Accessibility Adviser

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The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free and easy to use independent organisation that plays a vital role in UK Financial Services. Every year we help resolve thousands of disputes between consumers or small businesses and their financial service providers.

Working hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: circa 34k depending on experience

Contract: 12 month FTC

Start date: tbc

Location: London, Docklands

Our permanent hybrid policy sees us all working at least four days across a fortnight in the office.

As an Accessibility Adviser. you’ll be able to see the bigger picture of the work we do, and the wide range of support you’ll provide to casework colleagues and leaders will contribute to the support we give to our people and consumers alike. This will help us to deliver our service – ensuring we have no customers being treated unfairly. You’ll build excellent working relationships with people across the organisation, working collaboratively so our service is accessible to all.

You’ll support casework colleagues by listening carefully, asking thoughtful questions, thinking pragmatically and communicating effectively over the phone and in face to face case discussions. You’ll quickly understand and get to the heart of the problems people bring to accessibility - delivering fair answers and guidance. You’ll also challenge things that don’t feel fair in regards to the treatment of our customers, put things right and support initiatives to improve the service.

Key responsibilities for the Accessibility Adviser:

advising our colleagues across the service on ways to work differently with vulnerable and/or disabled people who have asked for reasonable adjustments or who need help with bringing their complaint to us

Admin support - supporting the daily output of the Accessibility team

sharing a working knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 and what this means practically for the people who use our service

ensuring that our customer facing colleagues continue to listen to consumers and spot the signs of vulnerability through staff engagement, case discussions and clinics

making decisions on whether we have met our responsibility under the Equality Act during case discussions; using influencing skills to discuss and persuade colleagues at all levels that an outcome may not be the right one or that we or the business could have done more for the consumer

providing advice to colleagues on the support available to people who need us to work differently regardless of disability or vulnerability

gathering key information to help identify knowledge gaps relating to disability and vulnerability across the service and providing tailored training to help improve the service and accessibility for people who need us to work differently

working closely with stakeholders and operational contact colleagues, to understand and share the journey that our customers go on with us – looking for chances to make our customers’ experiences even better and more accessible

To be considered for this role, you’ll need to show us that you’ve got the right skills and motivation.

Minimum criteria:

demonstrating a working knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 and what it means for the consumers who use our service

the ability to influence and build respect from people at all levels, understanding different perspectives and reaching consensus where possible

being great at sorting out problems and thinking outside the box when customers request reasonable adjustments by using a common sense approach - making a clear contribution to improving the service we provide to everyone

communicating effectively in a straight forward and approachable way with people at all levels, including senior stakeholders and customers, both in writing and verbally

Desirable Criteria:

the ability to provide and deliver training and share knowledge

an understanding of our approach to service complaints related to reasonable adjustments

demonstrating the ability to spot signs of vulnerability/disability without having disclosure

Why the Financial Ombudsman Service?

We are a values led organisation. Our values define our culture, influence our decisions, and underpin our vision and strategy. They set out how we play our PART through Purpose, Ambition, Respect and Trust. You can learn more about our values here: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/aims-values

* Here’s a list of some of the many amazing benefits and perks you can get for working with us:

25 days holiday entitlement plus bank holidays, with the option to buy extra or sell days

Generous non-contributory pension – we pay an equivalent amount of up to 12% of your salary into your pension

Employer provided benefits such as Private Medical Insurance, Virtual GP, Critical Illness cover, Life Assurance cover to name a few

Choice of voluntary benefits including Technology scheme and Cycle to work scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Opportunities for career development

Fully equipped on-site gym open 24 / 7 (London office only)

Beautiful and bright London office looking over the Thames and near to mainline stations

Our Coventry office is 2 minutes’ walk from the main station

Our employee led networks do fantastic work in educating and raising awareness across a range of experiences and support us in being an inclusive employer and a great place to work.

How do I apply?

Please upload an up to date CV explaining any gaps in employment and a supporting statement (max 500 words) explaining why you are right for this role.

Closing date is Friday 20th September 2024

Due to a high volume of applications this role may close early so please apply now!

Recruitment Process

to be confirmed

A full job profile is available on request and will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

We’re proud to be an inclusive employer

We view diversity as fundamental to our success and welcome applications from underrepresented groups across all communities.

We’re committed to being a great place to work– attracting and developing people from the widest possible range of backgrounds. We want everyone to perform at their best and feel able to be themselves. We understand that if we’re diverse and inclusive, we’ll better understand different perspectives, which is fundamental to our job resolving financial complaints.

We welcome applications from Black and other ethnic minority candidates, and female candidates, for all positions and particularly so for senior leader positions as they are under-represented within the Financial Ombudsman Service at this level.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. This means that we will put disabled candidates entering under the scheme through to the next stage of the recruitment process should they meet the minimum criteria for a role. A minimum criterion needs to be measurable from reviewing a candidate’s CV/supporting statement. Exceptions may apply if due to the volume of applications we are not able to interview all eligible candidates who qualify under the scheme. If you would like to speak to a member of our team about any reasonable adjustments you need, please email recruitment@financial-ombudsman.org.uk and let us know your preferred method of contact.

Find out more

Check out below channels to find out more about everyday life at the Financial Ombudsman Service – and don’t forget to follow us while you’re there!

LinkedIn: Financial Ombudsman Service
Our careers page: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/join-us