Business Rates Officer – AR

Job Details

Business Rates Officer – Local Authority Revenues

Location: Fully Remote / Homeworking
Contract: Temporary Assignment
Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm
Pay Rate: £30.00–£35.00 per hour PAYE

About the Role

Coventry City Council is looking for an experienced Business Rates Officer to join its Revenues Service on a fully remote basis. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing Business Rates liability work, applying relevant legislation and ensuring accounts and customer queries are dealt with accurately and efficiently.

This role is suited to someone with recent Local Authority Revenues experience who can work independently, has strong practical knowledge of Business Rates legislation and can quickly become operational with minimal support.

Key Responsibilities

  • Manage Business Rates liability cases, ensuring accounts are accurately maintained and updated.
  • Apply Business Rates legislation and relevant regulations when dealing with liability matters.
  • Investigate and resolve Business Rates queries, ensuring information is accurate and up to date.
  • Contact ratepayers by telephone where appropriate to resolve queries and obtain information, rather than relying solely on email.
  • Use relevant revenues and document management systems to access records, update accounts and manage cases.
  • Work independently to manage workloads and deliver an efficient, customer-focused service.
  • Liaise with relevant colleagues and teams to resolve complex liability queries where necessary.

Please note: The role focuses exclusively on Business Rates liability work. Recovery experience is not required, as this is managed by a specialist team.

Essential Requirements

  • Recent experience working within a Local Authority Revenues Service.
  • Strong practical knowledge of Business Rates legislation and its application.
  • Previous hands-on experience dealing with Business Rates liability work.
  • Experience using at least one of the following systems:
    • MRI (previously Capita / Academy)
    • Northgate (NEC / Enterprise document management system)
  • Ability to work independently and become operational quickly with minimal support.
  • Confident telephone communication skills, including making outbound calls to resolve queries.
  • Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.

Working Arrangements and Equipment

  • The position is fully remote, with no office attendance required.
  • A laptop will be provided by Coventry City Council.
  • A minimum three-week lead time is required between offer and start date.
  • Compliance checks must be completed before IT equipment can be ordered, which takes approximately seven days.
  • Laptop delivery takes approximately ten days after ordering.
  • The start date will be agreed with the successful candidate, taking account of compliance checks and equipment delivery.

Application Process

Candidates must demonstrate recent, relevant Business Rates experience within a Local Authority. Applications should clearly outline their practical experience of Business Rates liability legislation and the systems they have used.

Please note: Only a maximum of five candidates can be submitted for this vacancy, so applicants must closely match the essential requirements.