Housing Complaints and Enquiries Officer

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest Salary: PO1 £42,492 - £45,123 Contract Type:  Full-time/Permanent Working hours per week: 36 Application Deadline: 09/11/2026 Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC Reference: 2331   About Us:  Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.  We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.  London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.  The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.    About the role:  To provide a comprehensive and effective customer-focused service by managing and resolving Stage 1 complaints, particularly Housing Disrepair cases, while working collaboratively with colleagues and contractors to achieve positive outcomes for residents and delivering high-quality responses to Members' Enquiries, Freedom of Information requests, and Subject Access Requests.  >> Click here to download the Role Profile <<   [https://fs-filestore-eu.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Waltham_Forest/govRoleProfiles/Role%20Profile%20-%20Housing%20Complaints%20%26%20Enquiries%20Officer%20(2331).pdf]     Key Responsibilities:  • To investigate and respond to Stage 1 complaints and resolve them within the required timescale. • To liaise with complainants to define the subject and scope of complaints and expected resolution. • To carry out all investigations with an open mind and ensure that all issues raised by the complainant are addressed with reference to any relevant policies, legislation and good practice where appropriate. • To hold contractors and colleagues to account to ensure that complaints are responded to and resolved in a timely way and with the resident’s needs fully addressed. • To keep the complainant updated on progress with their complaint, clearly communicating, the timescale for response and agree any extensions to timescales, in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. • To coordinate responses to Councillor and MP Enquiries, Subject Access and Freedom of Information requests • To ensure that appropriate assistance is provided to customers who are vulnerable and who may have specific needs. • Organise and maintain records and documents using the appropriate council process / system. • Database maintenance – access and update relevant databases and generate reports for management information. • To undertake any other duties of a similar level and responsibility as may be required from time to time.   Qualifications and Requirements:  To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:  • Demonstrable experience of customer complaint handling in a similar environment. (Desirable).  • Experience of holding unscripted telephone conversations to gather the required information.  • Ability to build relationships, influence and engage successfully with residents, colleagues and partners. • Ability to work both autonomously and collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders.  • Demonstrable negotiation and persuasion skills in a wide range of settings – with internal colleagues, residents, and wider stakeholders.  • Excellent time management skills to manage a complex caseload, prioritise, set deadlines and cope with conflicting and changing demands.  • Ability to use housing, legal and regulatory knowledge to resolve issues.  • Experience of information gathering and with analysis skills to understand whether policy and process has been followed correctly.  • An understanding of the responsibilities of social housing landlords (desirable).  • Excellent written communication skills with ability to write formal complaint responses about complex issues in plain English.  • The ability to work as a part of a team and to demonstrate why this is important.  • Experienced in the use of Microsoft Office applications and case management systems.   Terms and conditions:  The below terms and conditions apply to this role:  • Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;  • Satisfactory declaration of interest;  • As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.    How to Apply:  Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.     Contact Information:  If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Jack Barden-Baldan, Head of Housing Engagement & Service Improvement at Jack.Barden-Baldan@walthamforest.gov.uk. If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk [recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk].    Equal Opportunity Employer:  Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: • Promoting equality of opportunity • Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage • Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. • Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.  To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.  We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.  For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us. [https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.]    Fraud Awareness Notice The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic). We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process. If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information. If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to: fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk [fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk] Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.