What's involved with this role: Temporary Customer Services Application Officer/ Admin Reference no: Oxford 0009 744D / 1 Pay Rate: £13.12 per hour PAYE 37 Monday – Friday, normal working hours This opening assignment is for 1 month City: OXFORD Hybrid working The Customer Services Applications Team plays an important role within the Council, processing high volumes of customer applications for a range of Council services. The services we currently cover include: HMO Licensing, Building Control, Planning, Housing, Land Charges, Taxi Licensing, Street Naming and Numbering, and Right to Buy. As this is an entry-level role, full training on the role-specific knowledge you need will be provided, so that you develop the skills you need to help build and shape the service provided to Oxford City residents and users. The work is very diverse; from taking customer calls and payments, to using procedure notes and complex information systems to process applications to a high standard, and responding to a high volume of emails. Depending on what service areas you work in, you may also be reading and interpreting drawings, plans and maps, using an Excel spreadsheet to manage a caseload of client contacts, or checking customer documentation and inputting details into Council systems. It is a fast-paced role, where changes to the way the work needs to be quickly implemented to reflect ever-changing legislation in these areas, and where an ability to quickly learn and retain information is a definite advantage. Your existing experience of providing excellent customer service will also be used every day, as you make contact with customers via phone and email, and face-to-face. Key responsibilities: Inputting data to register applications for a range of services including: HMO Licensing Planning Building Control Housing Right to Buy Taxi Licensing Land Charges Street Naming and Numbering Any other services identified as suitable Processing the above applications using agreed procedures and guidance, in order to meet service-wide performance and quality targets. Undertaking regular training as required, in order to become proficient in processing applications for multiple services. Working with the team to provide excellent customer service by ensuring phone and email cover during the team’s core hours (08:30-17:00 Monday-Thursday, 08:30-16:30 Fridays), and by meeting agreed targets in relation to call-answering. Pro-actively seeking to improve quality in processing, both as an individual and supporting others in the team to do so, and engaging positively with feedback when provided. Liaising with colleagues and external customers to resolve queries, providing World-class customer service. Complete work as allocated by senior staff, prioritising where needed to ensure that agreed targets are continuously met; escalating when appropriate. Follow all Council procedures in respect of customer feedback, including complaints Carry out any other duty compatible with the overall objectives of the Applications Team. Qualifications: Good general education including GCSE grade A- C (or equivalent) in Maths and English. Knowledge: In-depth understanding of health and care system and relationships with both local & national government Strong and demonstrable understanding of interfaces between health, social care and key partners (dealing with wider determinants of health) Experience: Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role or context and ideally within a public sector organisation. Experience of updating workplace ICT systems quickly & accurately using effective data entry skills. Experience of prioritising and organising work to meet deadlines with minimal supervision. Experience of using problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Experience of delivering excellent customer service in the workplace. Skills & Abilities: Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite, Adobe Pro). Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Qualification details and any other experience/skills relevant to the role to help support your application (and help us to help you) – please give full details within your CV document. Clients are generally looking for candidates who are local to, or who can commute easily to the place of work. It will help your application if your CV states, in broad terms, where you reside – there is no need for a full address. Please feel free to apply to us directly via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and exact job title. To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would ask that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, not as a PDF. If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension, you will be working at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than umbrella pay terms. We do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Due to the number of CVs being sent to us under current market conditions, unfortunately we cannot respond to all applications. If you have not heard from us within 3 working days please assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. We will, however, be very happy to receive future applications from you for other roles. ALD Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please