Customer Services Advisor

HM Revenue & Customs; Portsmouth; Hybrid; GBP 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Join HM Revenue & Customs as a Customer Service Advisor, where you will be at the forefront of supporting customers with their tax inquiries. This permanent role offers a salary of £26,770, with opportunities for career progression and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

Civil Service Pension contributions

Generous leave allowance starting at 25 days

Flexible working arrangements

Coaching and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Comfortable talking on the phone and discussing debt.
• Drive and passion to make a difference.
• Resilience to work in a demanding environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide first-rate customer service via phone and online.
• Assist customers with tax-related inquiries and payments.
• Maintain accurate customer records.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Customer service

Problem-solving

Basic maths skills

Job description

Apply before 2:00 pm on Monday 14th July 2025

Salary

£26,770

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Administrative Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

25

Location

Portsmouth

About the job

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

At HMRC we have a vital purpose. We help people pay the correct amount of tax and provide financial support to families and individuals. We make sure money is available to fund the UK’s public services such as hospitals and schools, answering around 50 million calls and handling 15 million items of customer correspondence every year.

Our services support customers on behalf of the entire department, dealing with a broad range of different and complex customer enquiries.

This is a great chance to start your career with HMRC and we offer real opportunities to progress and develop your career with us or the wider Civil Service if you choose.

We’re striving to be the best customer service organisation in the UK, and we need enthusiastic people to help us achieve this.

Our Customer Service Advisors are the voice of HMRC, using their brilliant communications skills to give our customers the best possible experience.

HMRC is seeking dedicated Customer Service Advisors to join our team.

You'll be the first point of contact for our customers, providing a first-rate service by telephone, email or web chat.

Your can-do attitude and passion for helping people will be key, as we fully train you to navigate various conversations and provide clear, quick information.

We’ll invest in you by providing structured training, development opportunities and a clear path for advancement.

We are proud of our supportive, inclusive culture here at HMRC, with an emphasis on work-life balance.

The work we do is meaningful, from supporting public services to ensuring the timely payment of benefits. We impact society positively; and by joining us, you’ll contribute to a greater cause.

Role Overview

As a Customer Service Advisor at HMRC, you will be the frontline support for our customers, providing essential advice and assistance, predominantly over the phone.

Responsibilities:

• Speaking to customers on the phone, helping them with their questions or issues.
• Helping customers to pay the correct amount of tax at the right time.
• Taking payments by phone and via our online services.
• Creating customer records and keeping them up to date.
• Using webchat and email to support our customers online

(The team you are allocated to is decided when you are successful in your application)

We work a variety of shifts between 7:45am and 8pm, Monday to Saturday, to make sure we can help customers when they need us.

You will work a maximum of one late shift per week (ending at 8pm) and a maximum of 6 Saturdays each year.

The majority of roles within customer services allow you to work from home two days a week if you choose, this includes Saturday and 8 pm shifts.

On the days you attend the office, you will be working in the location shown in the title heading of this advert.

As a flexible employer, we will consider part-time requests. (Part-time is a minimum of 25 hours per week covering variety of shifts. All shift patterns, working days and hours will be discussed with your manager when you join us. Pay and annual leave will be pro-rata if we can agree your request).

During your induction training programme, which will last between 6 -12 weeks, you will be expected to work full time 37 hours per week and your working pattern will be Monday – Friday between 9.00am and 5.00pm. All training will take place in your designated Regional Centre and further details will be confirmed once you start your employment with HMRC. Time off or annual leave is not normally allowed during the first 6 weeks of training.

You can find out more about what it’s like being a Customer Service Advisor at HMRC on the Civil Service Careers website.

Watch these videos to find out more about Customer Service roles at HMRC:

Our Professions – Customer Service Advisor at HMRC

Our Professions – Customer Services Group at HMRC

Our Customer Service Advisor role - all you need to know

Person specification

What are we looking for?

No experience is necessary as you will be fully trained, but we would like you to be comfortable talking on the phone and discussing debt with our customers.

You will also need to be comfortable writing up notes, as this is mainly a phone-based role.

We are looking for individuals with the drive and passion to make a difference to people’s lives, and need people:

With great verbal and written communication skills in English (and Welsh where required)

• dedicated to providing brilliant customer service
• with a can-do attitude and passion for supporting people
• with a resilience to work in a demanding and rewarding environment
• with the ability to provide information quickly and clearly
• comfortable in handling various types of conversations
• to have basic maths skills

There will be a virtual event held on Friday 4th July 11am-12pm. You'll be able to learn more about the role of a Customer Service Advisor and can ask any questions prior to the closing date.

If you wish to attend, please enter your email address on the following form:

https://forms.office.com/e/S8qyPbQh2C

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,770, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £7,755 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRChear from our insiders.

Apply before 2:00 pm on Monday 14th July 2025