Customer Relations Officer

The Council's Customer Relations Service is seeking to recruit a Customer Relations Officer on a fixed-term basis with specific responsibility for managing and responding to complaints about the Council's Housing and Homelessness services.
The Service as a whole handles complaints, MP enquiries, subject access requests under the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. It is a central part of the drive to improve the Council's learning from the feedback it receives.
This role centres on complaint and MP enquiry handling for the Housing and Homelessness services. You'll be reviewing complaints received, liaising with colleagues, interrogating systems and drafting appropriate responses on behalf of the Housing division. You'll be joining an established and experienced team who work hard in a friendly atmosphere. In attending the Civic Centre for at least 2-3 days per week, you'll liaise closely with Housing colleagues, attending meetings and training sessions and providing regular updates to the relevant Assistant Directors.
You'll have your own caseload of complaints and enquiries to oversee whilst working as a team with your colleagues. We have our own bespoke IT system (Respond) to manage, track and report on complaints which you'll keep updated.

Whilst support and training will be available during the role, previous relevant experience is almost essential, given the need to hit the ground running in a busy, complex and regulated area of work and produce well-reasoned, legally sound responses. The role would suit those with previous experience in local government housing, or perhaps someone with a background in housing law looking for an opportunity to apply their expertise and experience in a different way.
We aim to help those who contact us to the best of our ability whilst supporting our colleagues, in accordance with Council policies and various statutory regulations. You could be dealing on a daily basis with the public, Council officers, service users, Councillors, Members of Parliament and national regulators and will be able to adjust your approach to suit. A calm, personable and empathetic manner is therefore essential, as is a recognition of the value and impact of good customer service., Interviews will be scheduled as soon as possible thereafter. Due to the importance of the correct use of the English language in this role, if at all possible applicants are asked to avoid using AI in the drafting of their applications and any related documents so that we get a proper sense of your capabilities. Depending on timescales and the number of applications received, applicants may be asked to compete a written test prior to any interview.
We are forces family friendly and are part of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme (Bronze Award). We welcome applications from ex-Armed Forces personnel, reservists, veterans, cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.
We are committed to achieving equal opportunities in employment and service delivery and as a disability confident committed employer we encourage applications from people with disabilities. As part of this commitment, we will consider reasonable adjustment to support disability employment.

We offer a generous package including competitive pay, career average pension scheme, flexible working practices and the Bromley employee benefits scheme; Cycle2Work, Salary Sacrifice Lease Car, Technology Scheme, GymFlex and a wide range of local and national discounts.