Customer Liaison Officer

Newham, London
L&Q

Title: Customer Liaison Officer
Contract Type: fixed term contract / secondment till 31st March 2023

Persona: Agile/hybrid working – office based 20-40% (1-2 days per week)
Office locations: Cray House, Sidcup/ West Ham Lane, Stratford or Sale Point, Manchester
Salary: £26,198 – £28,000pa depending on experience

Closing date for completed applications: 25th June 2023
Interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams

Please submit applications as soon as possible. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if the right candidate is found prior to the advert closing date. Previous applicants need not apply.

Customer Liaison Officer Role Profile.docx

Our customers are the most important part of our business and as a member of the Customer Relations Team, it is vital that you have the passion as a Customer Service professional to deliver excellence to both internal and external customers – every time. This is a fantastic position within the heart of the Customer Relations Team and the successful applicant will have an opportunity to play a part in delivering an exciting service to our residents.

The role will involve taking the lead in managing complaint cases about the work our Maintenance Technicians and Sub-Contractors perform in our resident’s homes as well as our communal areas. You will act as the ‘voice and face’ of the Trust, so demonstrable experience of delivering customer focused services in a demanding public facing environment is essential.

This is a role where you can truly support our residents and show your passion to go above and beyond. In this role you will be surrounded by a supportive department who have a strong team ethos. You will have control over your own caseload and be responsible for orchestrating a positive outcome for our customers.

You will have excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to deal with the various issues our diverse resident base will have. Therefore, it is essential that you’ve had experience in a customer service role and preferably with complaint handling.

You will work collaboratively with other departments across the Trust to ensure effective and efficient delivery of services to our customers, so highly developed relationship management or stakeholder engagement skills are essential to perform well in this role.

Your duties will include:

• Managing and owning a caseload of complaints relating to maintenance works. Volumes may vary but you can expect at least 3-5 new complaints per day, and you may have 50 or more ongoing complaints to manage at any time

• Conducting thorough impartial investigations

• Working within response deadlines and adhering to team SLA’s/ KPI’s

• Liaising with customers and internal departments via phone, Microsoft teams and email

• Challenging decisions of internal departments

• Calculating compensation in line with company procedures

• Maintaining high quality records and notes on the system

• Being conversant with the Housing Ombudsman code and ensuring that complaint handling and decisions are in line with the code

• Feeding back the cause of complaints to prevent recurrence

Skills and experience summary:

• Able to work in a fast paced and high pressured environment
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Excellent organisational skills
• Versatile and resilient
• Inquisitive and strong problem solving skills
• Great customer service with strong empathy
• Strong time management and able to work to deadlines
• Self-starter with strong initiative
• Able to work within a team and work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders

We’re actively building diverse teams and encourage applications from all backgrounds. We want to create an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their best work and develop to their full potential. We celebrate our differences and recognise the importance of our teams reflecting the communities we serve.

Our benefits package includes:

• Agile working

• Strong family friendly policies

• Committed Learning & Development

• Annual leave starting from 26 days rising to 31 PLUS bank holidays

• Excellent Pension Scheme – double contribution up to 6%

• Generous non-contributory life Assurance

• An Employee Assistance Programme

• Great places to work certified 2022

• Best Workplaces for Women – ranked 23 in the UK

• Up to 21 volunteering hours per year

If you are motivated by making a difference and have the drive and tenacity to resolve issues, then apply without delay!

We are a multi-site organisation, so some roles may require occasional travel between offices, but expenses will be covered.

At the foundation of everything that we do are our corporate values and associated behaviours. Our organisational behavioural framework outlines the core expectations of all employees, which should be demonstrated at all times when representing L&Q. More information about L&Q’s values can be found on our website and a copy of our behavioural framework can be provided on request.

Our commitments:

At L&Q, people are at the heart of our business and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. This is why we are committed to developing our people. It’s only by investing in a well-trained and motivated workforce that we can continue to prosper and sustain business success.

We are committed to supporting your work-life balance and recognise the changing demands and circumstances in life. Please let us know during the recruitment process if you’re interested in part time working or job sharing. In addition, should your circumstances change once you have joined L&Q, you can also request flexible working arrangements, e.g. a change to working hours – if it’s feasible then we’ll make it happen.

We are recognised externally for our commitment to inclusion. We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident (Committed) employer and have signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge to demonstrate our commitment to end mental health discrimination in the workplace.

We expect all of our employees to support our environmental policy and social responsibility work. We are an employer committed to environmental and social responsibility.

L&Q is a regulated charitable housing association and one of the UK’s most successful independent social businesses. The L&Q Group houses around 250,000 people in more than 100,000 homes, primarily across London and the South East.

As a charitable organisation, our role goes beyond providing homes and housing services. We are a long-term partner in the neighbourhoods where we work. We hope to build aspiration, opportunity and confidence in our communities through our £250 million L&Q Foundation and our skills academy.

Our vision is that everyone has a quality home they can afford, and we combine our social purpose with commercial drive to create homes and neighbourhoods everyone can be proud of.