Customer Care Representative I/Senior Customer Care Representative

Customer Care Representative

The City of Kennewick is seeking a customer-focused and detail-oriented Customer Care Representative to join our Customer Service Division. In this role, you'll play an important part in helping residents, businesses, and visitors access City services. You'll join a collaborative team environment where customer service, problem-solving, and professional growth are valued. Every interaction is an opportunity to make a positive impact in our community.

The City of Kennewick will provide excellent public service and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our community and one another through the empowerment of each employee. We value integrity, inclusiveness, stewardship, and communication. We are accountable to our community for innovative and collaborative efforts that anticipate needs, leverage resources, and deliver solutions.

We expect our employees to ensure compliance with all applicable safety practices and policies, including those established by OSHA/DOSH regulations and by the City's Accident Prevention Plan. This includes but is not limited to actively identifying and correcting potential hazards that may affect employee and public safety, including those identified by co-workers; leading by example to promote a positive culture of workplace safety through everyday action; and emphasizing safe completion of work throughout all aspects of developing and carrying out work plans.

The Customer Care Representative provides routine, prompt and courteous customer service at the front desk, over the telephone and online to internal and external customers. Work is focused on performing a variety of duties. The ability to multi-task is essential. The incumbent must be proficient with a PC and must possess considerable knowledge and experience in operating various software programs.

The initial work schedule for this classification will be full-time, Monday through Friday. Early mornings, evenings, and weekend work may be occasionally required. Overtime may be occasionally required. This classification is non-exempt under the FLSA.

The following list reflects the essential job duties and responsibilities of this classification but is not all-inclusive. The incumbent will perform other related duties as assigned.

• Provide direct services to the public and respond to inquiries on a wide range of topics to include utility billing, service requests, and business licensing. Customer inquiries may be made in person, over the telephone, by internet, and through e-mail.
• The incumbent will prioritize customer requests and personally resolve issues whenever possible;
• Assist customers in locating and completing application forms;
• Determine the best means of meeting the customer's needs;
• Perform research necessary to address customer issues or concerns; adapt guidelines and policies to varied situations while maintaining consistency when interpreting unclear guidelines or policies; work with other individuals inside and outside the organization as necessary to obtain a solution and/or deliver service; and take accountability for follow-through with the customer to bring closure to the request, service issue or problem.
• Contribute to ongoing improvements to service delivered throughout the organization by providing input on methods that will enhance the mission of the City in delivering exceptional customer service.
• Encourage consistent customer service delivery across the organization.
• Promote a positive and professional public image of the City.
• Process requests for opening/closing utility accounts, ebilling, managing online profiles and auto payment requests. Explains account fee structures and city code to customers. Assists with preparing final closing bills and may work with escrow companies to produce final payoffs.
• Assists with calculating reads and billing adjustments for all utility account types. Creates and processes service orders and may assist with monitoring consumption reads and reports.
• Assists with processing delinquent penalties and nonpay liens including scheduling disconnection and reconnection of services. Assist customers and outside collection agencies with pre-collection and collection accounts.
• Perform fee payment and cashiering duties in accordance with established rates, policies, and auditing requirements.
• The incumbent operates equipment as needed to process transactions; calculates fees owed; reconciles transactions and resolves out-of-balance conditions; processes work in a manner that results in a complete and evident audit trail; and prepares comprehensive and accurate documentation of transactions and adjustments.
• May provide assistance with the City's Business Licensing system.
• Direct and guide customers requiring interaction with other departmental staff and schedule appointments for other departmental staff as deemed appropriate.
• Performs routine office support activities.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

To perform the essential functions of the classification, incumbents must be able to meet the following physical requirements: must regularly talk, hear/listen, see/observe, sit, stand, and walk; must regularly demonstrate fine motor skills; must occasionally exert up to 10 pounds of force.