Customer Service Advisor

Candidates who have previously applied are kindly encouraged not to reapply at this time.

Closing date: 12 January 2025

Assessment date: w/c 21 January 2025

Interview date: w/c 10 February 2025 and w/c 17 February 2025

At the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), we make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS in England and UK government departments.

We are at the forefront of stamping out social injustice and changing lives for the better. Our investigations lead to widespread improvements in public services and give people a voice when they feel they have not been treated fairly. We are driven by our values of independence, fairness, excellence, and transparency.

Based in Manchester City Centre, our team of 600 colleagues work collaboratively to make voices heard. Our culture is supportive and inclusive; we put people first whether that is our complainants or colleagues.

The Role

Working as part of the Casework Team, a large part of the role is to be an independent decision-maker on complaints. This involves giving people information and advice about making a complaint.

As a Customer Service Adviser (we call you an Intake Caseworker), you will be the first point of contact for all initial communication with PHSO and will advise complainants on the best route to deal with their complaint. This role is telephone-based and will require you to be ready to answer and make calls for at least half of your day each day.

As an Intake Caseworker/ Customer Service Adviser, you will be responsible for:

1. managing personal caseloads
2. responding to general enquiries on a daily basis via the helpline
3. handling challenging calls where you may need to apply an unacceptable behaviour policy
4. dealing with complainants with complex communication needs
5. in some cases, handling suicidal calls
6. identifying, acquiring, and assessing information to resolve enquiries and assessments in line with PHSO policy and guidance
7. making low-risk decisions on cases
8. communicating effectively with interested parties both orally and in writing, ensuring that communication is customer-focused and fit for purpose.

The Successful Applicant will have:

1. experience of working in a customer-focused environment
2. excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
3. experience of negotiating outcomes with others
4. the ability to confidently handle challenging calls.

We recognise the value of lived experience. If you have experience of complaining about any public body, we strongly encourage you to apply.

We know the value of having diverse, representative teams across our organisation. Which is why we particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented within the team. These include people who are:

1. Asian, Black, Mixed Ethnicity or another ethnic background
2. disabled
3. LGBTQ.

Please note, we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Benefits

1. Civil Service Pension scheme (minimum 26.6% employer contribution)
2. 32.5 days annual leave
3. hybrid working – 40% office based
4. flexible working
5. access to a free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme offering 24/7 advice and support from professionals and counsellors
6. comprehensive learning and development programme
7. employee discount scheme across hundreds of retailers
8. bicycle loan scheme
9. season ticket loan
10. gym membership subsidy
11. paid for professional memberships
12. eye test reimbursement.

Inclusion & Wellbeing

Equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing are vital to the way we work and our culture. We want our colleagues to feel included, valued, and supported at work. It is essential that we are representative and accessible for the people who work here and those who use our service.

Actions we take to embed this include:

1. an anonymised shortlisting process to make sure it is fair and unbiased
2. monitoring the demographic trends in our workforce and making measured, sustained efforts to improve our diversity at all levels
3. providing wellbeing support and opportunities for personal and professional development for all colleagues
4. creating spaces for connection and engagement through our employee network groups and social clubs
5. engaging in regular inclusion learning to enhance the cultural competency of our organisation.

Interviews will be held onsite.

Please note that we don’t offer feedback at application stage.

PLEASE NOTE: We can only consider applications from candidates who have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to offer sponsorship as we do not have a licence.

We do not accept CVs. To apply for the role, please complete the application form by clicking on the ‘apply now’ button.

No agencies. Applications from individuals only.