Senior Independence and Wellbeing Advisor in Ipswich

Suffolk County Council

Address: Endeavour House, Ipswich, Suffolk, Russell Road, IP1 2BX - Onsite

Salary: £28,598 per annum (pro rata for part time)

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

When you join the Customer First team as a Senior Independence and Wellbeing Advisor, we’ll support your development from the start. We’ll help you to play to your strengths, diversify your skills and build an influential and impactful career. With a variety of career paths and learning opportunities to explore, if you’re motivated and passionate there’s no limit to how far your ambition could take you. Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

As a member of the Customer First team, you will deliver a high-quality, professional front-line service to both internal and external customers. You will play a key role in supporting the day-to-day operation of the contact centre, providing expert guidance to colleagues and helping to ensure an efficient, customer-focused service.

• Acting as an expert point of contact within the team, supporting colleagues with complex enquiries and providing accurate, timely advice.
• Taking daily operational responsibility for the contact centre, ensuring adequate coverage across calls, webchat, portals and administrative tasks.
• Coaching and mentoring new and existing colleagues on relevant policies, processes and best practice, and supporting the identification of development needs.
• Providing regular, proactive floor walking and feedback to Independence and Wellbeing Advisors to ensure high standards of customer service and quality.
• Acting as duty floor worker when required, responding swiftly to minute‑by‑minute operational demands, proactively managing call and workflow volumes and escalating issues to the Team Manager where necessary.
• Resolving complex or escalated customer enquiries, identifying solutions that are effective and mutually beneficial.
• Managing incoming work within the Customer First inbox, triaging and allocating tasks appropriately to ensure timely responses.
• Contributing creative and innovative ideas to manage periods of high demand and improve service delivery.

The role also includes providing effective administrative and supervisory support to Team Leaders. You will contribute to the development of efficient ways of working and best practice across the service, helping to ensure excellent customer experiences at all times.

There is a supervisory element to the role, with responsibility for coaching and mentoring colleagues, overseeing specific areas of work, acting as an escalation point for customer enquiries, and supporting staff to manage challenges when handling complex or sensitive contacts.

You will work closely with colleagues across Children and Young People Services (CYP) and Adult Social Care (ASC) to ensure that customer service activity aligns with organisational priorities, business objectives and cultural values.

You will need:

• The ability to communicate clearly, confidently and tactfully with managers, colleagues and customers.
• Strong listening and questioning skills to gather accurate information and resolve enquiries effectively.
• An open and collaborative communication style.
• Flexibility and adaptability, with a positive approach to change and new ways of working.
• Resilience and the ability to remain calm when dealing with challenging or confrontational situations.
• Excellent organisational and time‑management skills, with the ability to prioritise a varied workload.
• A clear commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

If you believe you can succeed in this role, apply. Even if you don't meet all requirements, still apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

The team

Customer First are a multi-channel 24-hour contact centre who act as the first point of contact for Social Care across Suffolk. We pride ourselves in ensuring we operate a safe and efficient service across Adult Social Care, Children and Young People Services and Mental Health.

Customer First support development through eLearning and training as well as supporting and encouraging career progression where this is an individual aim. Due to the nature of the service, Customer First are operational from Endeavour House, Ipswich. This allows Team members to have support readily available to them at any point throughout their day.

Empowering Everyone

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information

Please contact Sian Alexander (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach her by calling 01473296550 or emailing sian.alexander@suffolk.gov.uk.

How to apply

• Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (JPP) (Word).
• Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application.
• Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template (Word).
• Step 4 - Upload a CV (without name and personal details). Please note: Without a supporting statement or a CV, your interest will not be progressed. Any supporting documents must be in either PDF or MS Word format.

For guidance on completing your application, please see our How to Apply page.

Planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Please ensure your application still reflects your own skills, experience and ideas. If used inappropriately, your application may not be processed. Please read our guidance for using AI to understand what’s acceptable.

Do you need any reasonable adjustments to help you to apply? If you are disabled and/or have additional support needs, you can request reasonable adjustments. You can do this by contacting our Recruitment Team at recruitment@suffolk.gov.uk or 03456 014412. You can find examples of possible adjustments on our Reasonable Adjustment pages.

Closing date: 11.30pm, 20 May 2026.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.