69919 - Customer Service Advisor

£21,775
10
12 Months
East Midlands
Nottingham
NOTTINGHAM OPG NOTTINGHAM, NG2 1AR
AO
AO
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Administration / Corporate Support, Contact Centre

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.

Overview

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.

OPG is responsible for registering Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) and Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection (CoP).

Power of Attorney Services (POAS) processes incoming power of attorney applications on behalf of the Public Guardian, within agreed targets and performance indicators. POAS comes under the Operations directorate of OPG.

OPG is a fantastic place to work offering a range of development opportunities, health and wellbeing initiatives and diversity and inclusion promotion. We signed up to the ‘Time to Change’ pledge which supports mental health in the workplace, as well as recently receiving a health and wellbeing charter accreditation as we are committed to developing a supportive and inclusive environment that reflects the diverse community we serve.

OPG is currently going through an extensive period of organisational change. This will be delivered by our transformation programme – “OPG 2025”. The ambitious plan is about changing the way we provide services. It will help us meet the growing needs of our users, partners and our stakeholders. It will make sure our users experience a better level of support. Overall, it will help us to respond to the changing needs of society. This is so we can better support adults at risk and create high-quality services that are accessible and affordable.

OPG is aiming to have a Digital Power of Attorney in place that meets our customer and stakeholder needs. We aim to have a multiskilled, flexible workforce, working within office/home-based locations.

Our Nottingham office is located just south of the city with some limited onsite parking and bus stops outside the office. We are also within walking distance to tram lines that are direct routes to Nottingham Train Station.

The role of POAS Customer Service Advisor is based at OPG’s office in Nottingham but you may have the opportunity to travel to our office in Birmingham.

Job Description

This Customer Service Advisor role is Contact Centre based, with the main duties answering incoming telephone calls, dealing with customer queries about OPG’s services and relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This includes lasting powers of attorney and the supervision of court-appointed deputies. Advisors play an important role on the front line of OPG by advising and guiding our customers that are supporting vulnerable adults who have started to lose or have lost mental capacity. Therefore, it’s crucial that advisors can demonstrate empathy and understanding towards our customers and maintain professionalism in this role.

Customer Service Advisors receive regular management support, and all members of the team work together to achieve our targets. The work mainly involves communicating with our customers verbally by telephone, but also in writing, completing the related administrative work following each interaction with a customer. This includes updating our case management system, communicating and collaborating with colleagues across the business, among other tasks.

Responsibilities may include any of the following, but not limited to:

If successful, and after comprehensive training, you will:-

  • Answer inbound telephone calls from external customers in a contact centre environment, providing appropriate responses to customer queries and escalating requests to other teams where appropriate. You will act as point of contact for the customer, dealing with enquiries in a professional and courteous manner.
  • Provide high-quality customer service in line with Departmental behaviours, ensuring that all information provided to customers is accurate, timely, clear and easy to understand.
  • Be clear, honest and transparent in your communication, making decisions that involve the relevant people at the right time.
  • Act as a role model for staff, demonstrating behaviours within the MoJ Leadership statement and OPG’s Values (Purpose, Openness, Humanity, Together).
  • Support and contribute to the aims, objectives and performance of the Power of Attorney Services department to ensure delivery targets, as set out in the Business Plan, are met.
  • Collate, analyse and format data and information. Input and update data on our IT systems.
  • Work in accordance with standard operating procedures, providing constructive feedback where improvements and efficiencies can be made, with the customer experience at the heart of everything we do.
  • Promote a culture of excellent service delivery and continuous improvement, contributing to the development of smarter working across the department where required.
  • Attend, participate and contribute to team meetings, developing working relationships across POAS and the wider organisation where needed.
  • Be a flexible and supportive team member with good time management skills in order to prioritise work.
  • Take responsibility for your own learning and development with the support and guidance of your line manager.
  • Develop a knowledge of HR policies which you will be expected to abide by.
  • Take reasonable care for the health and safety of others and abide by relevant Health and Safety Procedures and policy.

