Community Support Technical & Training Officer

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

Customer Services is one of the largest departments in Coventry City Council and are the front face of the organisation.  We are usually the first port of call for customer enquiries across the council.  Our fast-paced telephone teams deal with thousands of calls and emails a week, we have a dynamic Customer Service Centre with around 2500 visitors a week approaching us for a wide range of enquiries from paying their council tax to seeking help to access services and dedicated support teams who process bookings, timesheets and general administration work for the whole organisation.

You may be based in one of several locations, we have a Customer Service Centre right in the heart of the city; Friargate – a large purpose built office by the train station along with several reception points across the city.

Joining Customer Services is a really good stepping stone into a long term career with the Council, depending on the role you are offered you will learn about other parts of the organisation

We want every single customer to have a positive experience when approaching the council and would welcome you being part of the team.

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

We have 1x Fixed Term Fulltime role. This fixed term contract will be until 31st March 2024. 

The Community Support Team was established to assist households initially through the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently the cost-of-living crisis.

The team has evolved since then, now contacting customers that have asked for help; understanding their circumstances and helping them to solve issues – this may mean arranging for food bank assistance, signposting to local community groups, signing up for online deliveries, or referring for longer-term support. 

Your duties will include:

·         Training new starters.

·         Providing support to team members around complex cases and situations and individual financial circumstances.

·         Producing and maintaining process guides.

·         Updating the team with system and process changes, at times providing in depth face to face training where needed.

·         Liaising with managers around feedback from the team, specifically around processes and systems.

·         Managing inboxes and allocating work, to ensure timescales are maintained.

·         Face to Face contact with customers to resolve issues, where other forms of communication prove difficult

We would expect you to have:

·         In depth knowledge of the Household Support Fund.

·         The ability to make quick and independent decisions based on the information available.

·         Experience of dealing with members of the public, including vulnerable, challenging, and difficult people.

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 21st November 2023, successful applicants with then be invited to an assessment. This will consist of a competency-based interview and a work based technical test.

We will use this interview to assess your English fluency as set out in part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016.  We have a duty to ensure our employees have the necessary standard of spoken English in all public sector customer facing roles.

If you would like to find out more about the role or have any questions, please approach Nicole Lane for an informal chat on 02476 977524.

Applicants that have been through a Customer Services Assessment Centre and have been unsuccessful in the last 12 months need not apply

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

• Care about delivering an excellent service to every internal and external customer
• Excellent communication skills, confident in face to face, telephone and written activity
• Ability to support a diverse customer base
• Ability to deliver in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to respond to change positively
• To Be Flexible to the needs of the service
• Good IT skills
• An understanding of the range of services provided by the council.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 4800 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies