Emergency Duty Service Advisor

Emergency Duty Service Advisor

Permanent, Part Time

£25,081 - £27,653 per annum (full time equivalent)

£18,980 to £20,927 per annum (Actual Salary) 

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

Closing Date:  13th November 2025

Please note this is a part time position working 28 hours per week, including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays on a rota basis. The successful applicant will be required to complete all shifts at our office location in Chelmsford and we are unable to offer remote working for this position.

Typical shift times are as follows: Monday – Thursday 17:00 – 00:30, Friday 16:00 – 00:00, all workers are required to complete one overnight biweekly 00:00 – 07:00 and Weekend shifts vary but will be between 07:00 and 00:00. Rota can be provided upon request. Shift patterns can be explained at interview.

The pro rata salary for this role will be £18,980 to £20,927per annum. You will receive 15% Out of Hours allowance in addition to your salary.

The Opportunity

Come and join our very supportive, Emergency Duty Service (EDS) who have an extremely important role to play within Adult and Children's Social Care for Essex.

EDS provide a prompt and efficient response to service users within Adult and Children's services, carers, agencies, medical care and professionals, giving information advice, and, where appropriate, extending a package of care.

We currently have a part time vacancy (28 hours) based at our offices in Chelmsford, there is no home working available but plenty of free parking onsite.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for using specialist knowledge and judgement on Adult, Child, and Mental Health services available to respond to enquiries and requests with appropriate information and advice.
• Responsible for identifying and responding to urgent or critical situations by passing referrals to the EDS Social Workers to ensure appropriate escalation and management of situations.
• Responsible for providing accurate and up-to-date information and advice to callers on Social Care policies and services, including eligibility criteria, and services provided by other statutory, private, and voluntary agencies.
• Responsible for ensuring that all information is recorded quickly and accurately and is entered onto the appropriate database to ensure records are properly maintained.
• Responsible for ensuring that all information recorded complies with data recording legislation and guidance.
• Responsible for capturing data required for performance indicators in the correct format or style for it to be transcribed on the appropriate system.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues to support the sharing of knowledge and new information.
• Work collaboratively as a representative of Social Care Direct on project and consultation groups to ensure knowledge and information is shared with colleagues.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent by experience.
• Customer service experience including answering a high volume of calls.
• Excellent typing and office-based skills.
• Experience of working under pressure in a busy office environment.
• A working knowledge of standard ICT software and systems, in particular MS Word and Excel.
• Experience of using own initiative to progress work.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to deal with challenging people in a sensitive manner.
• Full training for this role will be given.

To read more about us please visit: Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex . With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025 , Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR ) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles , including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

Follow us on Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn . Further details can be found on our careers page .

Downloads

Pay and Reward | Our Ways of Working | About Us | Organisation Behaviours