Collections & Customer Support Advisor

Pertemps; Swindon; On-site; GBP 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water and wastewater company in Swindon seeks a Collections & Customer Support Advisor to engage with customers and provide solutions during challenging times. The role emphasizes empathy, effective communication, and problem-solving skills. You will be part of a team dedicated to helping customers manage their accounts with care and professionalism. This position offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits, ensuring a meaningful career opportunity.

Benefits

Competitive salary starting at £26,995 per annum

24 days holiday per year

Performance-related pay plan

Generous Pension Scheme

Access to health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• Experience in customer service or financial discussions is essential.
• Ability to manage sensitive conversations with professionalism.
• Must demonstrate a customer-focused mindset.

Responsibilities

• Engage with customers through various communication channels.
• Offer guidance and solutions for account management.
• Negotiate realistic payment plans with customers.

Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Empathy and compassion

Strong problem-solving skills

Keen attention to detail

Customer-focused mindset

Relevant experience in customer service

IT proficiency

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Overview

Join our team as a Collections & Customer Support Advisor and make a meaningful impact! Do you thrive on delivering exceptional customer service and helping people navigate difficult situations? If so, we want to hear from you. We’re looking for compassionate and committed individuals to join us as Collections & Customer Support Advisors. In this role, you'll engage directly with customers, offering support, practical solutions, and guidance to help them manage their accounts while working towards fair and positive outcomes for everyone involved.

This isn’t your typical collection's role. It’s a chance to make a real impact by supporting customers, building meaningful connections, and being a trusted voice during challenging times.

What you’ll be doing as a Collections & Customer Support Advisor

As a valued member of our friendly and professional team, you'll engage with customers to understand their unique situations, offer reassurance, and collaborate on solutions that support both their needs and the business.

The key responsibilities are:

• Engage with customers: communicate via phone, email, and letter to provide support and address account concerns.
• Offer guidance and solutions: assess each customer’s situation and recommend appropriate options to help them manage their accounts effectively.
• Handle sensitive conversations effectively: approach customer concerns with professionalism, patience, and empathy.
• Negotiate payment plans: collaborate with customers to develop realistic and sustainable payment solutions based on their financial needs.
• Identify and escalate issues: pinpoint accounts requiring further intervention and refer them to the appropriate team for additional support.
• Maintain accurate records: document all customer interactions to ensure transparency, compliance, and continuity of service.
• Assist vulnerable customers: identify individuals requiring extra support and connect them with helpful resources or services.

Our Collections department is currently based at our Walnut Court office in Kembrey Park, Swindon. We’ll be moving our Swindon office from Walnut Court to Newbridge Square in Spring 2026.

Training and working hours

To set you up for success, you’ll receive full on-site training during your probation period, which is a minimum of six months:

• Mandatory training is carried out between 9:00 am – 5:00 pm for four weeks, starting on day 1 in role
• Working hours (post-training): Rotating shift pattern, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am – 8:00 pm

Essential criteria

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills: engaging with every customer in a professional and friendly way via various channels, including telephone and email
• Empathy and compassion: actively listening to customers, providing support with patience and understanding.
• Strong problem-solving skills: approach challenges thoughtfully, finding fair and practical solutions.
• Keen attention to detail: ensuring accuracy in every interaction and maintaining thorough, precise records.
• Customer-focused mindset: driven by a passion for helping people and creating positive outcomes.
• Relevant experience: background in customer service, credit control, or roles involving financial discussions.
• IT proficiency: comfortable using Microsoft Office and navigating between multiple systems efficiently.

What’s in it for you?

This role is more than just a job; it’s an opportunity to develop your skills and be part of a company that truly values its people.

• Competitive salary starting at £26,995 per annum
• 24 days holiday per year, increasing to 28 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to both company and individual performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance

Find out more about our benefits and perks.

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values.

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits. If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.