Receptionist (Business Support Assistant)

at  Essex County Council

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Provide assistance to colleagues and members of the public that arrive at the main reception desk
• Providing high quality, efficient and effective Business Support services to internal and external customers within agreed timescales and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Responding to customer requests and queries in a timely and efficient way.
• Acting as a professional representative of the Business Support service and ECC .
• Delivering the required activities of the respective business centre(s).
• Providing high quality self-directed administrative support, checking own work and proactively looking to raise standards.
• Maintaining confidential records according to Essex County Council guidance.
• Dealing with correspondence for the team or service in a timely, consistent and professional manner.
• Sharing knowledge and good practice with colleagues and highlighting more efficient ways of doing tasks.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Good Standard of basic education – 5 GCSEs grade C and above (including Maths and English) or comparable experience/qualifications.
• Great face to face customer service skills
• Excellent communication and conflict management skills
• Ability to use computerised systems with a high level of speed and accuracy – including Microsoft Office applications and internal ECC databases.
• Previous experience of managing electronic or hard copy filing systems.
• Ability to communicate in a manner which is easily understood and tailored to meet the needs of the audience.
• As part of the role you may have access to sensitive and/or personal information.
• Ability to think about alternative ways of doing things and being open to new work practices and responsive to change.
• Ability to take ownership of work and fulfil agreed commitments, checking work for accuracy.
• Reliable for on site working
• This position may require minute taking experience, therefore relevant transferable skills are desirable, however full training will be provided.
  To read more about us please visit: Corporate Services

THIS ROLE IS BEING OFFERED AS A FIXED TERM CONTRACT FOR A PERIOD OF 6 MONTHS AND WILL INVOLVE WORKING ON-SITE 5 DAYS A WEEK EITHER AT THE MAIN RECEPTION DESK AT MAGNET HOUSE OR WITHIN THE SERVICE SUPPORT TEAM WHO ALSO PROVIDE FAMILY CENTRE RECEPTION COVER, PROVIDING FACE TO FACE CUSTOMER SERVICE. DAYS AND HOURS ARE: 9AM TO 5.30PM MONDAY TO THURSDAY AND 9AM TO 4.30PM FRIDAY. THE POSITION ALSO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INVOLVE RECEPTION COVER AT OTHER DESKS AT THE OTHER CAT 1 BUILDINGS WITHIN THE NORTH QUADRANT. OCCASIONAL FLEXIBLE WORKING WHEN APPROVED IN ADVANCE.

This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of Essex County Council’s large, dynamic and highly valued Business Support Team who work in specialised Business Centres across Essex promoting specialised knowledge and improving service and efficiencies.
Business Support teams deliver outstanding administration and customer service to all Essex County Council (ECC) functional areas. Our multi skilled teams deliver services from Business Centre hubs; providing a wide variety of support to high volume processes and tasks such as data input and management, minute taking, finance tasks, managing high volume calls, receptions and requests for assistance. We also support front line social care teams that require a more integrated approach to support.
We are proactive, forward-thinking and solution focused; we streamline processes and maximise digital opportunities. In doing so, we help increase the effectiveness of ECC to deliver better outcomes for the people of Essex than it could without our support.
We value our people and help them strive to deliver their potential and walk their career pathways within our organisation, giving them the tools and learning to get there.

THE ROLE:

This role will involve working on-site at the main reception desk at Magnet House or the Family Centre in Clacton providing face to face customer service.
This role involves working as part of a wider business support team to deliver effective, routine administrative support within a business centre; learning and developing an understanding of existing processes and systems and develop knowledge of all functions across ECC.
As a Business Support Assistant, you may also provide general administrative support to ECC, dealing with day to day work instructed from the Business Centre Manager or others. Great customer service skills are required as this is a customer facing role. Accurate and efficient data entry onto ECC systems is also required, to ensure that all customer service requests are met within a specified time frame and are in line with data protection policies.
ECC provide a minute taking service as requested in some areas, however full training would be provided if requested to support this.