Customer Services Officer

Oldham; Oldham; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

LGPS pension scheme

Discounted gym membership

Staff discount scheme

Cycle to Work

Wellbeing support

Staff recognition and events

Peer support groups

Job summary

Oldham Council is seeking a Customer Support Officer for a fixed-term 6-month contract in Oldham. You will provide resident-focused service via telephone or face-to-face interactions, aiming to resolve enquiries at first point of contact and support team objectives.

The role handles varied inquiries and requires empathy and professionalism. The post involves 36.66 hours per week at £27,274–£29,071 per annum; the location is Oldham OL1 1HD, with a closing date of 30 October 2026.

Qualifications

• Empathy when dealing with vulnerable and challenging customers.
• Polite, courteous and efficient customer service to colleagues and service users.
• Organisational skills to meet deadlines and re-prioritise work when needed.
• Ability to work effectively with others to meet deadlines and standards.

Responsibilities

• Deal with customers professionally to resolve enquiries at first point of contact.
• Handle complex and sensitive calls, face-to-face enquiries, emails and live chat.
• Demonstrate empathy while delivering accurate information and advice.
• Balance customer needs with business requirements to achieve positive outcomes.
• Obtain information necessary to process or resolve queries and escalate when appropriate.

Skills

Empathy

Customer service

Organisation

Teamwork

Job description

Resources

Customer Operations

Customer Support Officer

Ref: 001832

Contract: Fixed Term (6 months)

Salary: £27,274 - £29,071 per annum (Grade 3)

Hours: 36.66 per week

Location: Oldham Council, Spindles Shopping Centre, Oldham OL1 1HD

Closing Date: Frriday 30 October 2026

Interview Date: TBC

Role Overview

To provide a resident focused telephone or face to face service to customers including complex enquiries, ensuring where possible each enquiry is resolved at first point of contact; to contribute to the service’s delivery and achievement of their team objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• To deal with customers in a professional and courteous manner that demonstrates excellent customer care skills and is focussed upon resolving the customer’s enquiry, ensuring that information given is accurate and to the highest quality.
• To handle complex and sensitive telephone calls, face to face enquiries, emails, live chat communication etc., for a variety of different services and the switchboard
• To demonstrate empathy when handling sensitive situations whilst also remaining assertive in the delivery of advice.
• To successfully balance the needs of the customer with those of the business to achieve a positive outcome for all.
• To take responsibility for obtaining all information necessary to process or resolve a query, only escalating it to others where this is appropriate.

Key Requirements

To succeed in this role, you will be able to:

• Ability to demonstrate empathy when dealing with vulnerable and challenging customers.
• Customer service skills to deliver polite, courteous and efficient service to colleagues, partners and service users
• Organisational skills to complete tasks to deadlines, re-prioritising own work if necessary
• Teamworking skills to work effectively with others to meet deadlines and complete work to the required standard

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and Oldham Plan for further information

Our Values and Behaviours:

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

Our Benefits Package:

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment:

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice

Important Information:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc