Operational Delivery Professional - Wigan

Are you passionate about people? Do you pride yourself on delivering excellent customer service? Do you want a career with real development opportunities?

Yes. Then our Operational Delivery Professional roles could be for you.

Retirement Services is the part of DWP that deals with claims for State Pension and a range of other benefits for people of retirement age and those with caring responsibilities. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a fast moving and critical area of public service delivery. Retirement Services is a service delivery organisation with customers, quality and service at the heart of what we do.

As part of one of the biggest organisations in the UK, there are fantastic opportunities to develop and progress and we'd love to hear from you if this is somewhere where you could make a difference.

The roles will be based in Wigan, Griffin House, Bryn Road, Wigan, WN4 8SS

What you will do:

These are telephony- focused roles in our busy Service Centre. As part of a supportive and welcoming team, you will provide excellent customer service, primarily through inbound and outbound telephone contact. The roles are fast paced, rewarding and central to supporting our customers across the UK.

While you will occasionally support customers digitally, the core and essential requirement of the Operational Delivery Professional role is telephony work. This involves spending the majority of your working day handling telephone calls while using a headset, managing conversations professionally, and resolving customer queries in real time.

There are no alternative non-telephony deployment options within this role.

Our telephone lines are currently open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. This is subject to change; the working hours may be extended and also include Saturday working in the future depending on business need.

Your daily responsibilities will include:

• Making and receiving telephone calls while addressing queries and progressing new/existing benefit claims (multi-tasking).
• Taking ownership of cases, working with colleagues across DWP to ensure queries are resolved, benefit payment amounts are correct and paid on time.
• Handling sensitive and sometimes challenging telephone calls, in a positive, compassionate and professional manner.
• Ensuring all information provided to customers is accurate, timely and easy to understand.
• Making decisions by examining the available facts, adhering to current guidance.
• Taking responsibility for personal development by keeping up to date with DWP policies and accessing appropriate learning.

What we are looking for

• People who can confidently use the telephone. This will be your key task, and you will spend most of your day on the telephone receiving inbound and making outbound calls. (Essential Skill). Prior telephony/contact centre experience is desirable but not essential.
• People with strong verbal and written skills, including the ability to communicate detailed information to others clearly so it is easy to understand (The ability to effectively communicate in English, both verbally and in writing is an Essential Skill).
• Enthusiastic people who are passionate about providing a really positive, efficient customer experience, ensuring that everybody you supports gets great customer service.
• People who are resilient and can remain calm in challenging situations. Sometimes difficult conversations on the telephone with our customers are needed, and we need you to be able to successfully resolve queries in what can be challenging and sensitive situations.
• People who are hardworking, well organised and can balance and prioritise a variety of tasks.
• People who can gather and understand sometimes complex information, using guidance and legislation to make decisions.
• Digitally competent people who can navigate multiple IT systems.

Things to note

• When you first start in the role, you will be required to undertake full time (37 hours per week) 100% office-based training to ensure you gain the knowledge, skills and confidence required to support our customers. This will be followed by a further full time 100% office-based period of consolidation, to embed your training and ensure quality standards are met. Overall, the training and consolidation period will last up to 26 weeks. Attendance during these phases is mandatory and non-negotiable and you must be fully committed to completing the training and attending the office as required.
• You must be able to travel to and work on site, in person.
• You must be able to communicate with customers via the telephone and digitally. This is an essential requirement.
• You must be able to work in a fast paced, busy environment, as part of a team and independently.