Customer Service Supervisor - Call Center

About the role

The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities - Customer Service Division is seeking qualified candidates for a Customer Service Supervisor position within the Customer Call and Contact Centers group. This role provides leadership and supervision to call center and billing operations personnel, including establishing and interpreting policies and procedures, managing customer flow, preparing monthly reports, conducting training sessions, resolving customer complaints and billing queries, processing account changes, and assisting customers with other issues.

The incumbent serves as an essential employee, required to work during public emergencies, critical or hazardous conditions, or inclement weather. This position may require overtime, nights, and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Provide routine and advanced-level customer service, handling opening and closing operations.
• Address basic and escalated inquiries from team members and the Leadership Team.
• Assist customers, departments, and employees by providing information, handling requests, and researching inquiries via telephone, email, and in-person.
• Monitor and evaluate employee performance; develop and execute coaching plans.
• Provide initial and ongoing training and coaching to staff.
• Perform data entry, prepare reports, spreadsheets, and other documentation; complete clerical and administrative duties as required.
• Process adjustments to customer accounts; perform billing and account reconciliation.
• Additional tasks as assigned by management.

Requirements

Minimum Training and Experience:

• Associate's degree in business, accounting, or a related field.
• Three years of paraprofessional customer service experience, including handling escalated complaints, researching account errors, and processing payments and account adjustments.
• Supervisory experience is preferred.
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may substitute for minimum qualifications.

Preferred Training and Experience:

• Minimum of two years of supervisory experience.
• Minimum of two years of experience working in a call center environment.
• Two years of experience handling customer escalations.

Skills

Knowledge:

• Best practices in call centers.
• Customer service policies and procedures.
• Account reconciliation, research, and auditing practices related to customer service.
• Correct money handling processes, including recognizing counterfeit money.
• Banking/financial and credit transactions, including pulling credit card reports.
• Cash management practices and procedures.
• Standard office equipment.
• City's services or products and related databases.

Skills and Abilities:

• Computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office Suite, Oracle-based systems, and CIS systems.
• Oral, written, and interpersonal communication.
• Negotiation and conflict resolution.
• Researching and evaluating customer service issues.
• People management, leadership, and team building.
• Multi-tasking and time management.
• Problem-solving and decision-making.
• Supervising, motivating, and developing staff.
• Listening, understanding, and addressing comments/concerns.
• Researching and analyzing data to resolve customer issues.

Benefits

The City of Richmond offers the following employee benefit enhancements:

• Virginia Retirement System (VRS).
• Language Incentive.
• Referral Bonus.
• Tuition Assistance Program.

Work Environment

Environmental Hazards: Working conditions may include exposure to travel within and outside the City of Richmond; hazardous physical conditions (e.g., mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations); atmospheric conditions (e.g., fumes, odors, dust, gases, poor ventilation); inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards (e.g., disruptive people, imminent danger, threatening environments).

Physical Requirements: The role requires the ability to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks with frequent interruptions and under time constraints. The employee must regularly talk, see, hear, and use fine motor skills (e.g., typing, picking, pinching). Occasional stooping, standing, reaching, walking, lifting (up to 10 pounds), and grasping may be required. This classification is considered sedentary.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.