Waste Business Support Team Leader in Kettering

About the role

Waste Services plays a pivotal role in ensuring that communities are not only clean and safe but also moving towards a more sustainable future. As a single-tier authority, we can take a holistic approach to delivering services efficiently and consistently across the whole area for the benefit of our communities. Management of waste and associated resources is a statutory function, and the service is highly regarded by North Northamptonshire residents providing Waste Collection and Cleansing, Household Waste Recycling Centres and managing a portfolio of contracts, performance management systems and service level agreements related to the environment and the treatment and disposal of collected materials. These are high-risk, demand led services which interface with members of the public.

The purpose of this role is under the direction of the Highways and Waste Business Manager to ensure the seamless operation of day-to-day customer service and help enhance the customer experience. To provide administrative and some financial support to all units within the Waste service, and support to Highways administration as needed. Including managing a team of administrative assistants and officers to ensure processes are followed and customer issues are resolved and responded to within corporate timescales.

What will you be doing?

• Oversee and manage the provision of administrative support to the business support and commercial waste services teams within Waste which will require a creative and adaptive approach to a variety of tasks, by reviewing and where necessary, updating processes to ensure consistency and best practice is applied across the Business Support Unit and the wider service and Highways.
• Provide line management function for the administration assistants and commercial services officers assigned to the Business Support Team including managing all HR processes to ensure office cover during core hours, and the equitable division of tasks assigned to the team, management of leave and sickness, and provide supervision and support via 1:1 and appraisals.
• Using the council customer relationship management software to log, manage and respond to enquiries to ensure all records for the services are updated and stored appropriately in line with corporate guidelines.
• Ensure that any external invoicing and subscriptions are correctly calculated and produced and are reconciled within invoice payment targets, and ensure all purchasing is in line with procurement process and documentations are reconciled, processed, and cleared for payment within invoice payment targets.
• Provide business support and customer liaison, check and develop processes to develop new ways of working to resolve issues.
• Liaising with other teams in Highways and Waste Operations as necessary to keep processes timely.
• Supporting Administrative Assistants and Officers to resolve issues where required.
• To ensure business support systems are developed and delivered in line with corporate quality control systems and timescales. This will include garden waste service subscriptions, household waste recycling permits, highways defects and issues, corporate complaints, using all the Council’s communication channels to educate and inform residents.
• Assist in the collection and collation of data in relation to performance of the Highways and Waste services and the performance of the Business Support Unit including customer queries and complaints.
• Assuring compliance with quality control systems, ensuring they are being operated appropriately and consistently across the Highways and Waste services.
• Generating reports on team performance and provide regular updates to senior management.
• Work collaboratively with services across the Council to align services for the benefit of the Council’s residents and to deliver value for money.
• As a service based over multiple sites a flexible approach to travel is needed.

About you

• Minimum of 5 GCSEs or equivalent including Maths and English, or equivalent with a good standard of overall education.
• Minimum 2 years experience of an office based customer-focused environment.
• Be familiar with Microsoft Office suite and general office equipment, being experienced in using computer databases and other software applications.
• With excellent IT and keyboard skills, including Microsoft 365, Teams, Word and Excel.
• Good analytical skills, with ability to analyse statistical data.
• Excellent communication skills, polite, friendly and respectful manner seeking to ensure mutual understanding in verbal and written communications.
• With the ability to build good working relationships with internal teams, external partners, customers, local communities and partners.
• Experience of developing and following administrative procedures and processes, commitment to providing excellent customer service to the community.
• Experience of leading a team, organising tasks and striving for continuous improvement in your work and that of your team, managing your and their learning and development to enable you all to perform to the best of your ability, with an open and flexible attitude to change.
• Ensure that all work carried out is in line with business and service plans and supports the overall aims and ambition of the Council.

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council.
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days.
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
• We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are: Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive, Trustworthy.

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Location: Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Kettering, United Kingdom