Customer Specialist

Essex County Council; Colchester; Hybrid; GBP 18,000 - 25,000; Part time

Job summary

Join Essex County Council as a Customer Specialist in the Citizen Contact Centre. In this part-time role, you'll be a key point of contact for residents, offering prompt responses to inquiries while contributing to a positive organizational image. Flexible working options, including the chance to work remotely after training, make this role particularly appealing, along with ample opportunities for learning and development.

Benefits

Healthy work life balance; flexible and hybrid working options.

Wide range of learning and development opportunities.

IT equipment and home-working equipment supplied.

26 days annual leave + bank holidays + choice to buy extra.

Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme.

Access to health and wellbeing support platform.

Up to 4 days per annum volunteering leave.

Qualifications

• Experience of providing customer service across a large organisation.
• Well-developed working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, especially Microsoft Teams.
• Strong telephone manner; ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for residents, providing efficient responses to service queries.
• Promote a positive image of Essex County Council through various communication channels.

Skills

Customer service

Microsoft Office

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Empathy

Job description

View more categories View less categories Sector Corporate Services ,Customer Services Job role Officer Contract Type Part Time

Our Citizen Contact Centre team are recruiting 2 Customer Specialists to join their dedicated team We are currently recruiting to the following positions.

• 2x Part Time Permanent 18 hr contracts to be worked over 3 x 6 hr days per week.

As an anywhere worker, you may be able to work from home or remotely most of the time, for certain tasks or limited days or hours. The successful candidates will need to attend the office during the training period, once training has been complete you may be able to work from home and attend the office at least once every 3 weeks. Please note this may change depending on business needs.

As part of our inbound contact centre team, you will be the first point of contact for residents, providing prompt and efficient responses to a variety of council service queries. Your role will be crucial in promoting a positive image of Essex County Council through various communication channels, including email, telephone, and social media.

What's in it for you?

• Healthy work life balance; flexible and hybrid working options.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities.
• IT equipment and home-working equipment supplied.
• 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + choice to buy extra.
• Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme.
• Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards.
• Access to our health and wellbeing support platform with Vita Health Group.
• Up to 4 days per annum volunteering leave.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Experience of providing customer service across a large organisation.
• Well-developed working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications including Microsoft Teams.
• A strong telephone manner with the ability to communicate well orally and in writing.
• Good typing skills with the ability to work at speed and to criteria accurately.
• Ability to communicate, both verbal and written, in a manner which is easily understood.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and other professionals.
• An empathetic and resilient approach to work.
• A willingness to learn and gain knowledge.
• Experience of receiving calls from the public or working in a Public Sector customer service role would be advantageous.

Interviews will be conducted via an Assessment Day at Rowan House, Colchester week commencing 21/7/25. The layout of the day will be as follows:

• Customer Service assessments from 10am until 12pm.
• Candidates who meet the benchmark on these assessments will be invited to stay for a competency-based interview, which will take place the same day between 1pm and 4pm.
• Interview times to be confirmed on the day for those who meet the benchmark.

We have a target start date for these positions as August 26th 2025, pending successful completion of Essex County Council Employment Vetting.

To read more about us please visit: Climate, Environment and Customer Services

Company

Why Essex?

Essex County Council covers 1,300 square miles from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary. From the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career.

We celebrate difference and work to ensure that no one is disadvantaged when accessing services, employment or public life in Essex. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interviewing all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. We’re also committed to interviewing all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

We recruit creative, ambitious, talented people, and free them up to think – and deliver – big.

We’ve made substantial changes in recent years, reorganising how we’re structured and how we work, so we can protect the most vulnerable and enable our economy to grow. Join us and you’ll be trusted to take control, manage change and make a lasting impact. You’ll be able to call upon external partners and suppliers to help you deliver. More importantly, talented, trailblazing colleagues – including many industry-leaders – will be right by your side to share ideas, knowledge and experience.

Here are some of the things we have in place to give our employees a sense of belonging, involvement and recognition.

Employee Networks:

• Ethnically Diverse Employee Network (EDEN)
• Carers Forum
• Disabled Employees Network
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Network
• Parents Network
• Women’s Network
• Men’s Network
• Young People and Apprentice Network.

You Make The Difference’ Awards- giving employees the opportunity to nominate individuals or teams who go above and beyond for our residents.

Employee Surveys – where we listen to the voices of our people and take action on what we hear.

Employee Panels – giving you the opportunity to feed back on a range of policies and initiatives, network with colleagues and influence far-reaching changes.

Learning and Development

We have developed diverse learning opportunities to support our people to grow both personally and professionally. This includes:

• A large suite of online training and tools
• Dedicated learning events such as ‘LearnFest’ – our flagship annual celebration of learning
• Apprenticeships for both new and existing colleagues
• Financial support to achieve professional qualifications
• Support from subject matter experts
• The opportunity to share your own expertise to up-skill colleagues
• Leadership and executive coaching

Rewards and Benefits

• Family Friendly flexible Working
• Generous holiday and special leave allowances (including the option to purchase extra holiday)
• Life Assurance of three times annual salary
• Volunteering leave (up to 4 days per year)
• Employee wellbeing and counselling
• Travel discounts & season ticket loans
• Learning and Development opportunities/coaching & mentoring
• Payment of professional fees for approved professions
• Lease car scheme (dependent on business needs)
• Up to £8,000 relocation package (subject to terms and conditions)

You’ll also have access to MyReward, a unique platform for Essex County Council employees to gain various discounts and savings.

At Essex County Council we are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our people. We work closely with our employees to provide wellbeing support based on their needs. We strive to enable the right environment, conditions, and behaviours so individual and organisational wellbeing is embedded in everything we do.

Website https://workingforessex.com/ Telephone [phone] Location County Hall
Market Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 1QH
United Kingdom

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