Assistant, customer service

Closing date for applications: 19th December 2025 at 9.00am

Salary: £28,662 per annum plus benefits including a final salary pension scheme, generous annual leave, and flexible and hybrid working

Contract: Fixed-term until 31 August 2026, working 35 hours per week

Location: Manchester

Interviews: 15th and 16th January (virtual)

This role is a fantastic opportunity for a skilled communicator to join Arts Council England, providing excellent customer service and helping applicants submit their strongest funding applications.

We are looking to recruit an assistant to join our busy customer services team in our Manchester Office. The role is to respond to telephone, webchat and written enquiries about all aspects of Arts Council’s work to very high standards. Mainly this will be helping applicants to navigate our systems and to make the very best applications to our funding programmes. It is a busy department with strict service levels and standards of service.

We are looking to recruit an organised, customer-focused individual who can manage multiple systems at the same time to provide excellent and helpful responses to enquiries. The candidate will be able to absorb and retain large amounts of information, juggle priorities and distribute information in an engaging and compelling way to customers from different backgrounds and abilities. Full training will be given, but it is expected that the successful candidate will have experience in customer service. If you’re looking to make a positive impact and create change, possessing an inclusive and committed approach, you will be rewarded with an excellent salary and benefits package.


Responsibilities

• You will respond to telephone, email and webchat enquiries, undertaking research where required, ensuring that a timely, cost efficient, accurate and high-quality service is being delivered to customers both internal and external
• You will assist customers with all enquiries, including assisting with complex application questions, helping applicants to balance budgets and give technical advice and support on Arts Council’s application systems
• You will build and maintain relationships with colleagues throughout the organisation: maintaining an overview of corporate projects and initiatives, ensuring that you have sufficient knowledge to pass this information on to customers and colleagues. You will also identify gaps in information resources and work with officers customer services and head of customer services to fill them, with a focus on improving the service every time
• You will be a champion of Grantium (our grant management system) and all of our systems. You will give guidance and advice to external customers on this to enable them to make applications
• You will develop a comprehensive knowledge of National Lottery Project Grants, and all other Arts Council programmes in order to provide outstanding customer service enabling customers to make the best possible quality applications
• You will undertake specified project work and research where required to develop and enhance the quality of service to the customer
• You will resolve customer problems pre and post applications, taking ownership of issues and ensuring that the customer is kept informed of progress and resolution is reached within the appropriate service level targets
• You will work with the officers, customer services to undertake project work to improve the quality of service to customers and help build relationships and advocacy of the customer services team across the organisation
• You will act as an advocate for the Arts Council, representing customer services at meetings and deputising for the officers, customer services where appropriate
• You will assist in monitoring the service and will be providing administrative support to the head of customer services and officers
• You will combine your ability to provide an excellent customer service with a flexibility and curiosity to work beyond this area of work, contributing to areas outside of your daily responsibilities within the customer services team’s activities
• You will expect to work to strict deadlines and service levels and be happy to have your work regularly quality assured to ensure we are providing high-quality, consistent service to every customer. You will continually enhance your knowledge and expertise as new programmes and information are released
• You will understand that to offer the best service the customer services may sometime need to work flexibly: your core hours will be Monday-Friday 9.00am-5.00pm, majority of time will be working on the telephone and in the Manchester office
• You will contribute to the organisation’s commitment to diversity and its implications for the arts, promoting a diversity perspective in all aspects of the post’s objectives and activities
• You will contribute to a positive working culture in the organisation by taking a proactive approach to learning, responding to change, inclusive practice, and environmental responsibility
• You will reflect the Nolan Principles of Public Life and the Arts Council's values with a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion

Knowledge, skills & experience

• To succeed in this role, you will have experience of providing excellent customer experience on the telephone and in writing, in a professional environment
• You will have an awareness of the Data Protection and Freedom of Information acts and how they apply to enquiries activities coupled with the ability to provide accessible formats to meet the needs of customers with disabilities and speakers of languages other than English
• You will have a good IT knowledge, including using MS Excel and the ability to learn new systems and use multiple systems at one time
• You will be able to guide and advise customers on basic IT matters and resolve technical problems to enable them to make a quality application and also have the ability to learn, interpret and retain complex information and find solutions
• You will have the experience and skills to handle difficult calls or emails from frustrated customers, some of whom find making applications challenging, or may be unhappy with decisions we have made
• You will be organised with the ability to work on own initiative and juggle multiple priorities, exercising effective judgement when managing complex tasks
• You will have good interpersonal and communication skills – both speaking and in writing – and the ability to communicate effectively and professionally in a confident and engaging manner and influence individuals over whom there is no formal line-management relationship, championing and promoting new ideas that contribute to the aims of the organisation
• You will be able to gather and analyse information and offer customer-centric solutions to users of the service. You will be able to translate complex information using plain English and adapt your communication style to customers from every background and capability in an engaging and informative way. You will also have a good understanding of the Arts Council’s duty as a public body under current diversity legislation, the current diversity agenda and its relationship to the arts.

To view the job description and the recruitment pack, which outlines more details about working for Arts Council, please click 'Apply'.


Additional information

Arts Council also recognises the benefit of flexible working as a valued part of the way we work, and welcome applications from individuals who require flexibility. The role will be based in Manchester; however, we are operating a hybrid way of working and support our staff to make use of remote working options when combined with regular on-site contact days with other members of the team, normally 1-2 days a week.

Arts Council offers a range of benefits to our employees including hybrid and flexible working, a generous annual leave allowance and the Arts Council Retirement Plan - a final salary scheme. To find out more, click here.

Arts Council are committed to being an inclusive employer, building an inclusive workplace, and recruiting a workforce that is as diverse as the communities we serve. However, you identify, and whatever background you bring with you, we welcome you to apply for a role at Arts Council. If there are any adjustments that would support you in your application, please do let us know when you apply. If you are disabled, Evenbreak are able to provide support with your application. For further information please visit their website here.

We believe our recruitment process should be inclusive and transparent. Find out what to expect with our application Guidance: How to apply and recruitment selection process | Arts Council England and more about our commitment to diversity on our website here.

Disabled, D/deaf and/or neurodivergent people and those from Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse backgrounds are underrepresented in our workforce so we particularly encourage applications from people in these groups.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.