Career Opportunities: Customer Service Executive - English Services (44357)

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

Job Title: Customer Service Executive – English Services

Purpose of job:

English Online is the British Council’s bespoke 100% online Adults English course that enables customers to learn online from anywhere in the world. The end-to-end customer experience aims to puts customers in control by offering a self-serve experience. This is supported by a central point of contact to provide information, resolve service requests and support the generation of new sales.

The Sales and Customer Experience Executive plays a key role in delivering an excellent customer experience, helping us learn more about our customers and in supporting commercial success.

Key responsibilities include:

• Ensuring rapid, high quality customer service and support for new and existing customers, primarily via email and webchat.
• Following standard operating protocols (SOPs) and delivering against service level agreements (SLAs) to resolve service cases appropriately.
• Providing a contact point for potential new customers to support sales and marketing efforts and help increase registrations.
• Providing operational support to resolve service requests and liaising with other support teams where necessary.
• Using Salesforce CRM and other management information systems to capture customer data and voice of customer, to help the business continually improve all areas of customer experience.

Role context 

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections, and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education, and civil society. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall including online broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

The English and Exams Strategic Business Unit (E&E SBU) is one of three global strategic business units in the British Council. The purpose of the SBUs is to support the British Council in its mission of building trust in the UK around the world by sharing aspects of our education systems, governance, and culture. E&E supports this mission by helping people around the world access the life-changing education and work opportunities that are created by learning English or gaining other valuable world-recognised UK qualifications and skills. Our work in fostering knowledge of the English language also helps provide a medium for communication worldwide, helping break down barriers of misunderstanding between cultures.

The British Council’s vision for E&E is to be the world authority in high quality English language teaching, learning and assessment. E&E is a commercially run business with an established global network of teaching and exams centres.

Covid-19 has escalated demand, accelerated the process, and strengthened the rationale for the development of online ELT products, to sit alongside an emerging portfolio of online products and services already reaching over 120m English learners and teachers annually.

Within E&E, English Online forms part of the adult portfolio of online products, positioned as a premium, teacher-led and group classroom online offer.

Product focus

Aimed at aspirational professional adults learning English at any level, English Online is a flexible and 100% online learning programme. It provides a premium online experience with highly trained and effective teachers, demonstrating clear learning outcomes and fostering a global community and support network of learners and teachers.

Product context and environment

English Online is managed and developed by a small globally oriented team. The initial launch took place in selected markets in September 2020. Currently, English Online is available in over 100 countries. The Product follows an iterative and incremental development approach to scale and increase student volume globally. Part of Key to this role this work involves helping us learn more about our customers and in supporting commercial success.

Main opportunities for this role

1. Being part of a dynamic e-business that is still growing and evolving.
2. Playing a key role in helping and shaping that growth.
3. Engaging with and supporting customers digitally, primarily via email and web live chat.
4. Responding to and resolving enquiries rapidly to meet customer expectations of an e-business and to deliver against service level agreements (SLAs).
5. Working with a global, multi-cultural and multi-lingual and customer base
6. Working within a Global, networked, and multi-lingual team where remote working is required.
7. Working with customer data to support sales, marketing, and communications initiatives within the corporate data governance framework.
8. Working with the English Online team and associated support teams to ensure collaborative working, good governance, and business improvement.
9. Should be flexible working in 24x7 shift environment.
10.  Should be comfortable working in a hybrid mode.

Main opportunities/challenges for this role 

Accountabilities, responsibilities, and main duties

Customer Service

• Manage incoming customer service cases from active learners through to resolution, primarily via email and web live chat.
• Follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to maintain high levels of service.
• Manage incoming payment support requests - potentially including cancellations, refunds, payment failures and updating payment details.

Sales support communications and engagement

• Respond to potential new sales enquiries quickly and effectively and with a superior level of information to encourage registrations.
• Actively support marketing efforts and promotions, ensuring new sales enquiries are logged and that any features or promotions are described accurately.
• Support the English Online team with communications and promotions to existing customers and campaigns.
• Support re-marketing campaigns to customers with expiring packages that may wish to re-purchase.

Reporting, insight and systems

• Help capture all customer service interactions, enquiries, complaints, and resolutions on CRM to support accurate reporting.
• Help capture voice of customer to help us develop insight about our customers and how we can improve all areas of their experience.
• Operational Support
• Following standard operating procedures that may be required to help resolve customer support requests.

Relationships and stakeholder management

• Work with payment support teams including the E-Commerce team, Shared Services Centre, and the English Online technical support team to ensure payment support tickets are resolved and that any repeat problems with payment solutions are identified.
• Work with teams supporting the English Online learner portal to help resolve service and information requests that relate to this.
• Occasionally act as a communication point for Teaching Centre Sales and Customer Service teams that have sales or customer service enquiries for English Online.

Role specific knowledge and experience

• Please note that this requires a flexible approach to shift patterns, including evening and weekend working, to ensure support to the team of Sales and Customer Service Executive distributed across different regions. This is a remote role.
• Excellent communication skills – written and spoken.
• A high level of attention to detail.
• Substantial experience in a customer service role experience
• Experience of working in an international context and with international customers.
• Ability to manage, schedule and prioritise multiple tasks.
• Experience of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms and reporting tools.

A working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

Desirable Role Specific Knowledge & Experience:

• B2C sales and/or marketing experience.
• Experience in the education industry – particularly in the ELT sector.
• Working knowledge of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation and data governance.
• Experience of multi-country working.

Experience providing customer support in an online environment.

Qualifications

• Graduation or equivalent

Further Information

Pay Band – 4

Contract Type – Fixed Term Contract (till 30-Jun-2025)  

Department/Country -  GSS English & Exams (English Operations)/ India - Noida

Closing Date (Time) – 29 Oct 2024 (IST- 23:59)

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.