We are looking for an experienced Complaints Officer with particularly experience of Adult and Children’s Statutory Complaints, to join our Complaints Team.The Complaints Team is responsible for handling Statutory, Corporate and Ombudsman complaints across Richmond and Wandsworth.

Whilst the focus of the role will be Adult and Children’s Statutory Complaints, there will be opportunities to work across Corporate and Ombudsman complaints too. As a Complaints Officer, you will be responsible for managing a caseload of complex complaints from residents and service users in both boroughs and supporting directorates with good complaint handling. This is a rewarding role, in a supportive and high achieving complaints team. We are passionate about adding value to Richmond and Wandsworth Council by learning from complaints and contributing to positive outcomes for our residents.

The Complaints Officer will hold a broad range of varied casework.It is essential that you have a good understanding and working experience of Statutory Adult or Children’s complaints and ideally Corporate and Ombudsman complaints too.

The Complaints Officer will be required to:

• Communicate directly with members of the public who have made complaints while demonstrating excellent interpersonal skills. At all times you will need a sympathetic yet objective approach
• Provide advice and support to colleagues in all service areas regarding our complaints procedures (and for some officers, handling requests for information from both the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Service)
• Reviewand quality assure responses to complaints that managers have drafted.You will therefore need to establishsupportive working relationshipsquicklywith colleaguesin the directorates
• Record, monitor and report on the progress of complaints and compliance with statutory and corporate procedures as required
• Assess the most appropriate complaints process for individual cases to be progressed; where there isambiguity, present reasoned options to the Statutory Complaints Manager
• Ensure complainants and colleagues follow the appropriate complaints procedure within relevant timescales whilst promoting a positive culture of learning from complaints
• Work well under pressure, prioritise a varied workload, meet strict deadlines and operate effectively as part of a team.

The ideal Candidate will have:

• A good knowledge and experience of complaint handling in a local government/health setting, particularly within the Adult and Children’s Statutory remit
• The ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of people
• Good common sense and an ability to analyse and summarise complex issues
• Previousexperience of dealing with people who are dissatisfied or unhappy
• An awareness of the importance of client confidentiality and data protection
• An awareness of the Equalities Act 2010 and the importance of providing an accessible and inclusive complaints service
• Be able to identify possible safeguarding concerns and ensure the necessary referrals or alerts are made

Closing Date:26^th September 2024

Shortlisting Date: W/C 30^th September 2024

Interview Date:7^th& 8^th October 2024

For an informal conversation please contact Simon Landau Adults and Children's Complaints Manager via #removed#

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone.We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.This campaign is anonymised.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range ofbenefitsdesigned to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.