City of Fort Wayne

Job Description:

SUMMARY

Working under the direction of the Customer Relations Manager, incumbent assists customers with questions regarding their accounts, including initiating and terminating service as requested. The incumbent is expected to exercise good judgment, independence, initiative, and professional expertise in conducting day-to-day operations. All work duties and activities must be performed in accordance with City and department policies and procedures as well as federal, state, and local regulations.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following.  Other duties may be assigned.

• Assists customers with account inquiries, both in person and over the telephone, and logs all customer contacts;
• Performs on-line data entry pertaining to customer accounts;
• Writes up duplicate bills to post to customer accounts;
• Initiates and terminates services, obtaining and finalizing contracts as needed;
• Performs daily filing involving computer generated reports;
• Sets up payment agreements as necessary;
• Takes action regarding incoming mail and outgoing mail;
• Types 30 words per minute;
• Arranges for special reads, meter changes and high bill investigations;
• Answers and directs telephone calls on multi-line phone system, taking messages when necessary;
• Greets and directs walk-in customers;
• Maintains a phone log accounting for customer calls and allocation record of calls received by clerks;
• Prepares reports of all calls and walk-ins;
• Assists in filing of paperwork as necessary;
• Assists with customer questions as necessary.
  • MARGINAL FUNCTIONS
  • Performs other duties as required.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

The incumbent is responsible to manage their performance in accordance with this job description and the performance expectations provided to them by management.  If at any time the incumbent is unsure of their role or specific responsibilities, it is the incumbent’s responsibility to refer to their job description and ask for clarification from their supervisor.  Management will work with the incumbent, as needed, to ensure performance expectations are clearly communicated and performance goals are achieved. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Incumbent does not supervise any staff.

QUALIFICATIONS

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• High School diploma and six months to one year experience in clerical or customer billing work.

OTHER SKILLS and/or ABILITIES

• Ability to meet and deal with the public with patience, courtesy and tact in person and over the telephone;
• Ability to answer routine customer questions using computer terminal as time permits;
• Ability to implement and organize a filing system for the walk-in/phone-in area;
• Ability to compare names and numbers and make arithmetical calculations;
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing;
• Ability to follow specific instructions on work duties;
• Ability to operate standard office machines, scanner, do light typing and data entry;
• Ability to do routine clerical work consistently and accurately;
• Ability to apply departmental rules and regulations relevant to the assigned tasks.

 LANGUAGE SKILLS

• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the organization.
• MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.  The incumbent must have the ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.  Incumbent's work consists of simple, repetitive tasks with the understanding and ability to make practical application of procedures that are directly relevant to the assigned tasks.  Incumbent is responsible for following standard departmental procedures and regulations when performing the duties required.  Incumbent has little opportunity to make choices when carrying out routine assignments but analysis and judgment is required when assisting customers with problems.  Work may be reviewed for quality and accuracy at critical phases and upon completion.  Errors in decision are not immediately apparent through supervisory review but are revealed through adverse effects on operations.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

None.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear.  The employee frequently is required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms.  The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Incumbent works in a regular/normal office environment, normally seated, standing or walking at will while performing routine and repetitive work.  Stress may occur when or dealing with difficult unreasonable customers, and stress is frequently experienced due to the high volume of calls coming into the department.