Customer Services Group (CSG) - Contact Centre and Correspondence Services – Contact Centre Call Handler & Administration Glasgow, Scotland
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About the job
Job summary
Customer Services Group (CSG) brings together Asylum & Protection (A&P), Passports, Citizenship and Civil Registration (PCCR) which includes His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) and General Registry Office (GRO), Visas Status & Information (VSI) and Customer Operations Service Support (COSS). As a major operational part of the Home Office, we play a vital role in supporting the economy and cultural life of the United Kingdom.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is responsible for making millions of decisions every year about who has the right to visit or stay in the country, with a firm emphasis on national security and a culture of customer satisfaction for people who come here legally. Getting this balance right, and the role of integrity and good quality decision-making within that, is key and goes to the heart of our missions to control migration; safeguard the vulnerable; and deliver world-class customer service.
Job description
These roles sit within Customer Contact & Correspondence Services (CCCS). The Central Correspondence Complaints, MP Account Management, and other teams within CCCS perform a key function at the centre of UKVI. They respond to customers and Members of Parliament (MPs), who contact the team on a range of matters, relating to any UKVI, Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and Her Majesty’s Passport Office & General Registry Office matters.
The Central Correspondence Team handle complaint contact made by members of the public, ensuring these complaints are resolved in a satisfactory and timely manner. The MP Account team receive approximately 1000 pieces of correspondence from MPs each week (written and telephone). The Contact Centre handles telephone enquiries from customers and MPs. Our Customer Correspondence Hub manages the administration of correspondence on behalf of these teams.
We have a commitment to respond to all correspondence within 20 working days of receipt; so, pace, efficiency, and maintaining a high level of customer service, is a key challenge within these teams. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals with proven strong verbal communication and administration skills.
We have immediate positions available in our Contact Centre, Customer Correspondence Hub, or MP Account Management team. Reporting to an EO Line Manager, you will work closely with colleagues on a variety of tasks, triaging and drafting enquiry responses, managing mailboxes, and/or call handling. This role provides the opportunity for insight into the wide range of operational business areas.
Successful candidates can expect a full training programme and support.
Person specification
Our Administrative Officers routinely carry out the following tasks:
- Provide a professional and effective service to customers.
- Handle basic customer enquiries and correspondence received through online chat services, the call handling centre, or by correspondence.
- Collate and assess information provided from customers and respond directly to the customer over the telephone or online chat, or update and maintain accurate databases with relevant information, directing the enquiry to the appropriate team for resolution, and adhering to timescale objectives thereby enabling teams to prioritise and allocate work effectively.
- Work closely with a variety of operational colleagues across CCCS to obtain and share information. Develop and maintain good working relationships to deliver what is required.
- Work to standard operating procedures, service standards, quality standards, and escalation process.
Essential Criteria:
- Strong verbal communication skills.
- Recent experience of undertaking administration duties in the workplace.
- Ability to network and engage with stakeholders.
- Basic IT skills with practical experience of Microsoft applications, i.e., Excel, Word, MS Teams.
- Experience of working to standard operating procedures and quality standards frameworks.
Desirable Criteria:
- An understanding of UKVI and wider Borders, Immigration, Citizenship Systems (BICS).
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
- Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Communicating and Influencing
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement) (maximum 750 words)
- Provide evidence of the behaviour Communicating and Influencing (250 words maximum)
Your Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement) should demonstrate how you meet the Key Responsibilities as set out in the job description and “Essential Criteria”.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
The Sift will be completed initially on the Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement).
The Statement of Suitability (Personal Statement) will be marked first for all candidates. Candidates who meet the minimum pass score for the Personal Statement, will then go on to have their lead behaviour “Communicating and Influencing” scored and will therefore receive sift scores for both of these elements.
Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the Personal Statement will not have their lead behaviour scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for their Personal Statement.
Candidates successful at sift stage will be invited to interview which will be a blended approach of strength-based questions (no preparation necessary) and some behaviour-based questions, listed in the application (preparation recommended).
Sift and Interview dates:
Sift will take place week commencing 15th May 2023.
Interviews will take place from 5th June 2023.
These dates may change subject to business needs.
Therefore, you will be required to have access to:
- A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
- Good Internet access
- Skype for business or Microsoft Teams
It is advisable to access your interview from a windows operating system laptop, desktop, phone or tablet as there is no guarantee that Microsoft Teams will work without issue on an Apple laptop, tablet or desktop.
Further information:
For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter
Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying of examples/answers from internet sources. If any is detected the application will be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants.
Please note: if you are currently an agency member of staff working within the Home Office, you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e. outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. If you are currently an agency member working in another Government Department (OGD), you are required to select yourself as external.
This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the Interview stage.
Hybrid working enables employees to work partly in their workplace(s) and partly at home. As Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, a hybrid working pattern may be available, where business needs allow. Applicants can discuss what this means with the vacancy holder if they have specific questions.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
A reserve list may be created for other similar roles for a period of 12 months. Selection will be in Merit Order to fill the same role or similar roles with closely matching “Essential Criteria” and Success Profile elements without further assessment.
Please ensure your profile on the CS Jobs portal is up to date and reflects your current status as a Civil Servant Inaccurate or out of date details will impact the onboarding process and may delay your start date if you’re successful.
If you are an external candidate and not a Civil Servant, please note that you will start on the minimum pay that is being advertised.
If you are already a Civil Servant and your current salary is higher than advertised, please contact Government Recruitment Services on [email protected] who will assist you in undertaking a pay calculation in advance, so you can make an informed decision before accepting the post.
For more information about working for the Home Office, please visit Home Office Careers website.
Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.
We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.
Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.
Transfer Terms: Voluntary.
If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.
Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.
Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Reasonable Adjustments
If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact Government Recruitment Service via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
- Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
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