RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL JOB DESCRIPTION Position Title and Number: Customer Service Advisor Grade: 4 Department: People Directorate Section: Customer Services, Team 12 Responsible to: Responsible for: Customer Service Team Leader NA Overall Purpose of the Post: To provide a front line one stop shop service to members of the public visiting the Council s Customer Service Point and telephoning the Council s call centre, with the overall purpose of resolving 80% of appropriate customer enquiries. Major Objectives: 1. To take responsibility for resolving customer enquiries in professional efficient and sensitive manner, through the provision of accurate information advice and assistance, in accordance with the Council s Customer Care policy. 2. To provide general and specific information and advice to Councillors, partners and external organisations and to positively promote the Council at all times. 3. To maintain positive networking through liaison with all Council departments to actively promote the role of the Customer Services team and establish a responsive and effective service to members of the public. 4. To assist members of the public to make service requests and retrieve information about Council services by promoting alternative service delivery and access channels as appropriate. 5. To positively promote the Council s Corporate Complaints procedure and assist customers as appropriate. Principal duties and responsibilities: 1. To provide information, help and advice to customers, either face to - face, over the telephone, by e-mail, fax correspondence or world wide web. 2. To build relationships with our internal customers and to positively promote the Customer Services Team. 3. To record and maintain customer contact information accurately and in line with the available technology. Page 1 of 6
RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL 4. To undertake working in the call centre and customer service desk on a rotational basis with other staff in the Customer Services Team. 5. To access and retrieve information from Council databases, back end systems and the internet as appropriate, in order to resolve customer enquiries. 6. To actively seek advice from departments to enable one stop enquiry resolution and where appropriate, act as an advocate to pursue service requests on behalf of the customer. 7. To identify and refer enquiries which may require further investigation by a professional officer or external agency sensitively and appropriately, ensuring that urgent matters are dealt with immediately. 8. To receive cash and process debit/credit/on-line payments in line with the Council s financial regulations. 9. To deal with complaints positively, swiftly and in accordance with the Council s complaints procedure. 10. To maintain adequate stock levels of booklets, leaflets, forms and other printed material. 11. to undertake core training and development as required 12. To ensure that no person or group of persons requesting services or information will be treated less favourably than any other person or group of persons on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, marital status, age religion or belief. 13. As a term of employment, the post holder may be required to undertake other duties as may reasonably be required of you in the post and department mentioned above. STANDARD CLAUSES Training You will keep under review your own training and developmental needs and keep yourself informed of current issues and be alert to Rutland County Council s and other relevant bodies training programmes and policies. Health and Safety You will take reasonable care for your health and safety in accordance with the provisions of Health and Safety legislation and Rutland County Council s and Departmental codes of practice and procedures. You will exercise proper care in handling, operating and safeguarding any equipment, vehicle or appliance provided, used or issued by the Council or provided or issued by a third party for individual or collective use in the performance of your duties. Page 2 of 6
Equal Opportunities RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL You will uphold Rutland County Council s Equal Opportunities policies and practices in accordance with the Council s Equal Opportunities Statement and Equality Scheme, to ensure the promotion of fair and high quality services to all. Customer Care You will promote and deliver fair and high quality customer care services that are sensitive and responsive to customers and in accordance with Rutland County Council s Customer Care Policies. Technology Where appropriate you will work with computer and other new technology and associated systems as required and support staff in its use. Risk Management Responsibility You will take reasonable steps to ensure your awareness of any issues identified in strategic or operational Risk Registers that impact on, or might be impacted on by the performance of your duties. You exercise the proper care in carrying out actions to mitigate such risks as directed by your line manager or by corporate or departmental statements of policy. Environment You will familiarise yourself and work in accordance with the County Council s environmental policies and established office and work practices, including, but not limited to, those contained on the Environmental Policies webpage on the Staff Intranet available via the Climate Change intranet pages or from the following link: Environmental Policies webpage Other duties This job description indicates the main areas of activity of this post. From time to time, however, other tasks/duties may be required but these will fall within the general areas of responsibility and grade of the post. Any changes which are of a permanent nature will, following consultation with you, be included in the job description in specific terms and will be formally issued to you. Page 3 of 6
JOB REQUIREMENTS CRITERIA ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE *METHOD OF ASSESSMENT QUALIFICATIONS/ TRAINING/EDUCATION GCSE level: English and Maths grade A C or equivalent Accredited Customer Service qualification e.g. NVQ level 2 EXPERIENCE / KNOWLEDGE Minimum of 1 year s experience of providing information and advice to the public in a Customer Services environment, over the telephone or face to face Experience of providing information and advice to the public within the Public sector Experience in Local Government Experience in using ICT systems to retrieve information to retrieve information Ability to enter information quickly and accurately Experience of using email Experience of Microsoft Office Suite Knowledge of Council services and relevant legislation / policies Page 4 of 6
CRITERIA ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE *METHOD OF ASSESSMENT SKILLS Local knowledge Enthusiastic and self motivated Willingness to learn new information and develop skills Proactive and keen to use own initiative Embraces the need for continuous assessment and feedback Desires to work as part of a team Of smart appearance Integrity EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Awareness of Equal Opportunities and Equalities legislation, particularly in customer services delivery OTHER You will not at any time during your employment (except as so far as is necessary in the course of your duties) or afterwards, disclose any personal information as to the business dealings, practice, accounts or finances of the residents of Rutland or staff. All information held about the practice or in connection with the practice and any of the above is to be regarded as confidential. All notes, memoranda, records and other documents of the employer and in you possession are and shall remain the property of the employer and shall be handed over by you to the employer from time to time on demand and in any event, upon termination of your employment. Full compliance with the Data Protection Act (1988) and the Computer Misuse Act (1990) is required for all RCC posts. You should understand that any breach of this clause may constitute gross misconduct, a disciplinary offence, for which you may Page 5 of 6
be dismissed. Should you breach this clause after your employment has ended, the organisation may take legal action against you. * A = Application Form D = Documentary evidence I = Interview T = Test NOTE: These requirements must be reviewed each time this post becomes vacant. The reviewing officer must sign below. If changed, please submit both the original job description and amended job description to Human Resources. DATE CHANGE - YES/NO PREPARED BY (Name & Position Title) Page 6 of 6