Vacancies

Customer Service Advisor

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

About the role

Are you an exceptional individual with a passion for customer excellence, who is enthusiastic about helping people, with a can-do attitude and fantastic interpersonal skills?

Well, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Customer Services Team has an exciting opportunity for you to join our team.

As a Customer Service Advisor, you will be the 'front door' to West Northants Council and part of a high-performing team who resolve a variety of enquiries, handle requests for service, and assist vulnerable customers in a supportive and professional manner. With the aim of providing first-class and comprehensive advice, support, and information to the people in our community.

Successful candidates will possess and demonstrate excellent listening and communication skills, customer-service experience, initiative, the ability to navigate complex information and computer literacy to be able to assist and empower our customers in accessing our services through our various contact channels, ‘self-serve’ facilities and websites.

Training will be provided to enable you to deliver a wide range of Council Services, where you will work closely with other Departments and Partners to ensure our customers receive a seamless and customer focused experience, via the telephone, face-to-face, email, and online channels in our Contact Centre and/or One-Stop Shop.

Finally, we are a diverse and dynamic team who work across a range of venues in a hybrid, flexible way.

What will you be doing?

To succeed in this challenging role you will be required to,

Patiently and actively listen to our customers to address their needs efficiently and effectively.
Accurately record and log interactions with customers, update account information, and can retrieve and articulate this to our customers and partners.
Keep sensitive information and records private and confidential.
Work together, as a team to maintain best practice for efficient communication and delivery of service.
Work well in a target driven environment and deliver on performance targets.
Deal with conflict and challenging situations effectively to balance the needs of our customers and the business.

About you

You must demonstrate emotional intelligence, flexibility, have the skills necessary to work under pressure, and within a team environment.

Having previous experience in a customer service role is essential, along with excellent communication skills, natural empathy, decision making skills, experience managing conflict and challenging situations (and a good sense of humour wouldn't hurt either).

We are looking for like-minded individuals who have/are:

A 'can-do' attitude
Able to work in a team
Attention to detail
Clear communication and listening skills
Engaging and have a friendly personality
Flexible and adaptable.
Able to meet performance targets.
Problem-solving skills
Able to provide exceptional and effective customer-focused service.
Able to work closely with colleagues to seek feedback and resolve complaints

These roles will be based in Northampton and Daventry, but there are also opportunities within our Towcester offices.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
Cycle to Work scheme.
Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
Car Lease scheme
Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
Ongoing training and development opportunities.
A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

We’re a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we’re embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.