Complaints Officer

About the role

**Complaints Officer**

Permanent, Full Time

Up to £27,338 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

In the role of Complaints Officer, you will be responsible for reviewing customer complaints, providing formal written responses ensuring that they are compliant with the relevant policies and identifying learning opportunities. The role covers complaints for all county council services, including social care, highways, libraries, coroners, school admissions, school transport, special education needs providing variety to a job where no two days are ever the same.

**Accountabilities**
- Undertakes a broad range of activities to ensure ECC remains compliant in relation to complaint management and delivering high standard of responses to escalated executive enquiries, corporate and statutory complaints.
- Take ownership and responsibility for complaint case management including undertaking researching and responding to a wide range of complaints and executive enquiries, ensuring a high quality, timely response is issued to the customers
- Prepare and quality assure complaint responses for Senior Leaders and Chief Executive to sign off.
- Effective case management recording to ensure data integrity to enable monitoring of volume, nature, outcomes and timeliness of all cases, and feed into the corporate and statutory monitoring processes.
- Undertake Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman case and complaint reviews in line with corporate and statutory processes. Identify learning opportunities to Manager improve the customer experience, processes and reduce handoffs.
- Assess and determine the eligibility of representations and requests under the relevant procedures for stages 1 and 2 of complaints falling under the Children Act.
- Collaborate with wider business, stakeholders and third party agencies to ensure the provision of relevant, effective and timely information in relation to regulatory and statutory cases.
- Provide advice to senior management in the preparation of responses to customers/service users and guidance on the corporate and statutory complaints processes.
- Supports the Statutory and Regulatory Team to ensure the successful delivery of monthly and annual targets and the implementation of projects to enhance the customer experience.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

**Knowledge, skills and experience**
- Educated to A level standard including in English and Maths at Grade ‘C’ or above or equivalent by experience.
- Evidence of continuing professional development and experience in a regulated environment and Local Government experience is highly desirable.
- Good experience of working within a customer resolution environment, particularly working within sensitive information with the ability to be tactful and diplomatic.
- Excellent communication skills both oral and written communications to understand and resolve complaints demonstrating empathy and an understanding of the customer.
- Good organisational skills and an ability to work to tight deadlines, prioritise own work, use own initiative and be self-motivating.
- Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills, with the ability to work to tight statutory deadlines and targets under pressure, prioritising own and team’s workload.
- A good understanding of the principles of safeguarding, consent to share information and GDPR.

**Why Essex?** Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest - Basildon and Harlow - are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. More information can be found here pay and reward

To view our Organisational Behaviours information please follow this link.

**What you should do next**

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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