Role Profile
Job Description
Ref no: n/a
Job Title
Customer Service Manager Paris
Directorate or Region
EU
Department/Country
France
Location of post
Paris
Pay Band
G
Reports to
Head of English
Duration of job
CDI
Purpose of job:
The Customer Service Manager (CSM) assures excellent customer service (CS) and provides leadership
on customer management for the whole office. The CS mission is to provide a high quality UK and British
Council (BC) brand experience and maximise sales, enhance the reputation of BC and build long-term
relationships as a result. The integrated CS team accomplishes this by utilising customer service and
sales skills to implement the Service Level Agreement (SLA). The main products CS activity supports are
English language general and specialised courses for adults and young learners, and language and
professional examinations.
Context and environment:
British Council Paris office manages over 12,000 registrations for English language courses, over 20,000
registrations for UK examinations and tens of thousands of enquiries relating to all activity areas per year.
The integrated customer service / administration / registration team for BC Ile de France covers both front
of house and back office functions. The Registrar leads on back of house procedures, including
registration management for English language courses and examinations, financial controlling and
reporting, while the CSM leads on maximising the quality of the customer experience through
management of training, resourcing and customer journey for all contact channels (call centre, face-toface, e-mail, events and web).
The CS team of 13 full-time equivalent posts handles ‘level 1’ enquiries and transactions (mostly for the
Exams and Teaching Centre operations) for which they are delegated responsibility through a Service
Level Agreement (SLA).
Level 2 enquiries and transactions are escalated to staff within the Exams, Teaching, Education, Society
and Arts operations.
The CSM is line managed by the Assistant Teaching Centre Manager (ATCM) Operations and Business
Development and manages up to 6 CS coordinators and advisors.
Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:

Line management of up to 6 staff to corporate standards

Delivery of BC integrated customer service to SLA standards and other agreed performance targets,
including mystery shopping and corporate service quality indicator targets.

Operational management of the integrated customer service function including frontline, call centre
and e-mail centre enquiries.

Direct customer service in the call centre / frontline team at agreed scheduled times or at other times
as required to cover absent staff or unexpected peaks in walk-in or call volumes.

Training needs analysis and creation and implementation of the annual training plan for CS staff, both
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Recruitment Team June 2011
collectively and individually.

Supporting delivery of level 1 and level 2 (post purchase teaching and exams) SLA standards
through:
o Maintaining and establishing systems to collect and analyse customer information (e.g. call
monitoring software, surveys)
o Analysing and evaluating actual customer experience against expectations using feedback,
benchmarking and management information
o Leading on a sales approach for the CS team in cluding reporting against targets
o Compiling monthly management reports of service performance
o Convening monthly meetings to agree lessons learnt on previous month’s performance and
plan and review resource allocation for next two months
o Investigating service delivery and providing solutions to any problems/issues.
o Timetabling for CS staff
o Supporting staff through training, coaching and other interventions as agreed in the office
training plan

Proactively driving to the ongoing development of service standards and business performance in Ile
de France and nationally by:
o Contributing to an annual BC France customer service development plan (April - March)
taking into account previous year’s mystery shopping scores, relevant developments in
products and services, emerging industry practice and British Council internal capabilities
o Proactively sharing best practice with customer service teams in Marseille, Lyon and other
locations in France
o Working with marketing colleagues to manage volumes of face to face and phone enquiries by
enabling self service through web, mobile and social media
Key relationships:






Ile de France teaching centre management team
BC France exams team
Teaching Centre Registrar & Teaching Centre CS team
Marketing and Communications Managers
Registrar/Customer Service Managers in Marseille, Lyon and other locations in France
Regional and Global Customer Management leads
Other important features or requirements of the job
The teaching centre and exams department operates 6 days a week. Saturdays and weekday evenings
are times of peak demand. Working schedules are subject to variations to account for activity patterns
and will involve unsocial working hours (including late finishes and Saturday shifts)
Please specify any
passport/visa and/or nationality
requirement.
Please indicate if any security
or legal checks are required
for this role.
Applicants must be eligible to work in France. British Council will not
be able to provide assistance to obtain residence or work permits for
France.
Extrait de Cahier Judiciaire / Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)
check or equivalent (for the purposes of establishing suitability
to work with children)
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Recruitment Team June 2011
Person Specification
Essential
Behaviours
Assessment
stage
Interview only
Desirable
Connecting with Others (More demanding)
Working Together (More demanding)
Being Accountable (More demanding)
Making it Happen (Essential)
Not assessed at interview
Creating Shared Purpose (Essential)
Shaping the Future (Essential)
Skills and
Knowledge
Ability to operate effectively in both English
and French (level C1 of Council of Europe)
Short listing
and Interview
Communication skills level 2.
Computer Skills level
2
Computer Skills level 1
Marketing and Customer Service level 2
The ability to analyse and interpret data
(such as mystery shopping results or
reports from contact centre software),
produce and present reports.
Up to date with latest industry practice in
customer service
Strong interpersonal skills to build effective
rapport with customers
Experience
Comprehensive experience of working in a
customer service role
Management of a
customer service
team
Developing relationships with internal
stakeholders (such as those listed under
key relationships above)
Experience of running
a contact centre
Dealing with complaints and complex
customer enquiries
Planning and
monitoring allocation
of resources (e.g. staff
rota, staff costs,
printed materials,
stationery)
Putting corporate customer service
standards into practice to ensure they are
consistently met/exceeded
Qualifications
Submitted by
Customer Service or
Marketing qualification
Michael O’Brien
Head of English (France)
Short listing
and interview
Date
3 of 3
Short listing
19 December 2015
Recruitment Team June 2011