Customer Service Advisor

Overview

Are you a great team player and confident communicator? If so, we want to hear from you!

We have an exciting opportunity for a Customer Service Advisor to join our team, helping the people of Maidstone access the services we deliver. We do this over the phone, through promotion of our online services, webchat, emails, social media, and face-to-face.

You will be working in a busy and challenging environment answering customer enquiries across a range of contact methods. It is a fast-paced department where no two days are the same, so you will need to be resilient and open to learning something new every day.

With supporting customers at the heart of the job, you will be polite and empathetic to the people who contact us. Through the use of positive language, you will also need to be firm and not afraid to challenge difficult behaviours at times.

This is a full time role working 37 hours per week on a fixed term contract for a period of 12 months.

Key requirements:

• Educated to GCSE standard (or equivalent, including English & Maths at a grade 4 or above)
• Relevant experience in a customer service environment (a minimum 6 months in a contact centre or dealing with challenging customers over the telephone)
• The ability to work on various computer systems at the same time. You will need accurate keyboard skills with the ability to talk and type at the same time (a quick typing speed would be ideal)
• Excellent communication skills, including listening and using simple language with the ability to remain calm and professional at all times

The Council considers these to be customer focused roles and the ability to converse at ease with customers adapting communication style to suit differing audiences and provide advice in accurate spoken English is fundamental to the role.

Maidstone Borough Council is a confident organisation with ambition and aspirations to deliver high quality services to our residents and local businesses. We strive to make the borough an attractive place for all and secure a successful economy. We continue to build on our strengths - assets, knowledge and expertise and our track record for innovation and improvement to create a financially sustainable future so that we can continue with our undiminished plans.

We will only achieve the results we are aiming for through the talents and hard work of all our people. You are encouraged to become part of our vision and in return you can expect support, training, and fair reward from us. We will give you the opportunity to develop the skills to do your job well and create a positive working environment where your ideas about improving how we do things are valued and we manage the changes needed for new ways of working well.

Following the submission of your application form, it will be reviewed by the recruiting manager. You will initially be invited for a telephone interview and then those that are successful in securing a face to face interview can expect job specific interview assessment, and an opportunity to shadow with one of the team.

Maidstone Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employee and volunteers to share this commitment.

The Council considers that the successful applicant will have access to the Government’s secure network and will need to have a Baseline Personnel Security Standard check completed. In addition to the normal pre-employment checks this requires a criminal record check for unspent convictions and verification of employment history for the preceding 3 years. Where the 3 years of employment history cannot be verified through the most recent employment reference, you will need to provide a copy of your HMRC PAYE record for the 3-year period and will need to explain the reasons for any gaps in employment.

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact Louise Goodsell, Customer Services Manager on

Job Description and

Person Specification:

Interview Date: TBC