At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage and resolve complaints while ensuring excellent customer service.
- Company: Join Herefordshire Council, a supportive and community-focused organisation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible working, and generous annual leave.
- Other info: Opportunities for career progression and professional development.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in your community and enhance public services.
- Qualifications: Experience in handling complaints and strong communication skills required.
The predicted salary is between 28142 - 32062 £ per year.
Herefordshire Council is seeking a motivated and customer-focused Complaints Officer to join our Governance and Law Team within the Corporate Services Directorate. In this rewarding role, you will act as a key point of contact for members of the public accessing council services, ensuring complaints, comments, compliments and information requests are handled professionally, fairly and efficiently. You will play an important role in maintaining public confidence in the council by ensuring enquiries are managed effectively, legislative requirements are met and opportunities for service improvement are identified and acted upon.
What will you be doing?
- Managing and monitoring complaints, customer feedback and information requests across the council.
- Working closely with service managers, elected members, customers and partner organisations to ensure concerns are responded to appropriately and within required timescales.
- Acting as a single point of contact for complaints, compliments, comments and information requests.
- Recording, monitoring and reporting on customer feedback through the council's CRM system.
- Investigating complaints and acting as Investigating Officer where appropriate.
- Supporting the development and implementation of policies, procedures and systems relating to complaints and access to information.
- Liaising with managers, councillors, MPs and service areas to ensure timely and effective responses.
- Analysing complaint and performance data to identify trends and opportunities for service improvement.
- Producing monitoring and management information reports.
- Promoting awareness of complaints, information governance and customer feedback procedures.
- Supporting training and guidance for managers and staff.
- Ensuring compliance with relevant legislation including Freedom of Information, Data Protection and Equality legislation.
- Working collaboratively with colleagues, customers, advocacy services and partner organisations to resolve issues and improve outcomes.
About You
- Experienced in handling complaints, information requests or customer enquiries within a public sector or similarly regulated environment.
- Skilled in building and maintaining positive relationships with customers, colleagues, elected members and external partners.
- Confident in managing competing priorities, organising caseloads and working independently.
- An excellent communicator with strong interpersonal, negotiation and mediation skills.
- Experienced in analysing information, identifying trends and producing performance reports.
- Comfortable working with customer relationship management (CRM) systems and Microsoft Office applications.
- Able to exercise sound judgement, solve problems and make balanced decisions in challenging situations.
- Committed to delivering high-quality customer service and continuous improvement.
- Sensitive to the needs of diverse communities and committed to equality, fairness and inclusion.
- Educated to A-Level standard or equivalent, with evidence of ongoing professional development.
- Complaints handling or mediation training would be advantageous.
We Offer
- A competitive salary, holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme.
- Salary range of £28,142 - £32,062 pro rata (£12,169 - £13,863 per annum).
- Enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
- Career progression: clear pathways to progress.
- Annual Leave: 31 days’ annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays.
- Flexible working: including the potential for job-sharing, part-time hours and agile working.
- Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling.
- Payment of professional membership fees (based on role requirements).
- Access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits.
Why Choose Us?
At Herefordshire Council, every role matters and every person makes a real difference for our communities. We’re a team where people feel valued, supported and empowered to grow together. Herefordshire is big hearted, welcoming and friendly. We embrace partnership working and are committed to strengthening a diverse and inclusive work environment which reflects the communities of Herefordshire.
How to apply
To apply for a position, please upload an up-to-date CV and complete the application form demonstrating your experience, skills and abilities for the role. For more information or to arrange an informal discussion about the role, please contact: Tilly Page, Complaints Manager.
Complaints Officer in Hereford employer: Hoople
Hoople is an excellent employer, offering a supportive and flexible working environment for Family Help Lead Practitioners dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of vulnerable families in Herefordshire. With a strong emphasis on professional development and collaboration with multi-agency teams, employees are empowered to grow their skills while contributing to impactful family support initiatives.
