Job Description

Salary \xc2\xa325,078 - \xc2\xa328,639

Reference number BUC10458

Contract type Fixed Term / Secondment

Working hours Full Time

Level of DBS check required Not applicable

Date posted 12 Nov 2023, 11 p.m.

Application deadline 26 Nov 2023

Overview

Buckinghamshire Council is recruiting Customer Service Advisors to join our Customer Service Team. We have some excellent opportunities where you can put your outstanding customer services skills into action. It\xe2\x80\x99s time to discover a customer service role with a difference - in an environment that\xe2\x80\x99s as warm, friendly and caring as you are. It\xe2\x80\x99s time to enjoy more variety, better rewards, innovative technologies and great support for your development. These are Secondment/Fixed Term Contract opportunities for an initial 12-month period within our Customer Service Team at Buckinghamshire Council. Our staff often stay within customer services or apply for other roles within the council having gained excellent skills and knowledge in our team. Applications for part-time work (3 or 4 full days or 5 half days) will be considered and the salary advertised would therefore be pro-rata. Please state in your application if you would like to be considered for part-time work. We will be running an assessment day following the advert closing date. If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend a morning or afternoon session which will consist of Try Before You Apply information, Group Exercises, and an interview. If you are passionate about providing excellent customer service, have good IT skills and would like to be considered, please apply!

About us

Here at Buckinghamshire Council, we\xe2\x80\x99re rethinking what tomorrow can bring for our communities. We\xe2\x80\x99re driven to shape a better future for people in our county. That means making big changes - from increasing recycling, to improving social care and health education. People like you make a real difference, so we\xe2\x80\x99ll develop your talent, reward your success and encourage you to grow with us. Working for Buckinghamshire is more than just a career. It\xe2\x80\x99s a journey. So let\xe2\x80\x99s get started. Hard work and success deserves recognition. That\xe2\x80\x99s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Caf\xc3\xa9s, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. We also offer a salary sacrifice personal car lease scheme and the opportunity to gain membership to Costco. We have discounted gym memberships, Travel discounts with Arriva and Chiltern Railways and much more. https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/ Don\xe2\x80\x99t just take it from us, here is what some of our new joiners have had to say: \xe2\x80\x9cMy onboarding experience has been great. The team here are really special and everyone has been so supportive and welcoming. The council are a fantastic organisation to work for and grow with; the benefits are good, the training is second to none and since starting in May, they have already reviewed our pay, awarded us with uplift payment\xe2\x80\x99s and advertised numerous opportunities to grow within the department. I\xe2\x80\x99m 31 years old and having worked in various roles and industries before, I finally feel like I\xe2\x80\x99m starting my career\xe2\x80\x9d \xe2\x80\x9cI have found the last few weeks since I started brilliant. Everyone is really happy to help (despite some probably easy questions being asked), nothing seems to be too much bother and everyone has been really welcoming\xe2\x80\x9d \xe2\x80\x9cI can confirm that my experience has been positive. I have enjoyed the friendly, helpful and welcoming environment in the office and the positive and encouraging culture\xe2\x80\x9d "It has been good to observe the emphasis on training and the range of training courses available for development opportunities. Thank you\xe2\x80\x9d

About the role

Put simply, you\xe2\x80\x99ll be the voice of Buckinghamshire Council. Our Customer Service Centre receives around 432,000 calls,50,000 Contact Us forms and 20,000 web chats every year, between 9.00 am and 5:30pm. We also offer a face to face function at our offices where we assist around 9,000 customers every year. In this varied and vital role, you\xe2\x80\x99ll help us provide a helpful and reassuring response. Switching between phone calls, emails and live web chats, the questions and concerns you answer will be as diverse as the people who contact us. Their enquiries will span everything from registering a birth to obtaining a waste permit, applying for Council Tax discounts to social care support, and more. Our training will give you a host of specialist knowledge and skills. What\xe2\x80\x99s more, we\xe2\x80\x99ll support you to achieve a recognised, Level 2 Apprenticeship in Customer Service in your spare time. As we introduce new ideas, systems, and ways of working, you\xe2\x80\x99ll enjoy the chance to evolve with us. You\xe2\x80\x99ll also benefit from a highly competitive salary, with pay reviews that reward good performance. In the Customer Service Centre we pride ourselves in giving our team exposure to the wide range of services provided by Buckinghamshire Council and facilitating career progression and are pleased to list social workers, team managers, data analysts, quality standards officers to name a few as our former colleagues who have developed from the start of their career in the Customer Service Centre. Please see the attached job summary for further information on the role and person specification. Any-Desk: As an \xe2\x80\x98any-desk\xe2\x80\x99 worker, you\xe2\x80\x99ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office every day initially but this reduces following a successful probation period of 6 months and you will have the opportunity to work from home a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements*.

• subject to current Government Covid-19 Guidance

About you

Whether you\xe2\x80\x99re seeking your first full-time role or looking to build on a great track record of customer service, you\xe2\x80\x99ll fit right in here. Because you really care about the people who contact us. Determined to make a difference, you know how to make connections with all sorts of people \xe2\x80\x93 by phone, online and in your friendly team. We\xe2\x80\x99ll expect you to be computer literate and to input data and use multiple systems at the same time. The skills to able to take accurate notes and complete forms while speaking with customers is required. Being a good multi-tasker and able to work at a fast pass is advantageous. We\xe2\x80\x99ll provide all the training you need in our systems.

Other information

Please see the attached job summary for further information. Where our roles are customer-facing and you are required to speak to members of the public, the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the role. Our commitment to work-life balance and adapting ways of working is shaping our working lives for the better. Our customer service centres currently operate three face to face centres in Aylesbury, Wycombe. We are currently operating a hybrid work style with 2 days in the office and 3 days working from home following a successful six month probation period. We are ideally looking for candidates who would be happy to work our Aylesbury office and support our face to face visitors. This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are \xe2\x80\x93 Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy. By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that\xe2\x80\x99s why we\xe2\x80\x99re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation. From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it\xe2\x80\x99s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments. We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Resources cover a wide range of specialisms, including Human Resources, Finance, ICT and Business Operations. Our main focus is supporting the other directorates to provide the best possible service to our residents. To do that, we have to make sure we have the right people in the right roles across the organisation. From our finance teams, working strategically to ensure the best value from public money; to HR keeping our employees healthy and happy, each service is vital in making sure Buckinghamshire Council has what it needs to run effectively and efficiently. As well as providing high quality services to other areas of the Council, you could also be helping us build on the revenue which comes from our external clients. If you are ambitious, customer-focussed and bursting with new ideas, we want to hear from you.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That\xe2\x80\x99s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Caf\xc3\xa9s, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. We also offer a salary sacrifice personal car lease scheme and the opportunity to gain membership to Costco. We have discounted gym memberships, Travel discounts with Arriva and much more. https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/