You will be required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post. There may also be a requirement to work in different departments during the course of your employment, dependent on business needs.

Skills and Qualifications

Essential:

  • You will be working in an inbound call centre so experience of speaking to customers over the phone in a customer service role is essential
  • Experience of using Microsoft computer packages, i.e. Word, Excel, Outlook and MS Teams
  • Proficiency in written and verbal communication.
  • Ability to make informed decisions based on evidence.

Desirable:

  • Experience of working in an operational delivery area or administration role.
  • Experience of working in a compliance environment.

Application process

This vacancy is being advertised using the Civil Service Success Profiles process, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Please provide a Personal Statement of no more than 500 words capturing your suitability for the role based on the Job Description, Essential and Desirable criteria, providing specific examples that demonstrate your relevant skills and experience as detailed above.

The key points to demonstrate within your application is how your experience meets the essential and desirable skills within the job description. We actively encourage you to sell yourself as an individual and the personal skills and experience that you could bring to the role.

Interview Process

If successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will follow the Civil Service Success Profiles process. This will consist of a blended assessment, and candidates should expect Experience based questions and questions relating to the following Civil Service Behaviour: Working Together – Level 1 (AO).

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Salary, Working Arrangements and Benefits

The minimum starting salary for this role is £21,775 per annum.

Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the Civil Service pay rules in place on the date of their appointment.


Annual Leave

Generous allowances for paid holiday starting at 25 days per year, and rising as your service increases to 30 days after 5 years. There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to 3 days annual leave each year. Additional paid time off for 8 public holidays and 1 privilege day per year. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. Requests for part-time contracts will be considered in line with business needs.

Pension

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

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.

Further Training Opportunities (in addition to full training that will be given for this role)

OPG is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities:

2-year Apprenticeships (up to 50 hours study per year on full salary) leading to industry-recognised qualifications. Up to 50 paid Learning Hours per year.

Mentoring.

Secondments.

Please note due to current restrictions the current working arrangements for contact centre staff is working from home (Home WiFi needed but necessary I.T. hardware provided). However, this is likely to change in the coming few weeks and months as we move to a hybrid working model.

For this position, the initial 2 weeks training will be entirely based at our Embankment House office. Following this, successful candidates will enter a further 2-month period of work-based training. This will also require a significant amount of time being spent in-office.

Following the completion of this training, the current plan for Contact Centre employees is for them to work in-office 2 days a week. However, this may be subject to change depending on COVID restrictions.

Flexible benefits

  • Reward & Recognition scheme.
  • Salary sacrifice arrangements for childcare vouchers.
  • Travel permits, bicycles and voluntary benefits such as retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
  • Cycle to Work Scheme hire a bike and safety equipment, tax-free, if you use it to get to and from work.
  • Salary advance for annual travelcards.
  • Free flu jab and free annual sight test and glass wear contributions.
  • Free access to an Employee Assistance Programme which provides legal advice, counselling, mediation services etc.

Benefits to enhance 'work/life balance’

  • Standard 37 hour working week, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm each day, Monday to Friday.
  • Weekday working only (no mandatory weekend shifts).
  • Requests for part-time contracts will be considered subject to business needs. All recruits are required to attend their induction and initial training period in full (9:00am to 5:00pm each day) for the first 8 weeks.
  • OPG encourages smarter and remote working for some this role. You will have the opportunity to work from the office, or a mixture of office and home-based working.
  • Generous paid paternity, adoption, maternity and sickness leave.
  • Up to 5 days paid Special Leave per year for voluntary service.
  • Job-share scheme.
  • Career Break or Sabbatical leave of up to 5 years.
  • Onsite kitchen facilities.
  • Bike storage facilities.
  • 6 months probation period for all new entrants.

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.

W/C 6th March (subject to change)

13/02/2023, 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 - 69919.
Please note the successful applicant will need to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Security Check for this post.

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.

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

Experience
Statement of Suitability - 500 word limit

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
Behaviours
Working Together
Experience
Experience Question 1
Experience Question 2
Experience Question 3
Experience Question 4
Experience Question 5

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.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

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.