Customer Service Assistant (Apprenticeship)

Job summary

To provide efficient, customer focused Service Desk support service to data providers and partners which conforms to Departmental and data Operations standards and procedures. To ensure all Data Operations performance indicators, service level agreements, security standards and responsibilities under Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR are met. To collect and process complex survey returns, analysing origins of errors in returned data. Contacting relevant data providers to explain problems and obtain corrective information. This must be completed according to Data Operations procedures and quality standards, in order to ensure the delivery of datasets to the quality and timescales specified by internal customers in their requirements.

Job description

https://youtu.be/rVaPVTGV3oA

Job Responsibilities:

• Responsible for interacting with external customers (local authorities and schools).
• Performing tasks such as taking calls, making telephone calls (at peak times this can be extremely high volumes) dealing with Service Request Forms (SR Forms) from external customers and trying to resolve their queries, escalating any issues to their manager.
• To provide efficient, customer focused Service Desk support service to data providers.
• To collect and process complex survey returns, analysing origins of errors in returned data. Contacting relevant data providers to explain problems and obtain corrective information. This must be completed according to Data Operations procedures and quality standards, in order to ensure the delivery of datasets to the quality and timescales specified by internal customers in their requirements.
• To provide support to additional (temporary) administrative staff brought in to manage peaks in periods of operational activity. Ability to work flexibly due to the nature of the work on the Service Desk.

Apprenticeship

Business administrator / Skills England

As this role includes completion of the Business Administrator Apprenticeship (Level 3) please check the eligibility requirements below using the apprenticeship standard: Business administrator / Skills England

• You must have lived in the UK for 3 years prior to apprenticeship start date and not be undertaking another apprenticeship at the same time.
• You must not already have a substantial amount of the skills and knowledge that is covered in the contents of the apprenticeship standard.
  
• You must not have already worked in a similar role, or your previous learning, and/or work experience covers the contents (Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours) of the apprenticeship standard.
  Please do not apply if:
  
• You already have all the skills and knowledge that is covered in the contents of the apprenticeship standard.
  
• You have already worked in a similar role, or your previous learning, and/or work experience covers the contents (Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours) of the apprenticeship standard.
  
• You have a degree (or equivalent) in business administration.

At the enrolment stage, the individual's eligibility will be checked by the training provider.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Excellent customer service skills and a desire to go above and beyond to assist our customers.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, tailoring all communications to suit the audience.
• Ability to work at pace and prioritise and manage a varied caseload.
• Ability to understand and analyse data.

Desirable Criteria:

• Knowledge of MicroSoft CRM/COLLECT.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Languages

English language

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,015, Department for Education contributes £8,405 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).

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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 appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Application

To apply for this role, you will be required to provide a Statement of Suitability.

Your Statement of Suitability (max 500 words) should demonstrate how your experience meets the essential criteria listed above.

Sift

We will use your Statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 500. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 500 words will not be taken into account.

In the event of a large number of applications, we will sift on "Ability to understand and analyse data" only.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here –