About the Borough This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned. Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer. Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink. Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other. We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand. Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK. About the Role We currently have both full and part time vacancies for Business Support Officers across the Support and Connect Hub, and Residential and Business Hub in our new Customer Fulfilment Service. Support and Connect Hub The Support and Connect Hub focuses on our people related services and supports the areas of Adult Social Care, Housing, Concessionary Travel and Free School Meals. Tasks in the Support and Connect Hub can include; Providing telephone support as first point of contact for Mental Health and supporting the Mental Health duty team Providing administrative support to the Learning Disability team Data input and inbox management Financial tasks such as raising purchase orders and invoices Minute taking support for Safeguarding and Best Interest adult social care related meetings Managing stock and distribution of communal entrance keys for council tenant homes Processing elements of the voids property process Residential and Business Hub The Residential and Business Hub provides support to service areas such as Planning, Building Control, Regulatory Services and Waste. Tasks in this hub can include: Data inputting and inbox management Administering Planning Appeals Compiling and organising documentation for Planning Committees Processing applications for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) and making payments to contractors which will require close coordination with Home Improvement Agency (HIA) case workers Addressing residential queries and complaints including noise and bonfire complaints, stray dogs and landlord complaints amongst others Processing HMO License applications (Houses in Multiple Occupation) and taking payments Adherence to legislative guidance and instructions and meeting service level agreement targets. All our roles involve the use of different systems so we are looking for people who are confident and at ease in using new systems, with excellent ICT skills and are quick to learn. All our roles require you to work as part of a team and enjoy working in a busy environment. We have a hybrid working policy which may require 2-3 days per week working on site at times. About Us The Customer Fulfilment Service is a new service which was formed in April 2024. The service brings together the contact, processing and care elements of a customer's journey into one centralised service. The Council is focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for its communities. To do this the Council needs employees who thrive in an agile and networked organisation and who can support continuous improvement within a constructive organisational culture. As a council, we are high performing and ambitious, and on top of that we are top rated across some of our services such as Social Care. We have also won a number of awards and accolades that acknowledge our improvements in the following areas: senior leadership, workforce transformation and our work on Cambridge Road Estate with our residents. About You For all our roles we are looking for individuals with: Excellent communication skills Ability to embrace and demonstrate a digital mindset Ability to multitask A can do attitude Take responsibility for your performance and meeting deadlines An eye for detail Can work in a collaborative way Demonstrate flexibility and reliability A customer centred work ethic An eagerness to drive continual improvement An ability to follow our hybrid working policy which may require 2-3 days per week working on site at times An awareness of the opportunities and challenges currently facing local authorities