Customer Service Officer

If you're a great communicator, love problem solving and have a passion for delivering excellent Customer Service, this is the perfect role for you!

We have a new and exciting opportunity for a Customer Service Centre Officer to join our Customer Service Centre supporting our Core, Highways and Social Care Teams.

Our Customer Service Centre is the councils corporate front door for phone and email contact and supports 23 services across the council. We receive on average 300,000 calls and 80,000 emails a year.

Interested in knowing more about our Customer Experience directorate? Click to view our Careers in the Customer Experience Service Campaign Page

Salary: £27,334 to £29,777 per annum, £22,162 to £24,143 (pro rata for part time)
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: Part Time (30 hours per week) *Shifts range from 8:00am to 6:00pm.
Location: Durban House, Durban Rd, Bognor Regis PO22 9RE. Due to the temporary closure of Durban House, you will be based at Tradewinds Business Centre, Heath Place, Heath Pl, Bognor Regis PO22 9SL. (Hybrid and Flexible Working)

The role will offer hybrid working arrangements where the preference will be 2 days per week based at a County Council Building and 3 days working from home. Final arrangements to be confirmed with successful candidate.

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

The Opportunity

We have a new and exciting opportunity to join our Customer Service Centre.

The team provides the front door to several West Sussex County Council services. The services are provided through a multichannel approach, such as inbound and outbound call handling, emails into the respective teams or via webforms that the customer can complete on the West Sussex County Council website.

This is a role that requires someone with excellent communication and interpersonal skills as well as prioritising between competing demands and remaining calm when dealing with customers' complex needs and emotions.

Under the Customer Service Centre Team Manager, you will provide a transactional front-line service to direct customers. These range from answering customers enquires through phone, email, letter, social media and making outbound calls.

You will endeavour to deliver a truly customer-focused service which delivers and aligns to our customer promise consistently and supports the residents of West Sussex, Officers of the Council, and professionals.

You will use your initiative and judgement to decide how best to respond to a query, including asking colleagues to draft responses, referring customers to other organisations and/or colleagues, sending interim correspondence.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

About You

Along with great Customer Service skills, you will have excellent IT skills including good knowledge of Microsoft packages, specialist software, social media, and other required IT products.

You will be able to demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills, communicating on several different levels with multiple stakeholders and adapting your style accordingly.

The ideal candidate will need to be able to balance priorities and deadlines as well as responding to and redirecting enquiries, using your initiative to deal with unexpected problems and situations. You will have great attention to detail and organisational skills.

You will be confident receiving and making telephone calls as well as providing feedback on improvements within the team.

Rewards and Benefits

From flexible working (where possible) to access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance. A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role.

You will benefit from 25 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 5 years' service plus the opportunity to buy additional leave, an excellentlocal government pension schemeas well as a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CPP00958.

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

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