Complaints Manager

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

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This role is part of HMRC Valuation Office, formerly known as the Valuation Office Agency. We have recently integrated into HMRC. As we continue the transition to our updated HMRC branding, you may still see some VOA logos or references in our advertisements for a temporary period.

HMRC Valuation Office are the public sector’s property valuation experts and advisers with a vision to be a world-leading provider of public sector valuations. Our work is vital to the collection of over £60 billion of revenue which goes back into communities, touching every citizen and every business across England and Wales.

Job description

Role Overview

This is an excellent opportunity to join the Complaints Team where you will be responsible for handling customer complaints, seeking resolutions and writing high quality responses to customers. As part of the role, you will develop knowledge of other business streams and external service providers to deal positively with customer complaints and write effective responses.

The team delivers the highest standards of service by building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders to seek resolutions and offer clear explanations to complaints for our customers. It is an exciting time to join the Complaints Resolution Team as we align to the cross-Government complaint standards recently launched by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. You will have regular exposure to senior leaders and regulatory bodies.

This is a fast-paced, challenging and rewarding position with exposure to lots of stretching leadership opportunities. You will offer valuable insight to the organisation on where we can improve our service or processes. This is a demanding yet highly rewarding role, requiring high levels of resilience and a strong commitment to the provision of exceptional customer service with a resolution focus.

Key responsibilities

• As a Complaints Manager you will take an empathetic view and be comfortable calling customers in extremely challenging circumstances to fully understand their complaint.
• Building relationships with customers and handling sometime challenging and vulnerable customers while demonstrating empathy.
• Providing a high level of customer service, including advocating for the customer where necessary.
• Drafting high quality complaint responses in plain English, simplifying complex technical information, often at pace.
• Presenting feedback to business areas and team leaders, holding them to account and highlighting areas for improvement.
• Keeping concise records and managing data appropriately.
• Developing and maintaining good relationships with key stakeholders across the Agency, appropriately and effectively escalating areas of concern where necessary to achieve positive outcomes for customers.
• Contributing to the collation of customer insight products to ensure complaints contribute to a programme of continuous improvement across the Agency.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be a skilled communicator, both verbal and written, to be able to simplify complex technical information with ease and be comfortable having difficult conversations with stakeholders, sometimes holding them accountable. You will be confident in asking critical questions, interrogating information and presenting challenging feedback to business units.

Essential Requirements

• Experience of working in a customer focussed environment and dealing with challenging and/or vulnerable customers.
• Experience of working successfully and flexibly in a fast-paced environment without compromising on quality.
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with a proven ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• The ability to build strong interpersonal relationships quickly with colleagues and stakeholders across the wider organisations.
• The ability to make decisions, challenge the decisions of others and deliver potentially difficult feedback where appropriate to provide successful outcomes for the customer.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A good understanding of data handling principles and GDPR.

Desirable Criteria

• Understanding of and experience using Power BI

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,682, Valuation Office Agency contributes £10,916 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance that starts at 25 days, increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days and a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRChear from our insiders or visitThinking of joining the Civil Service

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

How to Apply

If you can meet our person requirements above, we are keen to hear from you.

To apply for this post, you must complete an online application with the following:

A CV setting out your Job History and Previous skills and experiences.

A Personal Statement (maximum 750 words) please outline your suitability for the role. Please pay particular attention to the ‘Essential Requirements’ and ‘Person Specification’ outlined in the advert when providing your answer.

Sift (27/04/26 - 30/04/26) Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change.

We will assess you on your CV and Personal Statement

Should there be a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be made on Personal Statement against the lead essential requirement: Experience of working in a customer focussed environment and dealing with challenging and/or vulnerable customers. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Interviews (15/05/26) Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change. These will be confirmed should you be invited to interview.

Interviews are currently taking place using Microsoft Teams Video. We will provide more detail if you are shortlisted for interview.

We will assess you on the Behaviours listed in the job description, Experience and Strengths.

At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills.

Application Hints and Tips

For more information on Success Profiles, tips on how to write a successful application and find out more about what’s involved in the application process please visit About the application process , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk).

Further Information

Hybrid working at HMRC

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact the UBS Recruitment Team via resourcingteamvo@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

As part of the application process you will be asked to tell us which of the locations available you can work in. You will be able to specify up to 1 option. Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only.

Successful candidates must select one of the locations noted in this advert as their base office and will be expected to undertake regular travel to this location under HMRC hybrid working policy.

Terms & Conditions

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Reserve Lists

If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 3 month reserve list as standard. During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.

Concerns/Complaints

HMRC Valuation Office recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting the Central Recruitment Team at the following address: resourcingteamvo@hmrc.gov.uk.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint you have the right to complain to the Civil Service Commissioners.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Kelly Clarke
• Email : kelly.clarke@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : VOARecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk