Customer Services Officer

This role has a starting salary of £32,512 per annum, based on a 36 hour working week. This is a 12 month fixed term / secondment opportunity.

We are excited to be hiring a new Customer Services Officer to join our excellent Highways, Infrastructure and Planning service. This is a fixed term full time role working Monday to Friday, 9-5 with the office based at Merrow Complex, Guildford, Surrey, GU4 7BQ. Agile working can be discussed after full training in the role.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Role

The Customer Service team in the Highway Infrastructure and Planning group provide excellent customer service in order to meet the demands of over 80,000 customer queries per year and are responsible for ensuring the effective management, maintenance and improvement of all highway assets.

As a Customer Service Officer within a team of 10, you will be responding to a high volume and wide range of complex enquiries regarding issues on the highway. This includes responding to formal complaints and freedom of information requests which requires the ability to investigate, collate and prepare responses. Contacts with customers are mainly written with occasional calls that have been escalated from our contact centre. You will also be supporting the wider teams in highways with their enquiries ensuring timescales are met.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to manage customer expectations and provide great customer service
• Experience in dealing with complex customer enquiries and responding to complaints
• A high level of administrative/organisational and analytical skills
• Ability to prioritise and plan your own workload in the context of conflicting priorities to meet tight deadlines and work on your own initiative
• Good IT skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office and a methodical approach to information gathering, investigation, recording and reporting
• A positive, self-motivated, tenacious person with a can do attitude and a desire to learn and continuously improve with the ability to work independently as well as as part of a team

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 29th October 2024 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.