Contact Centre Officers
What if you could make a vital difference to Surrey's communities?
We are currently open for applications to join us as a Contact Centre Officer. Apply here.
When the going gets tough, Contact Centre Officers are there to help. Whether it’s taking a report of a missing person, reassuring a victim of burglary or supporting someone in crisis; our Contact Centre Officers play a vital role in helping keep our communities safe, protecting the most vulnerable and preventing harm.
For many people, you’ll be the first point of contact with the police. You’ll be a calm, reassuring voice in people’s hour of need. Asking the right questions, listening for vital details and recording information.
Being a Contact Centre Officer is certainly not your typical nine-to-five. You will deal with emergency 999 calls, non-emergency 101 calls, and Digital 101 which includes online reporting and social media. In return, we promise you a good starting salary, great training experiences, opportunities for progression and the pride that comes from helping others.
A typical shift looks like this:
During the day you’ll deal with a mixture of emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 calls - call demand varies by the time of day and day of the week. Factors such as weather, traffic accidents, national or local events can all have an influence on the number and type of calls received. With each call you’ll need to be able to remain calm and in control, gathering as much information as possible by asking the right questions. The information you gather will need to be recorded accurately into our systems and is transferred to those responding. With the training we give you’ll be empowered to risk assess and prioritise each incident, ensuring an appropriate response.
- Initial investigation – when a crime is reported you'll be trained to ask initial questions to establish the risk/severity and whether there are lines of investigation, including forensic opportunities. If the matter cannot be progressed on the information available you'll be using our system to record details of the report. With each contact we manage the expectations of the reporting person, providing crime reduction advice and re-assurance.
- Liaison with other emergency services and partner agencies, supporting the work they do and arranging for police involvement where this is needed.
- Advice – many of the calls we receive are resolved within the Contact Centre, this could be through offering advice or signposting members of public to more appropriate agencies when it is not a matter dealt with by Police. With each contact you’ll be managing expectations, advising what police can and cannot do.
- Recording intelligence –from information given to us by our communities you’ll be identifying and recording information to share with other parts of the organisation to inform our future policing operations.
- Dealing with conversations through online platforms – our Digital 101 team regularly monitor and respond to direct messages through Facebook and Twitter. They also service the online chat facility available on the Surrey Police website.
- On a rotational basis spending a shift dealing with reports of incident and crime made through our website and e-mail requests for service.
- Making sure we deliver a good service by being focused and alert to deal with whatever the next call could bring and dealing with sometimes constant calls to a professional standard.
Click here for a full breakdown of the shift pattern.
Please note that this role is based at our call centre at our HQ in Guildford.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
Full Time Shift Pattern:
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. 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 trivial 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.
We offer full-time and part-time opportunities.
For full-time you’ll be working a rotating shift pattern of: four days on four off, comprising of two day shifts followed by two night shifts over a 32 week pattern based at our HQ in Guildford. There is also a training day incorporated once every 16 weeks. This pattern includes anti-social hours including weekends and Bank Holidays.
Part-time working is available upon completion of the full-time training course (12 weeks.) Please see ‘part-time opportunities’ section below for further details.
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. You must have a minimum of 2 years on your visa at the time of appointment.
- Not be a current or previous member of a proscribed terroristorganisation or group.
- Ability to commit to a shift pattern which covers a 24/7 period, weekends and Bank Holidays.
- To not have applied for this role or the role of a Force Control Room Operator in the last 6 months.
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 £33,714 (£27,545 plus a shift allowance of £6,169 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.
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- 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. Following this you then begin working with an experience coach for around 8 weeks, working the 24/7 shift pattern.
Upon completing the training you will work across both 101 and 999 calls within our contact centre based at Surrey Police Headquarters in Guildford.
During your first week of employment you will have the opportunity to undertake attachments to the Contact Centre working 0800-1600. You will be notified as soon as possible should the times vary.
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 department does operate flexible part time patterns, although for this campaign we are seeking full-time candidates who are able to work the core shift pattern.
Should you be looking for a part time pattern, you are welcome to apply but we may defer your start date.
Stage one: Quick Apply
There’ll be a short form to complete with your personal details and check boxes to ensure all eligibility criteria have been met. Along with this you’ll be asked to upload a copy of your CV.
Please make sure your CV details your qualifications, use of IT systems, experience of customer service and if you have any call centre experience.
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. A minimum typing speed of 30 words-per-minute is necessary, there are a number of free online typing tests which allow you to practice or gain an indication of your current speed.
Stage four: Competency based 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, with some also being conducted in person. This interview will be based upon the Competency and Values Framework (CVF).
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.
Surrey Police are currently taking expressions of interest from experienced Contact Centre staff who are looking to transfer from another force or Emergency Services.
If you are interested in transferring to Surrey Police in the Contact Centre and currently work in a different force or another emergency services control room environment, please send through an expression of interest to [email protected] and someone will be in touch.
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]
To join Surrey Police in any role you will need to prove your right to work in the UK.
Do I have right to work in the UK?
Your right to work in the UK depends on your immigration status - this is also called your ‘leave’. If you don’t have the right to work, you might be able to apply for it.
You automatically have the right to work in the UK if:
- You’re a British or Irish citizen
- You have pre-settled or settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme - or you’ve applied and you’re waiting for a decision
- You have a family permit from the EU Settlement Scheme
- You have indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK
- You have right of abode in the UK
You might have a right to work in the UK if you have a visa with a time limit. This is called having 'limited leave to enter or remain’.
If you entered the UK illegally or your leave has ended, you don’t have the right to work in the UK.
Proving your right to work in the UK
You might be able to prove your right to work online or by showing your employer certain documents. Any document you show your employer must be:
- Valid - you can’t use a document that’s expired unless it’s a British or Irish passport
- The original document - you can’t use a copy, however you can use a replacement birth certificate if you have lost the original.
- If your document is expiring soon and you’ve applied to extend your leave, you can still prove your right to work. You might need to use a different document or ask your employer to contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service (ECS) - it depends what kind of leave you have.
For further information about Right to work in the UK, please refer to the GOV.UK webpages.