Apprentice Customer Service Officer

Summary

Gravesham Borough Council are looking for an Apprentice Customer Service Officer to join their friendly and supportive team. This is a great opportunity to learn, gain valuable office experience and develop the skills needed for a career in customer service.

Wage

£15,392 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age

National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices

Training course

Customer service practitioner (level 2)

Hours

Monday to Friday (an hour for lunch), working hours TBC.

37 hours a week

Start date

Tuesday 29 September 2026

Duration

1 year 3 months

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

You’ll receive full training and support throughout your apprenticeship. You’ll start by getting to know the team, Council services and office environment, supporting with a range of admin tasks such as gathering information and pulling together statistics. As your confidence grows, you’ll gradually take on more customer-facing responsibilities and work towards becoming a confident Apprentice Customer Service Officer.

No two days will be the same! You’ll learn how to support customers, solve problems and help people access the services they need, while also gaining a broader understanding of how a busy office team works.

You’ll start by supporting experienced colleagues with administrative tasks and, as you develop your skills, you’ll take on more responsibility for speaking with customers by telephone, email and face-to-face.

Key Duties:

• Learn about Gravesham Borough Council services and how they support local residents
• Support the team with general administrative tasks, including gathering information and statistics
• Develop your IT, organisation and communication skills
• Build your confidence in speaking with customers by telephone, email and face-to-face
• Progressively take on more responsibility for responding to customer enquiries
• Provide helpful and friendly advice and guidance to customers
• Help customers resolve queries and problems
• Work alongside experienced colleagues in a busy and supportive team
• Develop the skills and confidence to progress into a Customer Service Officer role

Benefits:

• A minimum of 23 Days Annual Leave plus bank holidays
• Membership to Local Government Pension Scheme - Local Government Pension Scheme
• Access to over 1000+ instant discounts from favourite retailers, restaurants, food delivery services and attractions via our benefits portal VivUp
• Career development, training opportunities and access to e-learning
• Access to eye care vouchers and VDU Glasses
• External Occupational Health service
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Access to an employee assistance programme 24/7
• Hybrid Working (minimum two days in the office per week)
• Free parking
• Octopus Electric Vehicles Salary Sacrifice Scheme 

Important Information:

Local Government Reorganisation:

In April 2028 Local government in Kent is moving to a new unitary council structure. If you join us now, you will be employed by Gravesham Borough Council in the first instance, but staff are expected to transfer to the new organisation under TUPE arrangements in April 2028. This means your continuity of employment and existing terms and conditions will be protected.

Where you'll work

Civic Centre
Windmill Street
Gravesend
Kent
DA12 1AU

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

LEARNING SKILLS PARTNERSHIP LTD

Training course

Customer service practitioner (level 2)

What you'll learn

• Use a range of questioning skills, including listening and responding in a way that builds rapport, determines customer needs and expectations and achieves positive engagement and delivery.
• Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication skills, along with summarising language during face-to-face communications; and/or
• Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate communication skills, along with reinforcement techniques (to confirm understanding) during non-facing customer interactions.
• Depending on your job role and work environment: Use an appropriate ‘tone of voice’ in all communications, including written and digital, that reflect the organisation’s brand.
• Provide clear explanations and offer options in order to help customers make choices that are mutually beneficial to both the customer and your organisation.
• Be able to organise yourself, prioritise your own workload/activity and work to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrate patience and calmness.
• Show you understand the customer’s point of view.
• Use appropriate sign-posting or resolution to meet your customers needs and manage expectations.
• Maintain informative communication during service recovery.

Training schedule

As part of your apprenticeship, you will be enrolled onto a nationally recognised Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner via our training partner, Learning Skills Partnership. Your apprenticeship typically takes 15-months to complete and is fully supported through work-based learning, this means that all training is done at the workplace eliminating the need to attend college. The successful candidate will be allocated a tutor who will provide a mixture of interactive online group teaching and 1-1 training monthly.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

• English (grade 4/C)
• Maths (grade 4/C)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

• Communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Organisation skills
• Customer care skills
• Problem solving skills
• Administrative skills
• Logical
• Team working
• Initiative