Customer Services Officer (Housing)

New Forest District Council; Lyndhurst; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 30,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site parking

Hybrid working

Local Government pension scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Annual leave (23-24 days pro rata)

Job summary

New Forest District Council is recruiting for a part-time Housing Support Hub adviser within Housing Resident Services. You will handle a wide range of calls from residents, process maintenance requests, and manage tenancy queries, with strong ICT and admin skills.

This role offers 24 hours per week with fixed hours, hybrid working (50% office-based), on-site parking, and a local government pension. Training and development are provided in a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• Excellent customer service and telephone manner.
• Strong administrative and ICT skills are essential.
• Experience in a customer-focused environment is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Handle a wide range of resident calls and enquiries.
• Process reactive maintenance requests and tenancy queries.
• Take rent payments and manage rent arrears.
• Liaise with residents, colleagues and other departments daily.

Skills

Customer service

Telephone etiquette

Organisational skills

ICT proficiency

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Excel

CRM software

Orchard

Unit4 Business World

Job description

Do you enjoy providing excellent customer service? The Housing Resident Services dedicated Housing Support Hub is the first point of contact for our Housing residents for a range of Housing related issues. As part of a friendly and professional team you will be responsible for handling a wide range of calls from our residents, whilst supporting the wider Housing teams. Enquiries are predominantly received by phone but also email and web contact, as well as from other departments within the Council. Team members are expected to have a good all-round knowledge of the service area(s) to be able to advise customers accordingly and ideally resolve as many enquiries as possible without the need to refer on to other departments. In addition to call handling, functions include processing reactive maintenance requests, answering queries relating to Estate Management and other tenancy issues, taking payments for rent and dealing with rent arrears. Looking for a challenge? This is a challenging and diverse role that requires great ICT skills and the ability to quickly learn new systems. This is essential together with excellent communication skills in order to effectively liaise with residents, colleagues and other departments on a daily basis and manage sometimes challenging and upsetting calls. You will also possess very good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise different work activities to meet changing deadlines in a busy contact centre environment. Hours: This is a part time role for 24 hours per week. Monday: 08:30 to 17:15 (8.25 hours with 30 minutes unpaid break) Tuesday: 08.45 -17.15 (8 with 30 minutes unpaid break) Friday: 08:30 to16:45 (7.75 30 minutes unpaid break) The hours for this role are fixed as listed above. Due to the position being customer-facing and aligned with our telephone operating hours, there is no availability for flexible working.

What’s in it for you? Although no formal qualification is required the successful candidate must have excellent Customer Service skills and telephone manner along with strong administrative skills. Experience of working in a similar Customer focused environment is essential. Candidates should possess very good ICT skills in a range of software such as Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel, and a knowledge of specialist software (such as CRM, Orchard, and Unit 4 Business World etc) would be an advantage. As the Council continue to work on develop our technology, systems and resource to meet the changing need of our residents a willingness and ability to adapt to ever changing technology is also important.

New Forest District Council directly manages over 5000 Council homes and provides both planned, cyclical and responsive maintenance and repairs service to our tenants through a large team of highly skilled trades people. As one of the largest districts in the country, with 6 towns and a close relationship with neighbouring conurbations, the New Forest provides a supportive environment in which everyone who works for us can help drive our aims. We believe that all our employees make a valuable contribution to the work of the council and that's why we encourage a trusting and open culture where each employee is supported and respected equally. We also recognise the value of a highly motivated and engaged workforce, and we actively promote a good work/life balance.

• £27,939 - £30,372 per annum (pro rata) Appointment will typically be made at the bottom of the scale. (Pay award pending).
• 23 -24 days leave (pro rata) plus an additional 5 days for 5 years local authority continuous service.
• Local Government pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme (free 24 hour legal, financial and personal advice for employees).
• On site parking
• Hybrid working (50% of hours office based).
• 24 Hours per week (Set hours)