Customer Engagement Officer (part time)

Job Title: Customer Engagement Officer (part time)

Team: Customer Engagement

Service:

People, Culture & Engagement

Responsible to: Customer Engagement Manager

Salary £33,282 pro rata. £20,302 actual

Working 22.5 hours over three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, with flexibility)

Job Summary

To lead and support customer engagement activities that ensure customers’ voices are heard and influence the services we provide. Working within our communities, the Customer Engagement Officer will build positive relationships with customers, volunteers, community groups and partners, empowering customers to shape decisions, provide constructive challenge and help drive service improvements.

The role supports compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing Consumer Standards by promoting transparency, accountability and meaningful customer influence. The post holder will be confident, resilient and professional in facilitating engagement, managing relationships, and handling challenging conversations to achieve positive outcomes for customers and communities.

Benefits of working with Ongo include:

• 30 days paid holiday plus bank holidays, half day on Christmas Eve and your birthday off
• Exceptional leave
• 15 hours per year paid volunteering
• Annual pay review
• Mileage reimbursement at 55p per mile
• Free parking (pass provided)
• Attendance recognition (extra day off or voucher)
• 9.5% pension contribution (Aviva)
• 3x salary life assurance policy
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
• Simply Health package (including Pro-counselling for family members)
• Housing Perks – discounts at 100’s of retailers
• Agile working
• Home working equipment provided
• Local gym discounts
• Discounts at Costa and Starbucks (town centre)
• Car lease scheme

Main Responsibilities

• Identify and develop new ways of engaging with customers ensuring increased representation of diverse and hard-to-reach groups in engagement activities.
• Promote the benefits of using digital forms of communication, to engage and consult and support tenants in accessing them
• Identify and meet the communication needs of customers, including access to alternative formats and translations.
• Lead and chair meetings, pro-actively support existing or newly formed groups (including community groups), to work in partnership with Ongo and influence change.
• Support the tenant scrutiny group to ensure they can independently review and challenge service performance.
• Assist groups in the development of all relevant documents, e.g. In terms of references and policies.
• Promote and advocate customer engagement opportunities throughout the region, liaising with stakeholders to develop multi-agency working.
• Identify funding available to community groups and offer appropriate support for the submission of funding applications
• Identify training for volunteers to help them develop in their roles and facilitate their training needs
• Undertake surveys, capture feedback from customers and volunteers (i.e. What customers are telling us) analysing information to identify trends and improvements to future service delivery
• Work collaboratively with internal departments and external partners to embed customer voice in service delivery. Capturing customer involvement in other areas and following up to ensure actions are implemented.
• Work directly within local communities to build relationships, identify emerging issues and encourage customer participation in shaping services and community initiatives.
• Demonstrate the confidence to challenge behaviours, actions or practices that do not align with Ongo's values, policies or expectations, ensuring all engagement activities remain safe, respectful and inclusive.
• Support customers and volunteers to have constructive conversations, manage differing opinions and work together to achieve positive outcomes for their communities.
• Prepare and present clear and concise reports in relation to customer engagement activities and outcomes based on tenant feedback.
• Attitude to the public is maintained to the highest possible standard in accordance with ongo values, policies and procedures
• Develop promotional and engagement information to raise awareness of the benefits of getting involved, work with PR team creating relevant marketing information and producing tenant publications such as newsletters, web content, etc.
• Promote adherence to the Volunteers Code of Conduct, ensuring involved tenants are aware of expectations and supported in maintaining respectful and inclusive participation. Where behaviours fall below expected standards, confidently and professionally challenge and address issues in line with Ongo policies and values.
• To be aware of safeguarding vulnerable adults and children and report any concerns via Ongo’s Safeguarding policies and procedures.

Skills, Competence, Experience Required

• Good oral and written communication skills including the ability to use plain English
• Significant experience of working directly with customers and communities, including the confidence and resilience to deal assertively and professionally with challenging behaviours, difficult conversations and conflicting viewpoints.
• Experience of working within diverse communities and engaging individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who may be less likely to participate in traditional engagement activities.
• Ability to challenge constructively and influence positive change while maintaining strong working relationships with customers, volunteers, colleagues and partner organisations.
• Experience of working with voluntary groups and knowledge of committee procedures
• Experience in ICT and various packages e.g. Desk top publishing, Microsoft word, excel and other databases.
• Creativity to use different engagement methods with groups or for events held in local neighbourhoods
• Ability to prepare documentation and present information to a wide-ranging audience
• Ability to use persuasion and influencing skills
• Create positive working relationships with colleagues across the organisation
• Experience of multi-agency working to develop networks with partnership organisations (e.g. Police, local authority)
• Experience of working with customers in supporting, developing and motivating individuals so that they can be empowered in decision making
• Able to make timely and effective decisions to support customer engagement groups and their development.
• Knowledge of legislation & guidance relating to social housing e.g. Customer engagement
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with tenants and other stakeholders.
• Full driving license and use of own vehicle.

Lone Working

• The post will be desk based, but will require to visit estates, attend meetings in public places, customers’ homes or via video conferencing, and sometimes outside of normal office hours
• The role will involve working independently within communities and may require dealing with challenging situations or difficult conversations. The post holder must be able to remain resilient, professional and confident whilst maintaining personal safety and appropriate boundaries.
• A lone working device will be required.

Health & Safety

• To be aware of risks to personal safety, other employees, customers, company property and company reputation and to highlight such risks to managers immediately
• The post will be split between office, agile working and out on estates.

Environment and Sustainability

• To ensure the environment and sustainability policies are understood by the post holder
• To promote the importance of considering the environment and sustainability in the role
• To treat the environment with respect and commit to ensuring all services/activities that are provided in this role have taken the impact on the environment into consideration/action plans

Risk Management

• To identify risks that may affect the achievement of personal and service objectives. To support the organisation's risk management process through good communication and carrying out actions to reduce identified risks.
• To be aware and adhere to the risks assessments in place for specific tasks relating to the role.

Equality & Diversity

• Actively promote inclusion and encourage participation from underrepresented groups, ensuring everyone has an opportunity to influence services and contribute to positive change within their communities
• To promote equality and diversity amongst our stakeholders, residents, customers, clients, colleagues, board and committee members and all those we work with.
• To ensure all customers’ needs are understood and all services that are provided meet individual needs, including in relation to the protected characteristics and customers with additional support needs.
• To treat everyone with dignity and respect at all times.

Closing date for applications 11 September

Interviews to be held 29 or 30 September

We want our organisation to reflect the communities we serve, and we actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, particularly those from groups currently under‑represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. This means we actively encourage disabled candidates to apply, we work to remove barriers within our recruitment practices, and we guarantee to consider applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know. We are happy to support you to ensure you can perform at your best.

Ongo Recruitment will act as an employment agency on your behalf in seeking permanent employment opportunities. We understand that you are seeking work. By continuing with our registration process, you agree to Ongo Recruitment providing work-finding services to you.