View Vacancy - Consular Contact Centre Operations, Team Manager (ESP20.260)

Due to COVID-19, you may experience some delay in the progress of this recruitment campaign and we are working hard to minimise any disruption.

This is an exciting role at the FCO Consular Customer Contact Centre (CC) operation in Malaga (Spain), working on varied, fast-paced issues, in the heart of our dynamic CC Customer Experience team. The successful candidate will be a key part of our friendly team, working with our staff at our two contact centre sites (Malaga and Ottawa), our Emergency Travel Document (ETD) centres in Madrid and Singapore, and across the global network of British consulates. This means the job holder will be required to work unsociable hours regularly to support teams in different time zones. Our CC operation is a supportive working environment which also embraces flexible working.

The main purpose of the job:

• Our consular contact centres are the frontline for thousands of British nationals who need assistance whilst overseas. The Team manager role is responsible for all aspects of the Global contact centre Operations & Digital Comms Team, which filters enquiries and offers 24-hour cover for all consular posts globally, and urgent consular enquiries from the UK.  The Team manager is responsible for ensuring consistency across regions and ensuring the right staff in the right place at the right time delivering the right message.  Working in conjunction with the existing Operation Managers, the role will also be responsible for first line response during a crisis or incident;

• The role focuses on a quality service to our customers and the Team manager must lead a series of improvements to our service;

• Update tools used by the Global Consular Contact Centres for resource management, resilience and business as usual needs.  Resolve calls and lead on carrying out UAT (user acceptance testing) and other technical tests for new applications to be used by the contact centre.  The jobholder will also be required to train the contact centre staff on new systems and lead the shifts. The JH will need to liaise with the wider global contact centre team to carry out these responsibilities;

• This position involves working during unsocial hours. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Workforce Planning & Reporting

• Responsibility for maintaining staff rosters to ensure cover for emergency consular assistance lines while retaining a focus on staff wellbeing, resource demands and liaising with other Contact Centre teams to ensure 24 hour staffing of the office;
• Reporting on performance ensuring KPIs for CC colleagues are produced timely;
• Reporting on trends and significant shifts in enquiry patterns across regions.

Written Enquiry Management

• Lead on the management of the social media channels owned by the CC: Ensuring that accounts (such as the Travel Advice Twitter, Facebook feeds though not only) are managed meeting the quality standards set out in the FCO Digital strategy;
• Lead on improvements to the Contact Centre Enquiry Handling (CCEH) system (management of first contact in writing from members of the public);
• The facilitation of training sessions ensuring CC colleagues meet Key Performance Indicators in digital services.

Operational Call & Crisis Handling & Script Development

• Responsibility with the other Team Managers for managing the Consular Contact Centre’s 24-hour operation;
• Responsibility for ensuring core scripts and guidance are consistent with FCO policy and service in line with SLA;
• Responsibility for Post Essential Information (PEI) and contact information, ensuring it is accurate and up to date.  Developing our scripts and essential tools to ensure handlers are able to provide essential information for over 100 countries;
• To ensure staff are prepared and trained ready to respond to a crisis anywhere across the globe. To continually develop our tools with London to provide effective response and ensure regular crisis exercises with both post and London.

Staff Management & Development 

• Joint responsibility with the other Team Managers for managing the Consular Contact Centre’s 24 hour operation, the job holder will be will be focused on the customer journey, meeting the terms of an agreed SLA with internal and external stakeholders, focusing on quality of service and the response to consular enquiries;

• Team Managers will supervise the efficient running and development of the team, providing coaching and monitoring, and 1 to 1s;

• Focus on team development and keep up to date a learning needs analysis for the team.

Customer Journey & Quality Assurance

• To continually assess our response mechanisms and quality check daily. To provide feedback loop with consular posts and senior staff.  To ensure that key KPI are achieved;

• The job holder will be will be focused on the customer journey, meeting the terms of an agreed SLA with internal and external stakeholders, focussing on quality of service and the response to consular enquiries.

• Availability to work unsociable hours;

• Strong customer service skills and experience of collaborating with external suppliers and partners;

• Management experience;

• Ability to gather and interpret customer insight/research data;

• Language: effective operational proficiency in English, both spoken and written, at European Framework of Languages C1 level minimum. Any other language will be an advantage';

• Excellent communication skills;

• Experience managing digital content;

• Excellent level of the Microsoft Office suite;

• Good geographical knowledge.