Customer Care Officer

INTERNAL ONLY VACANCY. This post is open to existing Leeds City Council employees only. Applications will not be considered from external candidates.

Job title: Customer Care Officer

Salary: C1 £27,711.00 - £30,060.00

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: Leeds Building Services - LS14 1NZ

Leeds Building Services (LBS) is the in-house service provider for construction, repairs and maintenance works across the Council. The service currently delivers Responsive Repairs, Maintenance and Planned Works to Council Houses across various parts of the City and Council Assets across 800 sites including Schools, the Civic Estate, Offices, Sports and Leisure Centres and Children Homes across the Authority.

As a Customer Care Officer, you¼ thrive on relationship building, providing visibility of the organisation and being responsible for customer care on behalf of the council.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions .

About You

As a Customer Care Officer, you will bring to the role:

• The ability to build relationships with customers to enable effective dispute and complaint resolution.
• The ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines.
• A working knowledge of conflict and dispute resolution techniques.
• Experience in a customer service role or similar, ideally in a related service.
• Experience working within Social Housing sector.
  
  
  

About The Role

This is a great opportunity to move into a vibrant and forward-thinking environment supporting the delivery of a diverse range of construction services. This role will appeal to you if you have a genuine interest in the delivery of public services and a commitment to continuous improvement and delivery of a high-quality service.

As our next Customer Care Officer, you¼ provide a link between customers, contractors, operational teams and commissioning services in all matters relating to operational delivery.

The role is integral to our team to help make Leeds a better place for all.

What We Offer You

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays.
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions.
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements.
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities.
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.
  
  
  

How To Apply

Complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, contact our internal recruitment team at [email protected]

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children or Adultsbarred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy .

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying.To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job Purpose: The Customer Care Officer will provide a link between customers, contractors, operational teams and commissioning services in all matters relating to operational delivery. You will be responsible for customer care on behalf of the service and the council.

You will be required to promote LBS at customer and community events, panels and meetings etc. and represent LBS on all matters relating to customer care and the service offering. This will involve relationship building and providing visibility of the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Act as the main point of contact for customer related issues who are receiving works from LBS e.g. refurbishment or repairs.
• Be a pro-active member of the team with regard to building relationships with commissioning departments and tenant groups.
• Resolve complaints effectively ensuring they are logged appropriately and that any escalations are handed over correctly to the Customer Care Manager and/or relevant Team/Service Managers.
• Work closely with operational teams and provide input into operational decisions ensuring that the customers are represented, and they are the key focus throughout.
• Responsible for all customer care procedures within LBS.
• Ensure that all correspondence is responded to within agreed timescales ensuring customers are kept up to date on progress and/or any potential delays.
• Promote customer care within the service and provide specific support as and when required.
• Carry out visits to customershomes to carry out induction, agreeing choices, monitor works, investigate complaints and gather feedback.
• To provide customers who may require it, additional support to ensure works can be carried out safely and in a timely manner.
• Assist operational teams in identifying trends in poor levels of satisfaction and provide input into any associated service improvement activity.
• Produce reporting on customer service/satisfaction of the relevant service area.
• Identify and report any safeguarding concerns via the appropriate route.
• Assist and represent with events such as tenant choice events, community events and any relevant promotional events such as careers/apprenticeship events.
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• To participate in appraisal, training and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills.
• To improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
• To work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
• Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service by attending relevant meetings, training days/events as requested.
• Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures e.g. child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding and promoting the values, standards and equal opportunities of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment or victimisation and any form of abuse of equal opportunities, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
  
  
  

The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications:

• This role will be required to carry out visits to sites and customers homes therefore a full driving license is essential for this role.
  
  
  

Essential requirements: It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

• Excellent communication skills are required for this role to enable the post holder to effectively engage with a diverse customer group.
• Ability to build relationships with customers to enable effective dispute and complaint resolution.
• Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines.
• Ability to work flexibly and on occasion this may include working outside normal working hours to meet organisational and customer needs.
• Good IT, literacy and numeracy skills.
• Ability to prioritise tasks to ensure successful outcomes.
• Able to work flexibly across different work locations and areas as appropriate.
• A working knowledge of conflict and dispute resolution techniques.
• Experience in a customer service role or similar, ideally in a related service.
• Experience working within Social Housing sector.
  
  
  

Essential Behavioural & Other Characteristics

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of
• Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon.
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
• Carry out all duties having regard to an employee responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
• Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
• Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.
  
  
  

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