Salary: Band 5, £27,531 - £28,653  

Location: Gateshead and Etal Lane Police Stations

Hours/Contract: 37 hours per week (Monday – Friday), 12-month fixed term / secondment  

The role  

Here at Northumbria Police, we think our region is amazing! It takes a great deal of people from different backgrounds, with diverse skills and experience to serve our force area effectively, think you have what it takes to help us make a difference? This could be the perfect time for you to join us in our Communications Department as a Customer Service Front Office.  

As a Customer Service Front Office employee, you will provide exceptional service in all external customer interactions, aiming to resolve queries at first contact whenever possible. Offer professional advice and effective signposting. 

As the first point of contact for the public, handle face-to-face, telephone, and digital communications, including making outbound calls when necessary. Responsible for identifying and assessing information in accordance with THRIVE guidelines. 

What you’ll do 

• Ensure that the public enquiry desk is open at the times advertised to the public.
• Engage effectively with external customers through various formats (face-to-face, 101, digital contact), quickly building rapport and using a creative problem-solving approach to understand and respond to customer needs.
• Handle enquiries from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, face-to-face, telephone, online, email, and voicemails within the time specified by any agreed service levels and adhering to quality standards.
• Create incidents/events reported in person, via telephone, or online using ASPIRE/STORM and applying THRIVE.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of procedures, including those of partner agencies, to deal effectively with all customer contact such as property enquiries, complaints, incident and crime progression, as well as other miscellaneous general enquiries. 

Sound interesting? For further information, and to support your application, please view the job description

What you’ll bring 

• THRIVE.
• Experience of an organised approach in line with concise documents and note taking.
• Ability to record information in a timely manner.
• Ability to use judgement, initiative and creativity, to resolve situations and provide positive solutions.
• The ability to communicate clearly, concisely and timely at all levels.
• Evidence of excellent communication & interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrate a professional and proactive approach to customer service.
• A good understanding of managing customers’ expectations.

We know it's important for you to feel that you're not only part of a great team, but part of a community. We welcome applications from suitably qualified people from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.   

Harnessing these differences creates a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, and their talents are fully utilised. Appointments are based on merit alone.  

Interested to learn more? For further information about the role please contact Ellie Eccleston, Resource Planning Manager by email at eleanor.eccleston@northumbria.police.uk 

Just so you know  

Our application form will help us understand how your work, education and life experience has prepared you for the role of a Customer Service Front Office with #TeamNP. To help support your application research what makes us tick here at Northumbria, the role you’re applying for and the values and behaviours that contribute.   

The recruitment process will consist of the initial application form followed by a face-to-face interview.  Just so you know, you can save your application and come back to it any time prior to the closing date on the advert.   

We are proud members of the Business Disability Forum, with whom we collaborate with to improve the lives of disabled employees. We are also a Disability Confident Employer, therefore if you demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria for this role as stated in the advert, we will progress your application and offer you an interview.  

If you tell us that you have a disability, we can make adjustments to support you through the recruitment process (for example we can arrange extra time for tests or provide a sign language interpreter) You can get in touch with us via careers@northumbria.police.uk for any support regarding the application process. Please provide us with plenty of notice so we can ensure your visit goes smoothly.    

If your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a Recruitment Vetting (RV) form, therefore you must be a resident of the UK for a minimum period of 3 years to ensure vetting checks can be successfully performed.  A job offer will be dependent upon vetting clearance, medical information, and references.  

Terms of appointment  

This is a fixed term role subject to a six-month probationary period. 

If you are successful in your application, you will have a six-month probation period with us where you will be unable to apply for any other post advertised internally or externally.  

Please note if you are interested in applying for this secondment opportunity, please discuss this with your Line Manager and gain agreement prior to applying.   

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.