Apprentice Customer Information Controller

Summary

Transport Made Simple is one of the UK’s largest independently owned bus and coach operators. Our vision is to deliver reliable, sustainable public transport, which meets the needs of the communities we serve, whilst being a great place to work too. The team in Diss are looking to recruit a Customer Service Specialist Apprentice.

Wage

£19,000 a year

Training course

Customer service specialist (level 3)

Hours

Early (05:00 - 14:00) and late (13:00 - 22:00) shifts over six days, with occasional middle shifts for training etc.

40 hours a week

Start date

Monday 3 August 2026

Duration

1 year 6 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

Main roles and responsibilities:

• Liaise closely with Service Controllers, and ensure that network disruptions, cancellations and diversions are uploaded promptly and accurately online.
• Support the management of customer communications via WhatsApp channels, helping to develop a structured approach that keeps information relevant.
• Respond to customer emails relating to bus services, timetables, delays and complaints in a professional and timely manner.
• Where passengers require live travel support, liaise with operational colleagues to establish accurate information and relay this clearly to the customer.
• Proactively brief the Senior Leadership Team and other colleagues on incidents that are likely to generate high volumes of customer contact or pose reputational risk.
• Support the Stakeholder Engagement Lead with engagement with affected communities and stakeholders where disruption may lead to negative sentiment, helping to provide clear and timely information before concerns escalate.
• Produce and distribute clear, concise staff notices and customer communications for simpler planned road closures, ensuring these are issued in-date order and shared with relevant stakeholders, under the supervision of the Commercial Information Manager.
• Liaise with operational managers, and use internal systems, to support fact-finding investigations into complaints relating to network disruption or driver conduct.
• Monitor incoming emails from Local Authorities, town councils and event organisers regarding road closures and other network impacts.

Where you'll work

Transport Made Simple, Roswold House, Oak Drive
Diss
IP22 4GX

Training

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

Training provider

WEST SUFFOLK COLLEGE

Training course

Customer service specialist (level 3)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Business focused service delivery: Demonstrate a continuous improvement and future focussed approach to customer service delivery including decision making and providing recommendations or advice
• Business focused service delivery: Resolve complex issues by being able to choose from and successfully apply a wide range of approaches
• Business focused service delivery: Find solutions that meet your organisations needs as well as the customer requirements
• Providing a positive customer experience: Through advanced questioning, listening and summarising negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes
• Providing a positive customer experience: Manage challenging and complicated situations within your level of authority and make recommendations to enable and deliver change to service or strategy
• Providing a positive customer experience: Use clear explanations, provide options and solutions to influence and help customers make choices and agree next steps
• Providing a positive customer experience: Explore and interpret the customer experience to inform and influence achieving a positive result for customer satisfaction
• Providing a positive customer experience: Demonstrate a cost conscious mind-set when meeting customer and the business needs
• Providing a positive customer experience: Identifying where highs and lows of the customer journey produce a range of emotions in the customer
• Providing a positive customer experience: Use written and verbal communication to simplify and provide complex information in a way that supports positive customer outcome in the relevant format
• Working with customers/customer insights: Proactively gather customer feedback, through a variety of methods. Critically analyse, and evaluate the meaning, implication and facts and act upon it
• Working with customers/customer insights: Analyse your customer types, to identify or anticipate their potential needs and expectations when providing your service
• Customer Service performance: Maintain a positive relationship even when you are unable to deliver the customer’s expected outcome
• Customer Service performance: When managing referrals or escalations take into account historical interactions and challenges to determine next steps
• Service Improvement: Analyse the end to end service experience, seeking input from others where required, supporting development of solutions
• Service Improvement: Make recommendations based on your findings to enable improvement
• Service Improvement: Make recommendations and implement where possible, changes in line with new and relevant legislation, regulations and industry best practice

Training schedule

The learner will be studying the Customer Service Specialist Level 3 Apprenticeship Standard qualification.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

Maths and English (grade 4-9)

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
• Team working
• Logical
• IT skills

Other requirements

Sundays are not currently part of the working week for this role, but may be added in the future.