Job Description

LOCATION:

Johannesburg

PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS JOB:

The Customer Relations Officer is the first line of support for students and prospective students, providing high-quality, solutions-driven service in alignment with our commitment to gold-standard student experiences. This role ensures that queries are resolved efficiently and professionally, supports the roll-out of national student service initiatives, and works cross-functionally with campus heads and internal teams to maintain a consistently exceptional service experience across all campuses.

KEY RESULT AREAS

Student Query Resolution

Respond to student and prospective student queries via the Assist platform, email, and phone in a timeous and customer-centric manner. Troubleshoot student concerns and facilitate resolution in collaboration with relevant departments (Finance, Academic, Admissions, Campus Teams, etc.). Ensure that all service interactions are tracked, escalated, and resolved according to internal SLA timelines. Develop and maintain response templates, FAQs, and support resources for high-frequency queries.

Student Experience & Service Excellence

Maintain a high standard of professionalism, warmth, and empathy in all student communications. Escalate complex cases while continuing to act as a consistent support touchpoint for the student. Assist in the creation and maintenance of a customer service playbook and tone-of-voice guidelines.

Cross-Functional Support & Issue Tracking

Coordinate with Campus Heads, Lecturers, CEAs and CCCs to support student issues requiring onsite follow-up. Identify recurring student concerns, feedback, or process gaps and provide insight to the Student Services Manager for continuous improvement. Support issue resolution through follow-ups and holistic case management approaches for unresolved or multi-departmental queries.

Reporting, Feedback & Analysis

Compile weekly and monthly service reports detailing query volumes, types, response rates, and unresolved cases. Conduct root cause analysis of repeated concerns and share insights with leadership and relevant departments. Track and report on student satisfaction indicators or sentiment analysis trends from service interactions.

Operational Implementation of Student Service Initiatives

Support the national implementation and consistency of student service initiatives across all campuses. Participate in the planning and logistics of projects such as Student Orientation, Passport implementation, or retention campaigns. Collaborate with marketing and operational teams to align communications and roll-outs.

Training and Knowledge Sharing

Assist in onboarding campus-based teams on Assist platform usage, tone of voice, and student service best practices. Deliver refresher training or contribute to learning materials to ensure consistency in service delivery. Help maintain a knowledge hub of guides, policy interpretations, and system walkthroughs.

Omnichannel Communication Monitoring

Monitor official inboxes and social media platforms for inbound queries, and respond or escalate accordingly. Uphold brand tone and service standard across all digital platforms and ensure timely engagement.

Retention & Student Relationship Support

Identify at-risk students based on service interactions and flag them for follow-up with the academic or pastoral support teams. Support the implementation of retention and re-engagement strategies / campaigns by ensuring positive service touchpoints. Participate in student satisfaction surveys and post-service feedback collection initiatives.

QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

Matric (compulsory) Higher Certificate (NQF05) in Hospitality, or similar (Diploma or Degree in advantageous) Minimum 2 years of customer service or student support experience Experience working with CRM, ticketing systems, or educational support platforms is an advantage

SKILLS REQUIREMENT:

Excellent written and verbal communication Calm, empathetic, and solutions-oriented approach High attention to detail and administrative accuracy Tech-savvy with comfort in using service platforms (e.g., CRM, ticketing, internal systems) Proactive problem-solver with strong interpersonal skills Ability to collaborate across teams and manage cross-functional service delivery Analytical mindset with ability to identify patterns and trends from queries * Passionate about service and student success