Executive Contact Officer

Who are we?

South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England, and the Isle of Wight.

Join our team and help us continue to bring people together to get the most out of life.

About the job

A CO4 Executive Contact Officer is based in our Southampton Customer Contact Centre with their role to support the direct delivery of services to customers and our internal and external stakeholders. The role plays a key part in ensuring that our customers receive a consistent high level of service when they escalate their complaints and is vital in ensuring we deliver against our commitment of addressing and resolving customer complaints within 20 working days. They also play a pivotal role is ensuring our time critical 24hr turnaround in addressing & resolving correspondence for our internal & external stakeholders.

The role works alongside front line staff to demonstrate an effective rigorous escalation process and will provide the first line of support when our customers feel their complaints haven't been dealt with as they wish and want to escalate their concerns.  Crucial to this role is the ability to remain professional and strictly confidential at all times.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Ombudsman – Referrals/Initial Responses/Responding to further enquiries & requests/Checking 40+ day cases in TOCRM Queues/Periodic Reviews with Rail Ombudsman Senior Manager
• Travel Watchdog – Case Reviews/Initial Response/Liaising with other SWR Functions
• MD Correspondence - Draft's, Reply Directs & case investigations.
• Director & Regional/Duty Managers - Draft's & Reply Directs due to the large number of last-minute requests management receive from various departments, the team will be required to complete drafts & reply directly on behalf of. This will also include refund and compensation processing.
• Stakeholders - Internal & External support, case reviews/support/MP Information Data Gathering re constituent Customer Contact.
• First Group - Drafts & Reply Directs
• Case Resumes for Senior Exec/Directors/Heads Off
• Information Managers – Support re social media
• Meet the Manager - Historical & Current case reviews.
• Passenger Welfare - Calling customers trapped in lifts/incidents at stations & on train/stranded passengers on trains during disruption.
• ORR – Providing Information on SWR Practices & Policies including Retail.
• Data Gathering for End of Period Reporting
• Prosecutions - Providing Customer Information e.g., from Webtis/Revenue Protection Staff Complaints/Support on letter writing & Customer Contact.
• Written & Telephony Escalations from CSA's & Team Leaders after the normal customer relation process has been followed and customer wishes correspondence to be escalated.
• Templates for CSA's & Team Leaders to use as Standard Responses
• Templates Reviews & Updating
• Customer Contact Visits which means the removal from normal duties i.e., DfT/Graduates/Stakeholders
• Escalation Email Inbox – Working on bespoke drafts for MD/Director/CX level
• Daily Summary of Events re Disruption to aid CSA's/Team Leader Support including PTAN downloading.
• Advice/Support to CSA/Team Leader colleagues
• Passenger Assistance - Failed Assistance & General Passenger Assistance Complaints
• Safety Reporting/Safety Cases/Safety Accidents/Safety Incidents/Vegetation
• Right to be Forgotten
• Subject Access Requests
• CCTV Requests
• County Court Judgements
• Claims under £1500 excluding Personal Injury

You'll need to be:

• Confident telephone manner and excellent communication and customer service skills
• Highly motivated with the initiative to work to a high standard in a small close-knit team.
• Excellent written communication skills
• Proven IT skills using MS Office including Excel to produce reports.
• A willingness to learn new technologies.
• Ability to work accurately meeting tight deadlines.
• Interpersonal skills
• Excellent organization skills
• Ability to handle sensitive information with a high level of confidentiality and discretion.
• Flexibility, interested in learning, able to grow into the role if/when it becomes more challenging.
• Ability to work well under pressure.
• Previous experience of working in customer service and complaints handling

About the location

Overline House is conveniently situated overlooking Southampton Central Station and is easily accessible by public transport. The station is very local to West Quay, a hub for retailers and restaurants, and provides an excellent link between London, Coastal areas and the Isle of Wight.

Working pattern

Working an average of 37 hours per week over 5 days

Shifts are between the hours of 8am-8pm.
No shift is longer than 9 hours. 
The Contact Centre is open 7 days a week, weekend cover could be required.

The Reward

In return we offer a competitive salary and a variety of valuable benefits, including:

• Free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employees
• Free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependent)
• 75% discount on many other train operating companies
• Full training and support with development
• Excellent pension scheme

We all belong at SWR. Our vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.

We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.

We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.

If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below.  We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.

https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/

https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/