We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications

About Us:

Our focus at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is simple, yet effective. We are committed to delivering the best possible services to our local community, so we make every decision based on what would best serve our local population and the businesses that exist within our neighbourhoods. Our Contact Centre is a key part of this ambition. As the first point of contact for multiple services within the council, our team handle everything from resident parking queries and issues relating to litter, through to social services queries and family matters.

The Role:

Providing help, information, advice and redirection to members of our local community, you will connect with local residents both via telephone and through email. Striving to deliver the highest levels of customer service during every interaction, you will establish the nature of the enquiry and decide on its degree of urgency. This will involve listening to and gently questioning the person you are speaking to or emailing, in order to understand the full details of the issue and react appropriately.

It is possible that English may not be the customer’s first language, or that they may initially be upset, but through perseverance, you will help them find the best way to communicate their reason for getting in touch, and find a great solution. With the ability to handle a high volume of calls or emails and get to grips with new systems quickly, you will also handle payments over the phone, update internal systems and support the development of less experienced colleagues. 

For more information on the role, please see the Job Description

About You:

To make the most of this fascinating opportunity, you do not necessarily need any experience in customer services, as we will provide you with comprehensive training and ongoing support. However, you will need plenty of empathy and patience, and you will have great listening skills and attention to detail, as you will be capturing the details of referrals and enquiries. Ready to support customers in a wide variety of challenges, you will be articulate, with a good use of the English language. 

We want you to progress to other areas of the organisation, so you will excel with us if you are keen to learn and develop. In turn, we can offer a generous benefits package that includes a competitive salary, a high-quality pension scheme and generous annual leave, plus the chance to explore new avenues with different departments. Most importantly, you will be a valued member of our team, finding your place in a department where close friendships are formed, in a role in which you will have the scope to make people’s lives better. 

Please apply online explaining how you meet the requirements set out in the person specification and job description.

We work in partnership with Hampshire County Council (HCC) who deliver many transactional services on our behalf. Although most communications will be from HCC, all selection and appointment decisions will be made by RBKC. Certain services are shared across more than one Council area to nearby neighbouring Authorities. This enhances delivery and reduces costs. Your recruitment information will advise if your remit extends beyond RBKC.

We will primarily contact candidates by e-mail throughout the recruitment process, please monitor your email junk / spam folder as our system generated emails may be allocated to these folders by your email settings.

We engage our staff with a variety of learning types including face-to-face and virtual learning because we want to ensure our staff understand our values and behaviours, grow their skills and develop their careers.

Additional information

RBKC is currently inclusively reviewing its pay, reward and benefits framework.

This post is covered by the Fluency Duty, as outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers.

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer – committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.