View Vacancy - SIN - UKHO Asia Pacific - Customer Service Officer, AO
Main purpose of job:
The UKHO operates a regional office out of the British High Commission (BHC) in Singapore. This regional office is an operating arm of the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The UKHO has been charting the world’s oceans for more than 200 years.
The UK Hydrographic Office is a leading centre for hydrography, providing marine geospatial data to inform maritime decisions. We work with a wide range of data suppliers and partners to support maritime navigation, safety, security and marine development around the UK and worldwide.
Customer Division
The Customer Division represents the external facing activities of the organisation, providing engagement with and delivery to our markets and Customers. Our work is varied and includes determining and producing product and services, championing our brand and developing external marketing communication, building key strategic relationships and supporting our partners, delivering an industry best customer service, managing ours (and others) Intellectual Property Rights, and identifying opportunities to provide solutions using our data, either for existing customers and/or new markets.
The Customer Division hosts a broad range of skills and expertise. Teams within the Customer Division include: Production, Products and Services, Marketing and Communications, Sales, Channel and Customer Services, Defence, IC-ENC, Intellectual Property and Research, Innovation & Integration.
We are a rapidly evolving organisation that has enjoyed substantial success in our existing markets. This is an exciting opportunity to play an influential role in helping UKHO to be a world leading Marine Geospatial Information Agency within the "Blue Economy" - an emerging concept encouraging sustainable use of ocean or "Blue" resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems. As we move towards the UN Decade of Ocean Science (2021) this is an exciting time to both join UKHO and take on the challenge of bringing ‘data for decisions you can depend upon’ to a new market.
Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?
Although primarily office based the job holders may be required to travel occasionally in the region to manage the diverse range of distributors and customers. They will need to have excellent communication skills, be able to think on their feet and respond rapidly to changing market conditions. Attendance at conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions may be required at times.
Other responsibilities include:
- Providing training to distributors and customers in the technical aspects of UKHO’s digital products;
- Supporting UKHO’s digital products cases raised by customers;
- Preparing technical documentation to support UKHO’s digital products;
- Supporting Sales Support with daily tasks and updating account information via the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system;
- Ensuring effective time management and prioritisation is essential, as well as balancing sales support with input into new products and services;
- Remaining abreast of the new products and services offered by UKHO and with the developments amongst OEMs, their marketplace and the impact of those developments on UKHO products and services;
- Communicating complex sales and technical issues to all levels within shipping companies and distributors including but not limited to end-users and technical partners;
- Collaborating with the whole Customer division but in particular the Customer Service, Service Improvement Assurance, Product, Sales and Channel Teams for the delivery of customer feedback and resolution of customer cases;
- Engaging with the UKHO more broadly to ensure an understanding of and contribution to cross-UKHO technical knowledge and capability.
Language:
- English - proficient in spoken and written
- Mandarin - proficient in spoken and written
Essential on arrival:
- Experience of working in a customer service role;
- Ability to analyse information and make considered, timely decisions;
- Ability to grasp complex issues quickly, display sound judgement and multi-task, prioritising as appropriate;
- Excellent team player;
- Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, combined with tact and political astuteness;
- Good IT literacy and proven use of, SAP and other MS packages;
- Required to speak mandarin for China Market.
Desirable:
- An active interest in Maritime Studies/Information Technology (IT);
- Experience and understanding of the merchant marine sector including defence;
- CRM experience preferred;
- Continuous Improvement Experience.
We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary of SGD 3,744 per month and a generous annual wage supplement (as part of total guaranteed remuneration) of an additional 2 months’ salary paid out in December each year, Central Provident Fund (CPF) payment in lieu for non-Permanent Resident foreign nationals, 23-days annual leave entitlement and a health insurance plan. The basic salary is non-negotiable.
We have a generous leave offer including: 23 days annual leave, increasing to 25 after 5 years' service, with the option to carry over up to 10 days into the subsequent leave year; 13 public holidays; generous maternity and paternity leave; and childcare leave. We encourage volunteerism and offer up to 3 days paid volunteer leave.
We offer medical insurance to support staff with the high costs of healthcare in Singapore and periodic reimbursement for the cost of eye tests and replacement eye wear.
Learning and development opportunities:
We offer time and financial support for the successful candidate to take advantage of professional learning and development opportunities inside and outside of the organisation.
The BHC has an active Learning & Development Committee which works hard to provide a comprehensive L&D offer. There is a wide range of options available for personal development including training courses, coaching and mentoring, job-shadowing, presentations and learning sets. Staff have access to a wide variety of online resources through the International Academy and Civil Service Learning. Staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of all available opportunities.
All new hires undertake a workplace induction and there are a number of mandatory e-learning courses that must be completed in order to pass probation.
Working Patterns:
Normal working hours are 9am-6pm, but the role will involve some evening commitments.
The British High Commission Singapore supports and promotes flexible working as a crucial part of our inclusive offering.
Other information:
In addition to the duties which this job normally entails, you may from time to time be required to undertake additional or other duties as necessary to meet the needs of the High Commission, including playing a part in the corporate life of the mission and supporting any crisis response.
No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. You must have or be able to obtain a local work permit which we will sponsor.
Staff recruited locally by the British High Commission are subject to terms and conditions of service according to local Singapore employment law.
Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. Only short-listed applications will be called for personal interviews.
Please note that all successful candidates will be expected to serve a minimum of 6 months in their new role before being eligible to apply for further positions within the British High Commission.
The British High Commission is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Our values of Collaboration, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence (CORE) are our guiding principles. We aspire to live our values consistently in order to make the British High Commission a great place to work where staff feel valued, supported and inspired to be their best.
We welcome applications from candidates in countries from which travel to Singapore is feasible under the prevailing Covid-related border restrictions. Singapore will only allow entry for those fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved under the WHO EUL. Successful overseas applicants are responsible for all costs associated with relocating to Singapore.
Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline."
Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.
We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.
All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.
For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender, and nationality.
The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.
This opportunity is closed to applications.
