Customer and Safeguarding Officer
Fixed Term, Part Time
£27,404 to £32,239 per annum
Location: Chelmsford
Closing Date: 17th April 2026
Please note that this is a Secondment / Fixed Term Contract opportunity for a period of 18 months and is a part time role, offering 28.5 hours per week (0.77 Full Time Equivalent), across a 5-day week, Monday to Friday.
Interview Date: 15th & 17th April 2026
The Opportunity
Customer and Safeguarding Officers work to deliver exemplary service to address operational issues in a proactive manner working as the first point of contact between the IPTU and customers to ensure a seamless customer experience.
This role is critical in ensuring that the IPTU is able to effectively deliver the Councils portfolio of transport services. This role is responsible for undertaking stakeholder interactions with regard to transport services including leading consultations on service changes and new initiatives, drafting communications by analysing and/or responding to feedback. In addition, they will have responsibility for delivering the IPTU’s work on digital interaction and service delivery, taking the lead from relevant managers in the service.
This role will play a key role in the safeguarding processes, working with internal and external partners to manage the training of specialist staff and monitor safeguarding requirements.
Accountabilities
- Work collaboratively as a customer focused team to ensure complex situations are dealt with in a timely manner, working with partners and stakeholders to resolve operational issues in a proactive manner.
- Contributes to overseeing operational delivery of passenger transport contracts and suppliers to ensure performance and improvements are monitored with any issues highlighted to relevant managers to agree actions.
- Contribute to activity which ensures service levels and costs are applied to ECC’s service provision that maximise the benefit to local residents and ensure local solutions to manage ECC financial risks including support for area reviews.
- Support implementation of integration projects to ensure outcomes are met, working with cross boundary colleagues when necessary and provide recommendations and feedback to managers on potential improvements.
- Work collaboratively with partners to ensure the best overall outcome for the people of Essex, whilst protecting ECC’s interests ensuring compliance with all external and internal regulations.
- Contributes to the development of suitable processes and safeguarding practices to ensure adequate assessment of risk and implementing actions to minimise such risks for ECC. Manage the training of approved staff and monitor safeguarding requirements.
- Support partners and colleagues to manage and deliver exemplary customer service and ensure all actions and changes meet compliant vetting requirements.
- Contributes to monitoring of supplier contracts ensuing potential risk areas for ECC are minimised.
- Provides updates and reporting on customer feedback to ensure managers are kept up to date on issues raised by clients.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
The Experience You Will Bring
- Educated to A level or the equivalent by experience.
- Evidence of continuing professional development.
- Experience and evidence of effective customer skills.
- Knowledge of procurement, contract management processes and compliance.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills with ability to persuade stakeholders.
- Evidence of successfully delivering outcomes in in a complex, customer facing environment.
- Experience of delivering public services in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
- Evidence of working collaboratively across an organisation including experience of working in a political environment.
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