74724 - Customer Service Advisor

£25,827 - £27,170
1
12 Months
North East, South West, West Midlands
Birmingham , Bristol , Jarrow
SOUTH TYNESIDE BERKELY WAY LAA JARROW, NE31 1SF, LAA Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, BS1 6DG, LAA Level 3, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH
EO
EO
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Operational Delivery

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Title:    

Senior Customer Service Advisor    

Contract Type:    

Permanent

Grade:    EO    

Salary range (depending on location):    National - £25,827 to £27,170

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.

Location:    

Birmingham, Bristol or South Tyneside

Directorate:    

Case Management    

Team:    

Customer Service Team

Working Pattern:    

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely, part time or as part of a job share etc.

If you are applying for a part time role, please note that in order to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 25 hours and to cover 4 days of the week

Reporting to:    

CST Team Manager

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems.  

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service. 

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The LAA is committed to diversity and inclusion and we positively promote flexible working, including job shares. 

We will consider all applications on merit regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religion, ethnicity, preferred working pattern and except for exceptional circumstances your working location. 

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months. 

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please ensure that you attach the Disability Confident Scheme Form when you return your application. You can use the same form to let the recruiting manager know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes. 

Case Management

The Case Management department is the delivery function of the Legal Aid Agency and our staff ensure that each year 600,000 new clients are able to access the justice they require, and that their providers are fairly remunerated for the delivery of the legal aid. With over 800 staff based across 11 sites we deliver services for those facing both criminal and civil legal problems.

Customer Service Team

This team is based across two of our sites in Birmingham, Bristol and South Tyneside, they are our front-line connection to Solicitors and the public on Civil Legal Aid. This team is essential in providing service to some of the most vulnerable members of the public either directly or through legal professionals. 

Job Summary

To provide exceptional levels of customer service by answering incoming calls, dealing with customer correspondence, responding to customer complaints and complex queries. Providing support and feedback to colleagues to ensure quality standards are maintained and customer interactions result in appropriate solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Communicate effectively with all customers, including providers of Legal Aid (Solicitors & Advocates), members of the public and other stakeholders. 
  • Resolve an agreed percentage of queries at first point of contact.
  • Manage own call time and after call work time effectively to ensure that these are within agreed tolerances. 
  • Provide a referral point for more complex calls / queries. Take personal ownership of all contact, ensuring successful resolution.
  • Carry out quality control on calls and feedback the results to colleagues to enable improvements.
  • Identify areas for improvement and set up necessary corrective action, including group training and development sessions.
  • Take an active role in promoting consistency. 
  • Review, develop and improve guidance and processes. Make suggestions for best practice in all areas of work covered by the team.
  • Identifying trends on errors, delays and duplication of effort and work to reduce the number of calls from providers through education.
  • Deal effectively with a full range of customer complaints and capture customer feedback, using this feedback to improve what we do.
  • Plan resources to deal with the expected level of calls and other work for the team and provide accurate statistical data.
  • Take a leading role in meetings and champion collaborative working with a variety of teams.
  • Ensure all data is processed accurately, securely and in accordance with LAA data security guidelines.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills    

  • Must have experience working in a contact centre environment. 
  • Ability to communicate clearly and effectively using questioning and active listening to fully understand and provide a ‘right first time’ resolution to customer queries / calls
  • Effective organisation and prioritisation own workload including time taken on calls
  • Ability to handle difficult calls and callers whilst maintaining the expected standards
  • Work cooperatively with others to ensure adequate staffing on customer service telephone lines at all times
  • Ability to gather and analyse call data for forecasting and management reporting
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision and as part of a team
  • Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, dealing with both external and internal stakeholders
  • Excellent customer service skills including handling complex situations and dealing with uncertainty
  • Ability to interpret and apply guidance and regulations.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills    

  • In-depth knowledge of Civil Legal Aid
  • Ability to lead meetings and facilitate discussions to encourage collaborative working
  • Knowledge of Continuous Improvement techniques

Assessment approach

Application Process

Please complete the application based on the following behaviours:

  • Communicating & Influencing
  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Working Together

If we receive a large number of applications, we will do an initial sift on Communicating & Influencing

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview via Microsoft Teams where you will be assessed against Strengths relevant to the role and the following behaviours

  • Communicating & Influencing
  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Working Together 

Interviews are planned for week commencing 12th June 2023

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact Rachael Pratt Rachael.pratt@justice.gov.uk 

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAAPeopleTeam@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days. 


Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

  • A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
  • Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
  • For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
  • Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
  • Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Estimated mid June

30/05/2023, 23:55 hours.

If you require any assistance please call 0345 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Please quote the job reference - 74724.

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  • You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  • You were studying abroad
  • You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Communicating and Influencing.
if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.


Application form stage assessments

Behaviours
Communicating and Influencing - 250 word limit
Making Effective Decisions - 250 word limit
Managing a Quality Service - 250 word limit
Working Together - 250 word limit
A sift based on the lead behaviour, Communicating and Influencing, may be held if a large number of applications are received. If a large number of applications remain after the initial sift, your application will be progressed to a full sift, where all behaviours will then be considered.

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
Behaviours
Communicating and Influencing
Making Effective Decisions
Managing a Quality Service
Working Together
Strengths may also be assessed at interview but these are not shared in advance.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

· UK nationals

· nationals of the Republic of Ireland

· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

This Vacancy is closed to applications.