Customer Service Officer

Do you have experience working in a fast-paced customer service role, where you provide crucial information, resolve queries with care and skilfully prioritise calls? Can you showcase exceptional communication skills, allowing you to convey often technical information to customers in a way that truly resonates with them?

If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!

We are seeking two Customer Service Officers to join the Highways Customer Service Hub and deliver an efficient customer journey by handing first-level escalations, keeping customers informed and ensuring all issues are resolved within agreed timescales.

Salary: £28,624 to £31,067 per annum, (pro rata for part time)

Contract type: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time and/or part-time (up to 37 hours per week)

Location: County Hall Chichester, West Street, Chichester, P019 1RQ. There will also be a requirement to work from our other offices and depots across West Sussex County.

Interview date: Thursday 08 May and Friday 09 May 2025

We are open to discussing and considering part time hours that would suit the right candidate. Please clearly indicate on your application whether you are interested in a full-time or part-time position and which days/times would be suitable for you.

This is predominantly a desk-based role, with the requirement to take frequent phone calls and manage regular interruptions. You will need to be able to work flexibly during the week to cover the team hours between 8am and 6pm. You will also need to be able to travel independently to our offices and depots across West Sussex, some of which are not served by public transport.

About the job

In this role, you will provide a transactional front-line service direct to customers and deliver a truly customer-focused service which delivers 'customer excellence' consistently across the Highways and Transport service.

Any given day can often feel quite different from the next! There will be some key responsibilities likely to feature in this role including:

• Being the essential contact point for providing solutions to customer enquiries through phone, email, letter and social media, including logging customer enquiries and producing well written letters and emails.
• Proactively engaging with the community and Councillors, keeping them up to date with planned activity across Highways.
• Working collaboratively with the Customer Service Centre, Highways Officers and contractors, ensuring reports and required works are efficiently coordinated and communicated.
• Supporting the Highways and Transport service by taking ownership and coordinating Freedom of Information responses, ensuring responses are of the highest quality and provided within the stated timescale.

If you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and relish being part of a close-knit team, supporting colleagues to deliver better outcomes for the residents of West Sussex, then this role could for you.

Required experience and skills

• Experience of working in a busy customer service role, providing information, resolving queries and prioritising calls.
• Educated to GCSE standard or equivalent qualifications, or demonstrable comparable experience.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to confidently build relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders at all levels.
• High IT competency including a good working knowledge of Microsoft packages, specialist software, social media and other required IT products.
• A basic knowledge of road maintenance and repair, to be able to explain the different stages of the process to a customer with some clarity.
• Keen attention to detail, able to prioritise between competing demands and to remain calm in challenging situations.

Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information on the Key Skills and experience required.

Rewards and benefits

From flexible working (where possible) to access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

You will benefit from 25 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 5 years' service plus the opportunity to buy additional leave and an excellent local government pension scheme.

A range of discounts give our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is EIE01378.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact hiring manager Lucy Allen at lucy.allen2@westsussex.gov.uk

For an informal conversation regarding the application process, please contact Rosa Siracusa (Recruitment Specialist) at Rosa.Siracusa@westsussex.gov.uk .

For issues or queries regarding your application please contact hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk.

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and what experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV and include whether you would be interested in a full time or part time position and which hours/days you would be available to undertake, if possible.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.

RSi