Customer Service Officer

The City Helpdesk (CHD) is Portsmouth City Council's main customer contact centre and the first point of contact for residents and visitors. The team handles over 130,000 calls a year across more than 20 council services, as well as email enquiries, contact forms, reception duties at the Civic Offices, in‑person support, cashiers, and corporate complaints. The Role If you're passionate about improving the experience of residents and visitors in Portsmouth, this role offers the chance to make a real difference.

As aCustomer Services Officer, you will:

• Start by handling telephone enquiries and written correspondence.
• Progress to reception duties and dealing with more complex written enquiries, including social media responses.
• Support customers by resolving issues directly, following procedures, or identifying and liaising with the correct internal teams.
• Promote excellent customer service and contribute to the council's digital channel‑shift strategy.
• Help ensure that even in a fast‑changing environment, customers receive high‑quality support.

Full training is provided, but you'll also need confidence in handling unexpected or unclear enquiries.

• Strong passion for delivering excellent customer service.
• Confident managing enquiries via telephone, email, and face‑to‑face.
• Experience dealing with challenging situations or individuals.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Flexible, organised and able to remain calm under pressure.
• Active listening skills, empathy, and a non‑judgemental approach.
• A genuine team player who builds positive, supportive working relationships.
• Problem‑solving ability and willingness to take initiative where needed.
• Creative thinking and confidence to identify when processes aren't working and escalated issues appropriately.

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people‑focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.

Learn more about our values and behaviours.

Working in Civic for probation period, once passed may work 1 day per week WFH where business needs allow.