Customer Services Advisor

Job description

Salary: £28,357 per annum

Hours: Full Time, 35 hours per week including Tuesdays as mandatory office day

Contract type: Permanent

Location: Hammersmith, London/Hybrid

Line Manager: Customer Services Manager

Direct Reports: None

About Us

Women\’s Pioneer Housing own almost 1000 properties in eight boroughs in west and north‑west London: Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Ealing, Wandsworth, Hillingdon, Harrow, and Westminster. 80% are studio and one‑bedroom flats, mostly in converted Victorian buildings, many of which are listed or in conservation areas. There are also 90 leasehold flats, and a small but growing number of higher rental investment properties that fund our future development plans. Our sheltered housing for single women over 60 is located in Kensington & Chelsea, where we are the largest sheltered housing provider. We have 178 flats for women over 60 who wish to live independently in their own home but with added security and back‑up support on site and on call.

Our Vision

For all single women across London to have access to a safe, secure, and affordable home.

Our Mission

To offer single women access to safe, secure and good quality affordable homes and services that enable women to live a good quality of life. To influence other housing providers so they understand the needs of single women and offer services that meet this need.

Our Values

We put our residents first, nurture great relationships through open and trusted communication, we value equality, inclusivity, and empowerment, and we provide a respectful and safe environment to all members and residents of WPH.

Purpose of the Role

• Promote a positive and professional image of Women\’s Pioneer Housing, our values and services by providing a reliable first point of contact for resident enquiries.
• Work with colleagues to provide a collaborative and cohesive service which puts residents at the heart of everything we do.
• Provide administrative support as and when required as directed by members of the management team.

Key Relationships

• Internal: All staff and Board Members
• External: WPH residents and advocates, WPH contractors and service suppliers, local authorities, letting and referral agencies and other stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Being the first point of contact for residents, applicants, contractors and staff regarding housing matters and responsive repairs, raising accurate works orders, keeping records up to date and ensuring that residents are kept informed of progress and any agreed actions.
• To raise purchase/works orders for property related services for authorisation. To manage costs, matching invoices with orders where necessary, to ensure value for money and prompt payment to suppliers, contractors and consultants.
• Assist the housing team to achieve agreed performance targets for arrears management through taking rent and service charge payments and referring concerns about tenant financial welfare to the financial inclusion officer.
• Support the management of voids and lettings by providing advice and facilitating contact with transfer nominations and applicants, ensuring information is kept up to date.
• To take responsibility for delivering the right outcome for our customers in a safe and timely way acting as the first point of contact resolution to customer queries, through all contact routes. To prevent repeat contacts or handoff to elsewhere in the business by providing thorough and accurate advice (only complex queries that require case management should be handed off to the specialists).
• Be adept at dealing with both inbound and outbound calls, focusing on tenancy and responsive repair matters, and supporting the customer service team by providing cover as required to other areas of customer service.
• Manage complex customer contacts and complaints with a can‑do approach displaying excellent and professional customer care skills.
• Respond to all written points of contact in adherence to good quality, responsive literary standards and guidelines. Ensure accurate input of relevant data (notes, actions, agreed plans with customers) in our systems.
• Proficient and confident in using Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Achieve high levels of Customer Satisfaction results and help to reduce the level of complaints.
• Engage proactively with resident feedback to inform service improvement and use this feedback to help improve your own performance and to improve WPH policies and procedure.

Personal Commitment and Development

• To keep up to date with changes in your job role and undertake training as directed, adopting new ways of working to ensure continuous improvement.
• To adopt and promote a flexible approach to work undertaking other areas of responsibility as required to ensure the overall strategic objectives and business priorities are delivered.
• To work collaboratively with staff across the Association to solve problems and further organisational objectives, including contributing to organisation‑wide initiatives and activities.
• To contribute to raising standards across the organisation, identifying where improvements can be made to support service processes and policies and implementing changes.
• To comply with all Women\’s Pioneer policies and procedures and all legal requirements and regulatory standards, including being fully responsible for your health and safety and safeguarding of residents and visitors.
• To contribute positively to the annual appraisal process including identifying development needs, taking ownership of and driving professional development by supporting your own learning and development with the support of your line manager.
• Work at all times in accordance with WPH values and our Equality and Diversity policy.
• To proactively manage your workload, seeking guidance where necessary, so that competing priorities are identified and managed effectively.
• To maintain confidentiality at all times, in relation to business sensitive and personal information and ensure compliance is upheld with regards to the rules of the Data Protection Act and by ensuring information and records are either; shredded or safely stored.

