Customer Service Officer

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a non-profit organization based in Nairobi, Kenya and New York, NY that combats urban poverty and gender inequity in the slums of Nairobi. Kennedy Odede, who grew up in the Kibera slum, founded SHOFCO in 2004 with a focus on youth and gender empowerment. SHOFCO has four initiative areas: education, health, economic and community empowerment, and water and sanitation. The organization is currently active in the Kibera and Mathare slums of Nairobi.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

• Receive customer requests, attend to daily member complaints, escalate complaints, and follow-ups, and ensure prompt feedback is given and action is taken.
• Actively listens to members, and maintains a friendly, positive, professional attitude.
• Resolves difficult situations using the HEAL guidelines of Hearing out the member, Easing the tension, acting to improve the situation, and Leaving a positive impression.
• Handle difficult member situations with creativity, tact and diplomacy.
• Serve as mediator between members and the Sacco in case of disputes which may arise in the course of business transactions to ensure that the interests of both parties are dully protected.
• Information gathering from members on products and service needs/ requirements.
• Make use of proven business techniques in the identification of lapses and loop holes in the Sacco’s member experiences at the branch and recommend better strategies that will yield better results.
• Participate in the review and implementation of customer experience policies and standards.
• Marketing of SACCO products and services to prospective members.
• Registration of new Sacco members in the system.
• Inform members of their account balances and ensure members understand their statements.
• Update details of members account e.g. Signatures, photos, contact, ATM cards, account opening etc.
• Process complex transactions such as changing account opening, ownership and related static member data and liaising with other relevant Sacco departments on the same.
• Filing of SACCO forms and members records, custodian of the registry.
• Offer financial advisory to members by educating them on credit and savings.
• Follow-up on dormant accounts for activation.
• Support the branch manager in Sacco lobby/banking hall management.
• Send monthly reports to the Customer Experience Manager on all customer related issues from the branch
• Perform such other duties as he may be directed from time to time.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a business-related course. (Banking/Commerce/Finance/Accounting, etc)
• Membership in a professional body is desirable.
• A minimum of 3 years of working experience in a financial institution (2 years must be at supervisory or management level).
• Sound knowledge of Banking and Sacco laws and regulations.

Essential Skills and Key Attributes

• A person of integrity, a team player with effective communication skills.
• Strategic thinker with good commercial judgment and the ability to identify economic opportunities in changing environments and capitalize on them.
• Sound judgment and decision-making ability on lending across all sectors.
• Conversant with current trends in consumer banking with a strong commercial orientation.
• Customer-focused – striking a solid balance between external and internal customer orientation.
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, and team management skills.

Functional Skills:

• Checking things
• Adopting practical approaches
• Meeting timescales
• Managing tasks
• Attention to details

Behavioural Competencies/Attributes:

• Upholding standards
• Interacting with people
• Team working
• Practice integrity and objectivity
• Inviting feedback