INTERNAL ONLY VACANCY. This post is open to existing Leeds City Council employees only. Applications will not be considered from external candidates.

Job title: Team Manager

Salary: PO2 £39,862 - £42,839 

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: permanent

Location: Merrion House. Hybrid working will be offered.

As a team manager, you will work as part of an integrated management team, leading a team with responsibility of delivering the accurate, secure, and timely administration of welfare and crisis support to achieve national, corporate and service level measures.  You’ll thrive on providing an effective, professional function, establishing excellent relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. You will have a key part to play in ensuring a quality customer focused service is delivered within performance, cost and quality targets.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a team manager, you will bring to the role:

• Experience of working in a Welfare & Benefits environment.

• Knowledge of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and Free School Meal legislation and Crisis Resilience Funding and Crisis Payments, with the ability to interpret legislation and complex guidance.

• Proven ability to lead, motivate, challenge, and develop staff to meet service standards and targets.

• Strong organisational, time‑management, decision‑making, and problem‑solving skills, including producing statistical information for reports and action plans.

• Ability to work confidently and collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

• effective verbal and written communication skills to resolve enquiries and meet customer and service requirements.    

About the role 

The welfare and benefits service is responsible for providing financial support to help Leeds residents with their housing, council tax and school meals costs. We also have a key role to play in the administration of the new crisis and resilience payments. The team manager role is integral to our welfare and benefits team and brings a fantastic opportunity to showcase your skills, knowledge and experience to support the service in developing the crisis and resilience payments into the service.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays

• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions

• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements

• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities

• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application. Inter

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Jayne Ruddock, section manager. Call 0113 3788417 or email jayne.ruddock@leeds.gov.uk. 

Interviews will be held in April 2026.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people. 

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose: Lead and manage a team to ensure the accurate, secure, and timely administration of welfare and crisis support to achieve national, corporate and service level measures, including Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. Ensuring the delivery of an effective, professional function, establishing excellent relationships with residents and stakeholders and ensuring quality customer focused services are delivered within performance, cost and quality targets.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional consultation, support and guidance for team members and colleagues to assist in decision making and approve specific decisions. 

• Support the recovery of benefit overpayments, ensuring that rules, subsidy requirements, and policies are correctly applied.   

• Accurate and timely distribution and allocation of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Free School Meal, and Crisis Support New Claims, Changes in Circumstances, Reviews, and other correspondence.  Accurate maintenance of the Welfare and Benefits caseload and database. 

• Hold regular meetings and one to ones  and conduct appraisals of employees in line with associated policies and procedures, maintaining employee records using appropriate documentation and associated guidance, encouraging staff development including identifying training needs, preparation of training material and the delivery of training.

• Support staff to feel motivated and engaged in the values, vision, and direction of the service, promoting the values of the Council through appropriate behaviour and professionalism.

• Monitor performance of team and individuals setting clear goals to ensure national and service standards in relation to speed of processing, quality and output are achieved. Challenge poor performance and resolve any issues or conflict. Implement management instructions and regularly ensure the team are fully conversant with procedures and systems.  

• Work as part of a team demonstrating organisational and time management skills prioritising own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadlines, providing an excellent service to customers, colleagues, and visitors. 

• Support policies and practises including assisting with recruitment and selection, Health & Safety, Attendance, Performance, Flexible working, Equality and Diversity, Information Governance and Data Protection. Ensure officers are aware of and abide by the rules of the Council and initiate action where appropriate.

• Completion, maintenance, and submission of manual and digital records accurately collating and processing information from a variety of sources including reports and providing management statistics in accordance with the requirements of GDPR.

• Preparation of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support appeals in line with regulations.  Presentation of appeals to the Appeals Service and/or the Valuation Tribunal Service.  Attendance at tribunals representing the Welfare & Benefits service. 

• Ensure compliance with fraud and error guidelines and for fraud referrals to DWP where criteria are met. 

• Consult with Quality Assurance Team to improve team performance and Identify staff training needs.

• Promote an effective liaison and partnership approach with external agencies and other officers within the Council with a view to increasing take-up, appropriate signposting and providing wrap around welfare support to citizens in financial hardship. 

• Deal with computer input and output, as necessary. Assist in the development and testing of computer systems and procedures and participate in the planning and development of improved customer service delivery and annual billing/year end activity.

• Deal with all types of enquiries from stakeholders, assisting with correspondence, appeals, compensation requests and complaints and monitoring the teams replies to ensure clear, concise, and timely communication.  

• Assist with internal and external audits, collaborating closely with auditors where required.

• Manage, support, and assist with digital and non-digital projects aimed at improving Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Free School Meals, Crisis Payments, and Housing Payments service provision.

• Make best use of funding for discretionary awards to mitigate the impacts of welfare reforms and other hardship.

• Ensure awards in respect of the Council Tax Support Hardship Fund are made in line with criteria. 

• The consideration and approval of Section 13a Discretionary Relief awards in line with internal policy. 

• Keep up to date with skills and knowledge of relevant benefits legislation to provide effective and efficient Welfare & Benefits support delivery to citizens in Leeds.

• Support residents with welfare reform changes. 

• Support the Council’s values and service plan priorities. 

• Deputise for the Section Manager where appropriate commensurate to the grade.  

The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications A degree or professional qualification in management is desirable.

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

• Able to work effectively as part of a team and to demonstrate strong organisational and time management skills to make decisions, problem solve prioritising own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadlines. 

• Able to lead, motivate, challenge, and develop staff to meet service standards and targets providing day to day supervision, maintain staff records and motivate and direct staff.  

• Able to communicate appropriately and effectively with a wide range of people including internal and external partners, customers, and members of the public, through a variety of different methods.

• Able to gather a wide range of information and accurately enter and retrieve data and information from digital and manual systems preparing and presenting reports and data to a wide range of audiences.

• Able to use and experience of the use of information technology e.g. word, spreadsheet, database, email etc. (e.g., MRI, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, CATS) to support daily operations and accuracy checking of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Free School Meal, and Crisis applications.

• Able to work confidently and collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

• Knowledge of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and Free School Meal legislation and Crisis Resilience Funding and Crisis Payments, with the ability to interpret legislation and complex guidance and apply them consistently. 

• Understand Council Tax charging and the impact of Council Tax Support on liability.

• Understand responsibilities in terms of Health, Safety, Wellbeing, security, confidentiality, and data protection.

• Understand importance of confidentiality and the needs and wishes of individuals. 

• Experience of working in a Welfare & Benefits environment, including developing procedures and producing management information. 

Essential behavioural & other characteristics requirements

• Commitment to delivering high‑quality customer service.

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council values and behaviours and codes of conduct.

• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities, and a resilient sustainable city

• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.

• Perform duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing

• Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.

• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality, and diversity of Leeds City Council

• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.

• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade. 
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

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