Customer Service Advisor

Customer Services have an exciting opportunity for exceptional individuals with a passion for customer excellence to join our team.

As a Customer Service Advisor, you will be the front door of West Northamptonshire Council and will use your skills, knowledge, and initiative to provide first-class and comprehensive advice, support, and information to the people in our community.

You will be part of a high-performing team that resolves a variety of enquiries, raises requests for service, and assists distressed and/or vulnerable customers in a supportive and professional manner in our One-Stop Shop and/or Contact Centre.

The role will provide training in a range of service areas that our customers access via telephone, face-to-face, email, and online channels. You must demonstrate excellent communication and listening skills to assist our customers in accessing services through the West Northants website and our various ‘self-serve’ facilities.

Successful candidates will be enthusiastic about helping people, have fantastic interpersonal skills, can navigate complex information, and have a can-do attitude.

We are a diverse and dynamic team working across a range of venues in a hybrid, flexible way.

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

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 27 days annual leave per year, 28 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.
• 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
• 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.

The council is in the process of implementing a new pay structure and terms and conditions which will be applicable to this role.  The outcome could result in a future variation to the advertised salary, and this will be discussed at interview.

In this role, you will be required to support our customers with a variety of enquiries, and you will work closely with other teams to ensure our customers receive a seamless experience.

• 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 to maintain best practises 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 business.

Previous customer service experience is essential, along with good communication skills, natural empathy, experience managing conflict, and a good sense of humour.

To succeed in this challenging role, you must be flexible and able to demonstrate the skills necessary to work under pressure within a team environment.

We are looking for like-minded colleagues who:

• Can provide an effective customer-focused service.
• Can work closely with colleagues to seek feedback and resolve complaints.
• Meet performance targets.
• Have a flexible approach.
• A 'can-do' attitude
• Excellent communication and listening skills
• Able to work as a team
• Attention to Detail
• Engaging Personality
• Problem-Solver
• These roles will be based in Northampton, but there are also opportunities within our Towcester and Daventry offices.

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. 

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.