Business Rates Billing Officer

Are you great with numbers, detail-focused, and passionate about making a difference? As a Business Rates Billing Officer, you’ll play a vital role in ensuring that business rates are billed accurately and managed efficiently. You’ll be interpreting complex legislation, maintaining up-to-date records, and working closely with local businesses, colleagues, and external partners to deliver an excellent service. This is a fantastic opportunity to join a committed and supportive Revenues team, where your work will help maximise income for the council and ensure businesses receive fair, consistent, and professional support.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of a Basic Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

1. Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays.
2. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
3. Cycle to Work scheme.
4. Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
5. Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
6. Car Lease scheme.
7. Payment of professional subscription/membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
8. Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
9. Commsave - Free membership to Commsave Credit Union who provide a variety of savings accounts, loans, a monthly lottery draw and more!
10. Ongoing training and development opportunities.
11. A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
12. Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.

If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that is genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

Day to day, you'll be responsible for managing business rates billing - maintaining accurate account records, issuing bills, applying reliefs and exemptions, and making sure charges are correct and compliant with current legislation. You'll work closely with other teams, the Valuation Office Agency, and external partners to keep property and billing information up to date. Alongside this, you'll support recovery efforts by ensuring accounts are progressed through the appropriate stages when needed. You'll also have the chance to make a real impact by helping businesses to understand their charges and access the right support, all while contributing to the smooth and efficient collection of vital local revenue.

We're looking for someone with experience in a Revenues environment, ideally with a background in business rates billing and administration. You'll have a solid understanding of relevant legislation and procedures, and a keen eye for detail when it comes to maintaining accurate records and processing complex information. You'll be confident using revenues systems (ideally Capita Academy), applying reliefs and exemptions, and working through account queries in a timely and efficient way. You'll also have excellent communication skills, enabling you to explain billing information clearly and professionally to a wide range of customers, colleagues, and external partners. Strong organisational skills and a proactive, analytical approach will help you succeed in this role. Most importantly, you'll bring a positive, customer-focused attitude and a commitment to delivering fair and accurate services that supports both local businesses and the wider community.

If you're ready to bring your expertise and enthusiasm to a role that really makes an impact, we'd love to hear from you!

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people. Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support. West Northants Council, where careers thrive.