Additional Information

• These are your main areas of responsibility, but you may be required to perform other duties as we may reasonably require from time to time.
• There may be occasions when you are required to attend meetings outside of the usual working hours and to carry out work in a lone working environment.

Experience, Knowledge and Qualifications

Essential

• Experience of delivering high quality customer service, including remaining calm during difficult conversations and being empathetic.
• High quality written communication skills to compose reports, letters and emails with clear and accurate information.
• Demonstrating a high level of professionalism at all times.
• Experience of organising and co‑ordinating activities to tight deadlines and within a clear framework.
• Demonstrable evidence of using Microsoft Office software effectively in a work environment.
• Experience in administrative support to others with excellent verbal communications skills and ability.
• To engage professionally across a range of people at all levels within the organisation.
• Experience of handling a high volume of customer calls.

Desirable

• Knowledge of works ordering systems and/or Microsoft Dynamics, and obtaining competitive quotes.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Ability to deal robustly with difficult issues and achieve positive outcomes.
• Ability to work effectively and update IT software packages.
• Able to work collaboratively with colleagues.

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Has an \”outcome focus\” approach to service delivery.
• Highly organised.
• Collaborative working style that brings out the best in others.
• Able to rely on own judgement and knows when to seek further assistance.
• Committed to ongoing learning and development.
• Has empathy with needs of residents.
• Commitment to equality and diversity.

Staff Benefits

• Location: We operate a hybrid working approach where you are welcome to work in in the office, at home, or on site based on your activities. On Tuesdays, all staff attend the office to promote collaboration. Staff are required to be in the office at least two days a week.
• Flexi Time Working: For most staff we enable flexible working patterns within our formal flexi time working arrangement. Additional hours worked can be accrued to be taken at a later date in periods of whole days (up to 2 days every four weeks) or half days. This can equate to up to 26 days leave per year in addition to your annual leave entitlement.
• Birthday Leave: Once you pass your probationary period, you will be entitled to Birthday Leave, where you can take an additional day‑off on or around your birthday.
• Pension: All employees are auto enrolled onto our Group Pension Scheme providing a pension pot towards your retirement. In return for you paying 5% of your salary in employee contributions, WPH will pay 8% of your salary in employer\’s contributions.
• Annual Leave: Annual leave entitlement starts at 26 days rising to 29 days after 5 years\’ service. In addition, bank holidays are paid non‑working days. Our office closes throughout the Christmas period from 1pm on Christmas Eve until the New Year.
• Death in Service: As member of the Group Pension Scheme, you also qualify for Death in Service Benefits. Your beneficiaries will receive x4 your gross annual salary should you die whilst a permanent member of staff and enrolled in the pension scheme. A valuable addition to give your family peace of mind.
• Employee Assistance Programme: The programme is easy to access and confidential. It is available at no cost to you and your immediate family members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Personal Legal Support Access to in‑depth help and information on any issues.
• Physiotherapy: Up to 8 consultations (including initial assessments) per year shared between the employee and their partner. The treatment will usually include digitally delivered exercises with ongoing support via video consultation.
• Remote GP and Second Opinion: Unlimited video consultations with a UK‑based GP, including prescriptions and medications delivered directly where needed. Each appointment lasts up to 20 minutes and the service aims to provide direct video access to a GP – 24/7, 365 days a year.
• Mental Health Support: Up to 8 consultations (including initial assessments) per year shared between the employee and their partner. The treatment plan will usually be delivered via video consultation and could include supported online cognitive behavioural therapy modules.

How to Apply

Thank you very much for your interest in this role. To apply, you should answer all of the application questions and include:

• A up-to-date CV which shows your full career history – we recommend that this is no longer than two pages;
• A supporting statement explaining why you are interested in this role, detailing how you are a good candidate for this post and how you fulfil the person specification – we recommend that this is no longer than one page;
• Diversity Monitoring Questions – completion of the diversity monitoring questions is not mandatory, this is requested for monitoring purposes in line with our commitment to equality and diversity.

• We are unable to sponsor applicants needing a Skilled Worker Visa. To apply for this role, you must have an ongoing Right to Work in the United Kingdom.
• Shortlisted candidates will be required to participate in an assessment as part of the selection process. This will be held on the day of your interview, if you are invited to participate.
• Interviews will be held at our Head Office in Hammersmith, West London on Friday 23rd January 2026.