Customer Service Assistant

Customer Service Assistant

Salary: Grade 15- ranging from £24,796 to £25,185 per annum for 37 hours per week

Closing Date: 24 July 2026

Key information

• The Customer Service Team act as the ‘front door’ for customers needing assistance with all services provided by Somerset Council. 
• Within our Children’s team, we need a Customer Service Assistant who will input information and referrals for Children’s Social Care and other children’s services.  
• It offers hybrid working, with 1 day per week required in the office (once trained) and the remaining days can be home or office based as you wish.
• Office location base is County Hall, Taunton
• 37 hours. Customers can contact us between 8.30am-5.00pm Monday to Friday so, your work pattern will be within these hours. 
• Fixed Term contract for 12 months

What will I be doing?

We’re working to improve the lives of Families and Children here in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that.

Your day-to-day work will involve: 

• Much of this role is not customer facing and therefore may suit someone who enjoys working quietly and methodically with great attention to detail. 
• You will be communicating with professionals and members of the public via email about a range of queries such as safeguarding concerns, Special Educational Needs queries, and logging Police reports and electronic referrals.   
• You will be dealing with electronic referrals and emails which may result in making calls to a professional for any additional information.
• Issuing work permits, chaperone licences and performance licences
• Liaising with social workers

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need? 

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. But it will really help if you:

• Confidence and resilience to handle high volume, sensitive and emotive interactions.  
• Good computer skills, confidence to learn new systems and use multiple technologies.
• Enthusiasm to learn about our services, a positive and calm way of working and a problem-solving mindset.
• Attention to detail, methodical and the ability to follow a process
• Professionalism to adhere to process and understand the confidential and sometimes difficult nature of interactions we handle.
• Experience is not essential; however, it will be useful and if you do have experience of any of our Children, Families or Education services on a personal or professional basis then please make this clear in your application.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

What’s in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work, they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

Anything else I should know.

As this is a customer related role, the postholder must be able to communicate clearly and effectively in spoken English to support members of the public. This requirement is in line with our duties as a public authority under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016.

This post may require a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.

If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity before applying, please email Louisa Mulligan, Team Manager Louisa.Mulligan@somerset.gov.uk   for an informal chat.

Interviews will take place at County Hall on Friday 7 August 2026.and will include a basic test to ensure you can find important details from a fictional police report. 

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.