Membership and Customer Service Officer (Cycle Parking)
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Salary: SO1 - £35,577-£36,567
Contract Type: Full time Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: 01/11/2024
Proposed Interview Date(s): w/c 11/11/2024
Reference:1481
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
Over the past 10 years, the Highways and Traffic Management Department have delivered the highly successful and award winning Enjoy Waltham Forest Programme, aimed at radically changing our neighbourhoods by placing active and sustainable travel at the heart of everything we do.
The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
The role of Membership and Customer Service Officer will support the delivery and management of our cycle parking portfolio, which is one of the largest in the UK, and includes our residential Bikehangars and Station Cycle Hubs. With over £1m funding secured to invest in cycle parking over the next two years, this role will be fast-paced and ensure the smooth operation of the Council's cycle parking portfolio by fostering a positive experience for members and addressing their needs effectively. By promoting the scheme to residents, resolving service issues, and analysing feedback, you will help create a user-friendly, accessible, and well-utilised service that supports the Council's commitment to sustainable and active travel. This is a critical role managing the relationship between Waltham Forest residents and the Council's extensive cycle parking portfolio, which includes over 800 Bikehangars that accommodate up to 4,800 bicycles (six per unit) and 11 Station Cycle Hubs with over 750 spaces.
The Membership and Customer Service Officer will be responsible for overseeing member communications, managing applications, handling renewals, and addressing a range of member enquiries, including those from residents on the waiting list. With consistently high demand and a growing waiting list for spaces, the Membership and Customer Service Officer will ensure that all member interactions-whether related to registration, access issues, or general enquiries-are handled efficiently and professionally, helping to promote cycling as a convenient, secure, and accessible transport option across the borough.
>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<
Key Responsibilities:
Member Engagement:
• Act as the first point of contact for members and prospective users of residential Bikehangars and Station Cycle Hubs.
• Provide information about membership, pricing, and features of the secure parking facilities.
• Lead member onboarding, assisting with allocations, key delivery, payments, and providing new users with their welcome packs.
• Gather feedback from members and suggest improvements to enhance their experience.
Customer Service:
• Respond promptly to customer enquiries, complaints, and technical issues via email, and occasionally in person.
• Investigate and resolve issues related to membership accounts, parking access, and facility usage.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date customer service records and documentation.
• Escalate complex issues to the Complementary Measures Project Manager when necessary, while keeping members informed of progress.
Maintenance:
• Respond to and coordinate the resolution of maintenance issues reported by residents, such as faulty locks, damages, or other operational concerns.
• Ensure timely repairs and communicate maintenance schedules or disruptions to affected members, minimising service interruptions.
Administration:
• Oversee the membership management system, ensuring accurate data entry and timely notifications.
• Process refunds, and membership cancellations as required.
• Track and report on Bikehangar occupancy rates, member satisfaction, and waiting list metrics, using this data to recommend potential improvements to enhance programme efficiency and user experience.
Collaboration
• Carry out such other duties and tasks with the Sustainable Transport Team, which may be assigned from time to time to meet the needs of the service.
Qualifications and Requirements:
- Proven experience in membership, customer service or engagement role, ideally in a public service or transportation environment.
- Strong organizational, verbal and written communication and numeracy skills as well as attention to detail.
- Competence in using CRM software and Microsoft Office.
- Ability to work with minimum supervision, using problem solving skills and initiative to provide a customer focused support service.
- Ability to work flexibly, balancing competing priorities and meeting deadlines whilst understanding the needs, timescales and deadlines of others.
- Ability to deal diplomatically and confidentially with a wider range of stakeholders internally and externally.
- Ability to monitor and collate qualitative feedback and data to evaluate and inform decision making.
Terms and conditions:
The below terms and conditions apply to this role:
- Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
- Satisfactory declaration of interest;
- As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
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.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Jane Sherry, Head of Sustainable Transport at jane.sherry@walthamforest.gov.uk
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.