhood teams to address any customer queries. Key Responsibilities: Maximise Recovery: Optimize the recovery of service charge expenditures for designated estates. Calculate & Apportion: Accurately calculate and apportion service charges, conducting regular expenditure analyses. Customer Interaction: Provide exceptional customer service, addressing complaints and queries with professionalism. Collaborative Work: Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to ensure accuracy and clarity in service charges. What You'll Need: Legislative Knowledge: Strong understanding of service charge legislation and financial accounting (income / expenditure) Proficient with MS Suite Tools: High level Microsoft Excel and Word skills with experience of V-Lookups, macros, and mail merges Customer Service Excellence: Exceptional skills and experience in customer service environments. Problem-Solving Abilities: Effective judgment skills based on factual analysis and risk assessment. Communication Skills: Excellent ability to handle challenging situations and communicate effectively. Proactive Approach: Ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines independently. Why Work for L&Q? L&Q is not just a workplace; it's a community. Recognised as one of the UK's Best Workplaces for Women and certified as a Great Place to Work, we offer an environment where everyone can thrive. The successful candidate will have access to our full suite of benefits, which includes: Generous Annual Leave: Starting at 28 days and increasing to 31 days after 3 years of continuous service. Excellent Pension Scheme: Double contribution up to 6%. Life Assurance: Generous non-contributory coverage. Employee Assistance Programme: Support when you need it. Recognition Bonus Scheme: Spot awards for outstanding contributions. Family-Friendly Policies: Designed to help you balance work and family life Diverse Networking Groups: Join groups like Ability, Kaleidoscope, Inspire & Spectrum. Volunteer Time: Up to 21 hours per year to volunteer with the charity of your choice. Learning & Development: Commitment to your professional growth. If you are interested in the role and have the experience required, then apply without delay! As a charitable organisation, our role goes beyond providing homes and housing services. We are a long-term partner in the neighbourhoods where we work. We hope to build aspiration, opportunity and confidence in our communities through our £250 million L&Q Foundation and our skills academy. Our vision is that everyone has a quality home they can afford, and we combine our social purpose with commercial drive to create homes and neighbourhoods everyone can be proud of. At the foundation of everything that we do are our corporate values and associated behaviours. Our organisational behavioural framework outlines the core expectations of all employees, which should be demonstrated at all times when representing L&Q. More information about L&Q’s values can be found on our website and a copy of our behavioural framework can be provided on request. Our commitments: At L&Q, people are at the heart of our business and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. This is why we are committed to developing our people. It's only by investing in a well-trained and motivated workforce that we can continue to prosper and sustain business success. We are committed to supporting your work-life balance and recognise the changing demands and circumstances in life. Please let us know during the recruitment process if you’re interested in part time working or job sharing. In addition, should your circumstances change once you have joined L&Q, you can also request flexible working arrangements, e.g. a change to working hours - if it’s feasible then we’ll make it happen. We are recognised externally for our commitment to inclusion. We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident (Committed) employer and have signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge to demonstrate our commitment to end mental health discrimination in the workplace. We expect all of our employees to support our environmental policy and social responsibility work. We are an employer committed to environmental and social responsibility.