Operational Delivery Professional - Wigan

Job summary

Are you passionate about people? Do you pride yourself on delivering excellent customer service? Do you want a career with real development opportunities?

Yes. Then our Operational Delivery Professional roles could be for you.

Retirement Services is the part of DWP that deals with claims for State Pension and a range of other benefits for people of retirement age and those with caring responsibilities. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a fast moving and critical area of public service delivery. Retirement Services is a service delivery organisation with customers, quality and service at the heart of what we do.

As part of one of the biggest organisations in the UK, there are fantastic opportunities to develop and progress and we'd love to hear from you if this is somewhere where you could make a difference.

The roles will be based in Wigan, Griffin House, Bryn Road, Wigan, WN4 8SS

Job description

What you will do:

These are telephony- focused roles in our busy Service Centre. As part of a supportive and welcoming team, you will provide excellent customer service, primarily through inbound and outbound telephone contact. The roles are fast –paced, rewarding and central to supporting our customers across the UK.

While you will occasionally support customers digitally, the core and essential requirement of the Operational Delivery Professional role is telephony work. This involves spending the majority of your working day handling telephone calls while using a headset, managing conversations professionally, and resolving customer queries in real time.

There are no alternative non-telephony deployment options within this role.

Our telephone lines are currently open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. This is subject to change; the working hours may be extended and also include Saturday working in the future depending on business need.

Your daily responsibilities will include:

• Making and receiving telephone calls while addressing queries and progressing new/existing benefit claims (multi-tasking).
• Taking ownership of cases, working with colleagues across DWP to ensure queries are resolved, benefit payment amounts are correct and paid on time.
• Handling sensitive and sometimes challenging telephone calls, in a positive, compassionate and professional manner.
• Ensuring all information provided to customers is accurate, timely and easy to understand.
• Making decisions by examining the available facts, adhering to current guidance.
• Taking responsibility for personal development by keeping up to date with DWP policies and accessing appropriate learning.

Person specification

What we are looking for

• People who can confidently use the telephone. This will be your key task, and you will spend most of your day on the telephone receiving inbound and making outbound calls.(Essential Skill). Prior telephony/contact centre experience is desirable but not essential.
• People with strong verbal and written skills, including the ability to communicate detailed information to others clearly so it is easy to understand (The ability to effectively communicate in English, both verbally and in writing is an Essential Skill).
• Enthusiastic people who are passionate about providing a really positive, efficient customer experience, ensuring that everybody you supports gets great customer service.
• People who are resilient and can remain calm in challenging situations. Sometimes difficult conversations on the telephone with our customers are needed, and we need you to be able to successfully resolve queries in what can be challenging and sensitive situations.
• People who are hardworking, well organised and can balance and prioritise a variety of tasks.
• People who can gather and understand sometimes complex information, using guidance and legislation to make decisions.
• Digitally competent people who can navigate multiple IT systems.

Things to note

• When you first start in the role, you will be required to undertake full time (37 hours per week) 100% office-based training to ensure you gain the knowledge, skills and confidence required to support our customers. This will be followed by a further full time 100% office-based period of consolidation, to embed your training and ensure quality standards are met. Overall, the training and consolidation period will last up to 26 weeks. Attendance during these phases is mandatory and non-negotiable and you must be fully committed to completing the training and attending the office as required.
• You must be able to travel to and work on site, in person.
• You must be able to communicate with customers via the telephone and digitally. This is an essential requirement.
• You must be able to work in a fast paced, busy environment, as part of a team and independently.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,866, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £8,072 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on approp