Contact Centre Officers

We're looking for people who relish a challenge. Working in a fast-paced, 24/7 environment, being a Contact Centre Officer is a demanding role where you need to be comfortable with working under pressure and problem-solving. You’ll be the person who relishes a challenge. Thinking quickly and multi-tasking is imperative, as is being patient and understanding.

You’ll be engaging with people from all backgrounds so you’ll need to be able to build rapport quickly, show empathy and communicate clearly at all times. The Contact Centre deals with a wide range of enquires, from small trival matters to difficult situations.

You’ll need to find the balance between compassion and not becoming emotionally involved; having the resilience to deal with tough situations on a daily basis, however, you will always be supported.

Our Contact Centre Officers are an integral part of our frontline, supporting all our divisions, as well as specialist departments including Public Protection, Firearms and Counter-Terrorism. You’ll work closely with your police officer and staff colleagues; making a difference, together.

This is a full time role, working a rotating shift pattern of: six days on four off, comprising of two early shifts followed by two late shifts and then two night shifts over a 10 week pattern. There is also a training day incorporated once every 10 weeks.  The pattern includes anti-social hours including weekends and Bank Holidays.

Upon completion of the full-time training course (approximately six months), we may be able to offer part-time working hours, however these will still need to conform to the shift pattern.

While customer service experience is a bonus, it’s not necessary as, from your first day with us, you will be supported through great training and brilliant teammates. Overall, you’ll simply want to make a difference, together.

Please note that this role attracts a 24 month tenure, therefore while you can apply for other roles within the force you will not be able to start your new role until the tenure has expired.

To apply for the role you will need to meet our eligibility criteria:

• Aged 18 years or over (on the day you submit your application).
• Have lived in the UK for three continuous years, immediately prior to application.
• Have leave to enter or leave to remain and work in the UK for an indefinite period.
• Not be a current or previous member of a proscribed terrorist organisation or group.
• Ability to commit to a shift pattern which covers a 24/7 period, weekends and Bank Holidays.

When you join Surrey Police, you can expect a career with variety, diversity, challenges, rewards and great learning experiences. This is a vital role which matters to the public, but it also matters to us. As such, we will give you:

• A starting salary of at £23,204 plus an unsocial shift allowance in the region of £4,548 per year.
• 180 hours per year annual leave, rising to 209 hours depending on your length of service.
• Great development experiences that will support future career opportunities and progression.
• A competitive benefits package including pension, flexible benefits, employee assistance programme for advice and counselling, access to discounts / savings / cash-back rewards and the opportunity to purchase additional annual leave.
• Progressive approach to flexible working, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and potential for a career break (after two years’ service).
• Opportunities to join various support networks, staff associations and sports clubs.

Read more about what you can expect from us as an employer.

The initial training course is seven weeks classroom based training. During this time students undertake a number of IT courses, receive a range of inputs including Law and Public Protection and finally a Practical Application Course where you will have the opportunity to take calls with the support and guidance of an experienced coach. You are then assigned to a rota and will begin working the shift pattern with the guidance of an experienced coach for around four months.

Upon completing the training you will work across both 101 and 999 calls within our contact centre based at Surrey Police Headquarters in Guildford.

Starting your career in our contact centre will provide you with a wide range of skills and experiences. There are also opportunities for development, such as becoming a coach, or additional training on certain topics enabling you to act as a point of contact to other team members.

The application process consists of five stages and it’s important to note that because of this, the average time from application to appointment is six months. By adopting this stringent approach can we ensure we select people who will make great Contact Centre Officers.

Stage one: Online application form 

Your personal details will be checkec and we will ensure that all eligibility critera have been met.

If your application has been successfully submitted you will receive an email to your registered email address along with your candidate ID. If you have submitted an application but have not received a notification please first check your Spam/Junk folder before emailing [email protected] providing your full name, telephone number and the date you submitted your application.

Stage two: Situational Judgement Test

We will send you a situational judgement test (SJT) giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your decision-making skills using your own initiative.This test is sent to you via email and once it is completed you will be able to return it to us for review.

Stage three: Call Centre Simulation

If successful in the SJT you will be invited to complete a call centre simulations exercise where you will complete a variety of tasks in an online timed exercise - in order to complete the tasks you will require to be able to record information quickly and accurately whilst navigating a mock computer system. 

Stage four: Online force interview

On successful completion of the exercise we will invite you to an interview conducted by a panel of Surrey Police representatives. These are currently being conducted online via Zoom. This interview will be based upon the Competency and Values Framework (CFV).   

Stage five: Pre-employment checks

These consist of a medical questionnaire and vetting checks.

• Medical questionnaire - you will be required to complete a questionnaire with your medical history which will be assessed by our Occupational Health team.
• Vetting - this will assess you and your families’ criminal record, financial status and business interests.

Our ability to build trust, understand problems and support our communities across a range of policing matters, relies on us having a workforce that is reflective of our communities and all the unique individuals that exist within them. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity within our workforce and to eliminating discrimination.

We are very keen to encourage applications from those that have never considered policing as a career. Representation within our workforce from black and minority ethnic communities is currently much lower than we want it to be; by improving this we will be better able to serve our local communities and our work place will benefit from all the differences in thinking, points of view, and approaches that diversity brings.

We are actively working on a range of activities to improve this and one of the proactive ways we are seeking to increase representation is via a bespoke mentoring scheme which is aimed at guiding applicants from diverse communities through the recruitment process.

For more information email [email protected]