Service Assurance Officer (AV and R)

at  City of Westminster Council

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF MOHAMAD’S CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS

Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people are passionate about keeping our streets safe and clean.
Take Mohamad, a City Inspector who looks after the Little Venice ward. No two days are the same for Mohamad when he’s out and about conducting ward inspections. He could be doing a licensing premises inspection one day and advising businesses and residents on the proper way to handle their waste on another. But before he joined Westminster, he used to work in banking, where he honed his skills in customer service and people management.
And those skills matters because, while he occasionally needs to enforce the law, his job is mostly about building strong relationships: educating businesses and residents about the impact of certain enviro-crimes.
One day he came across some unmarked commercial waste dumped on Edgware Road. Following procedures, he investigated this waste, carefully collecting evidence. Yet, despite his attempts to make contact with the commercial premises, the owners wouldn’t cooperate. Digging deeper, he worked collaboratively with different Westminster departments such as businesses rates and licensing, and discovered multiple businesses registered at the same address. After issuing six different notices, three of the business failed to comply and were successfully prosecuted.
So while Mohamad’s successfully swapped his financial know-how for expertise in local authority legislation, it’s his people skills and powers of persuasion he’s still proudest of.

As a Service Assurance Officer in the Abandoned Vehicles and Relocations team, you can make your own powerful contribution by dealing with the nuisance of abandoned vehicles. When a vehicle is abandoned for any reason, it can cause multiple concerns for our residents and local businesses. From looking unsightly and hazardous to causing parking problems for other residents, we are determined to deal with these vehicles quickly and efficiently. Which is where you come in!
In this newly created role, you will manage the outsourced service providers who deal with abandoned vehicles. Seeing to it that they are meeting their contractual obligations, you will help us ensure high-quality and cost-effective services are being delivered to our local communities. This will include conducting audits on providers’ activities, assessing the efficiency of relevant policies and maintaining oversight of relevant legislation so that you can ensure we (and our service providers) are meeting the expected standards. Representing the council at meetings and forums, you will provide a reassuring presence for local communities who will appreciate the measures you are implementing to keep their neighbourhoods safe and welcoming.
With 1,990 streets and 600 miles of kerbside to oversee, and around 75% of your time spent out of the office so that you can deliver a hands-on approach to abandoned vehicles, this is a satisfyingly fast-paced challenge, in which you will be handling enquiries and complaints from residents and visitors to the borough. You will therefore excel with us if you are looking for a busy role with multiple challenges to sink your teeth into! With plenty of opportunity to network widely with City Highways teams, City Inspectors and Parking Services teams, this role will also present you with the opportunity to learn on the job, and potentially progress into areas such as Transport Planning and Public Realm scheme delivery.
Please refer to the Job Description for more information.