Graduate Customer Service/Examinations Assistant Job Vacancy at The British Council, Lagos
The British Council is the world's leading cultural relations
organization and creates opportunities for people in the UK and
worldwide to understand each other, to work together and learn from one
another. We see this as crucial to building secure, more prosperous and
sustainable futures for us all.
We build trust and understanding
between different countries and cultures and develop strong
international links that are of benefit to people in Britain and the
rest of the world.
We are recruiting to fill the below position:
Job Title: Customer Service/Examinations Assistant
Location: Lagos
Contract: Fixed Term for 4 months
Line Manager: Customer Services Manager
Purpose of Job
- To support the achievement of country plan objectives in Nigeria
by delivering customer services and examinations administration
support.
- To maintain them at the highest professional standards as set
out in the British Council's EQS (Examination Quality Standards) and by
the Examination Board Partners.
Context and Environment
- Customers and enquirers engage with the British Council Nigeria
for a number of purposes with the majority being for examinations.
Nigeria is the largest British Council exams business in the Sub Saharan
Africa region. It administers exams in four areas: Schools,
Professional/Vocational, and Tertiary on behalf of UK institutions and
IELTS. In 2012-13 we delivered 70,000 exams to 25,000 candidates. The
Nigeria team comprises 31 people, 18 are based mainly in Lagos with 7 in
Abuja and 5 in Port Harcourt.
- The SSA region delivers exams in over 20 countries from its
offices in 16 of these countries. In 2012, we delivered a quarter of a
million exams to over 100k candidates. Growth in the region is robust,
but our challenges are many. Nevertheless, Exams teams are making solid
gains in our 4 strategic priority areas, namely: improving business
performance, improving quality, improving financial compliance and
increasing impact.
- The post holder will be part of a team of 18 in Lagos who
deliver customer service and administer the growing exams business
ensuring quality and compliance as well as control of income and
expenditure to deliver on target. This role will assist the delivery of
exams in Lagos in addition to being a key member of the customer
services team.
Accountabilities and Responsibilities
(including people management and finance)
- As Examinations/Customer Service Assistant the post holder will be line managed by the Customer Services Manager.
- Finance: all British Council standards for managing finances are
met with relation to managing Purchase Orders, reconciling income,
managing contracts and procurement.
- Reliability: to ensure examinations are delivered securely according to board requirements
- This post requires the post holder to work a Tuesday to Saturday week.
- Quality: to deliver a high standard of customer service to our
customers, schools and exams candidates. Performance is measured by our
own Exams Quality Standards and the inspection visits from Cambridge
International Exams and other examination boards.
Main Duties
Customer services:
- To provide services that support British Council examination candidates.
- Front desk is always manned during operational hours
- Payments are collected, receipts issued and accurately posted on the system
- Daily / weekly balanced reconciliations are completed and "parked" on the financial system and spreadsheet.
- All service registration procedures (e.g. Exams, Certification
and other programme registration) are fully understood and implemented
to agreed standards.
- Information about the full range of British Council products and
services is clearly and confidently articulated to customers,
encouraging customer engagement and cross-selling
- To regularly attend staff meetings to both gain and impart knowledge about our customers, products and services
- Regular communication and working is maintained with back-of-house teams
- Complaints, comments and feedback are dealt with in accordance with corporate policy and the Exams Quality Standards.
- Visitors are attended to immediately and appropriately
- Phone enquiries answered within 45 seconds of first ring
- Email enquiries are attended to promptly and escalated from regional email centre as per agreed service level agreement
- Provide support/assistance to the Exams Team on all aspects of Customer Service and Exams administration
- Use the E-Africa website as the single authoritative source of information for all enquiry handling
- To provide administrative support in the delivery of exams,
workshops, seminars and any other project related services in line with
Exams Quality Standards (EQS)
Examinations Administration:
- Providing administrative support in the delivery of examinations.
- Conducting venue and school inspections.
- Supporting the wider British Council activities such as
workshops, seminars and any other project related services in line with
Exams Quality Standards (EQS)
- This involves supporting colleagues in pre and post
test/examination administration duties. This includes exams data entry,
post despatch, assisting with session planning/implementation and
examination invigilation.
- Supporting Exams Officers in venue staff monitoring and training.
Information Knowledge Management:
- Manage information created and received in compliance with the
Council's information management standards, policies, the UK Data
Protection Principles and local legislation.
Other Duties
- To assist with market testing of venues and other suppliers.
- Assisting with data collection for marketing purposes.
- To regularly attend staff meetings to both gain and impart knowledge about our customers, products and services
- To assist with any other duty examinations management deem necessary.
Key Relationships
- Internal: Customer services team, Lagos Exams Team, Country Exams Manager, Deputy Country Exams Manager
- External: Venue Staff, IELTS Examiners, enquirers, examinations candidates, venue suppliers.
Other important features or requirements of the job
(e.g. travel, unsocial/evening hours, restrictions on employment etc)
- IELTS tests are usually held on Saturdays and Sundays and some
early evenings. Professional and vocational examinations are also
occasionally held on Saturdays. Rostered working on Sundays and some
evenings is required. Travel to administer/monitor IELTS tests in
centres outside of Lagos is required.
- Test deadlines are absolute; therefore, out of office hours
working may be required to meet these deadlines. Travel to
administer/monitor examinations in centres outside of Lagos may be
required. Overnight stays and weekend working may be required. Flexible
working hours during peak periods (May/June & November/December) for
CIE, ACCA, University of London etc is required
Person Specification
Behaviour:
- Working together (essential):
- Making it happen (essential):
- Being Accountable (essential)
- Creating shared purpose (essential)
- Connecting with others (essential)
- Shaping the future (essential)
Assessment Stage: These behaviours will be needed to successfully carry
out the role, but will not be assessed for recruitment purposes.
Skills and Knowledge
- Ability to use Microsoft Office Word and Excel (Essential)
- Ability to read and write in English at C1/IELTS 7.0/CAE level (Essential)
- Customer service level 1 (Essential)
- Knowledge of the education and qualification systems in the UK and Nigeria (Desirable).
Experience
- Dealing with customers and enquiries in a service environment and providing service within quality standards (Essential)
- Experience of administering examinations (Desirable).
- Experience of managing/supervising a group of people to achieve a specific purpose (Desirable).
- Working quickly and accurately to tight deadlines (Essential)
Qualifications
- Completed secondary education to 'A' level standard or equivalent (Essential)
- University Degree in any subject (Desirable)
- BTEC Examinations Administration Level (Desirable).
Remuneration
- Pay Band: 2/J Pay: 1,871,329.76 NGN per annum.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online
Click here to download job details MS Word
Click here to download BC Core Skills (pdf)
Click here to download BC Behaviours (pdf)
Application Deadline Friday 17th April, 2015.