Customer Service Specialist - Real Estate

Customer Service Specialist - Real Estate

Salary

$25.09 - $37.20 Hourly

Location

City Hall, 900 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA

Job Type

Full-Time Permanent

Job Number

25M00000011 25M00000119

Department

Finance

Opening Date

07/09/2026

Closing Date

7/24/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

Are you Richmond R.E.A.D.Y? Respect. Equity. Accountability. Diversity…YOU!!!

This is an EXCITING time to Join the City of Richmond! We are committed to nurturing talent, fostering growth opportunities, and building strong connections within our workforce. As we continue to make strides to becoming the employer of choice, we are thrilled about the below employee benefit enhancements:

• Virginia Retirement System (VRS)
• Language Incentive
• Referral Bonus
• Tuition Assistance Program

Description

The Real Estate Tax Specialist serves as a vital link between the City and its residents, providing high-quality, front-line expertise within the Real Estate Tax unit. This role is responsible for responding to customer tickets and inquiries, researching routine account issues, entering and updating account information, and processing standard documentation in accordance with established procedures. The Specialist bridges the gap between technical tax data and public understanding, ensuring that taxpayers receive accurate, empathetic, and efficient service regarding their property obligations and available tax relief programs.

This position is considered an Essential Personnel, which means that the incumbent is required to work when the City is closed due to public emergencies, critical or hazardous conditions or inclement weather.

Duties include but are not limited to

Front-Line Public Assistance:

• Provide direct assistance to taxpayers at the front counter.
• Monitor and manage customer flow via ticketing systems to ensure efficient and high-quality service delivery for citizens managing their real estate obligations.
• Interpret complex real estate tax billings and technical data, translating them into clear, easy-to-understand information for non-tax experts.

Account Management:

• Resolve customer complaints and billing disputes with professionalism, identifying when to independently settle issues and when to escalate to Real Estate Analysts or management.
• Perform credit research and execute bill adjustments or corrections to ensure account accuracy.
• Enter data into municipal systems, research and correct account errors.
• Assist citizens with applications and eligibility requirements for tax relief assistance programs.

Administrative & Billing Responsibilities:

• Assist in the creation of real estate bills participate in quality control reviews related to billing processes to maintain data integrity and accurate tax records.
• Support unit leadership with specialized real estate billing projects and seasonal tax cycles.
• As assigned, assist with training other employees on real estate related tax operations and processes.
• Maintain the departmental file system: compile documentation, prepare files, sort/organize documents, and file/scan documents as required.
• Assist with records maintenance activities in compliance with guidelines governing record retention and shredding/destroying confidential or obsolete documents.

Qualifications, Special Certifications and Licenses

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

Knowledge (some combination of the following):

• Best practices related to customer service policies and procedures
• Real estate valuation
• Real Estate tax relief
• Municipal governments
• CIS billing system
• City of Richmond Assessors File
• Familiarity using standard office equipment

Skills (some combination of the following):

• Proficiency at Microsoft Office Suite
• Data entry
• Diplomacy
• Problem-solving
• Account management
• Oral and written communication
• Interpersonal communication
• Basic mathematics
• Customer service
• Researching
• Interacting with potentially irate or irrational customers

Abilities (some combination of the following):

• Multi-task
• Listen attentively
• Analyze information
• Work with diverse populations
• Work in a fast paced environment
• Analyze data to resolve customer issues or concerns
• Supplemental Information
• Basic math skills

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

• High School Diploma or GED
• Three years of customer service, reconciliation and adjustment experience
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification

LICENSING, CERTIFCATIONS, and OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• None required

Americans with Disabilities Act Requirements

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Prospective and current employees are invited to discuss accommodations.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Working conditions may include exposure to travel to other locations within the City of Richmond as well as outside of the City of Richmond; exposure to hazardous physical conditions such as mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations, etc.; atmospheric conditions such as fumes, odors, dusts, gases, and poor ventilation; inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards such as disruptive people, imminent danger, and a threatening environment.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT: Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraint. While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk, see, hear, finger (pick, pinch, type, or otherwise work primarily with fingers), and use substantial repetitive motions of the wrists, hands and fingers. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, walk and reach extending hands and arms in any direction. In terms of the physical strength to perform the essential duties, this classification is considered to be sedentary, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to move objects.

• Internal use: HR Generalist to review.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The City of Richmond provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

The City of Richmond is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, the City of Richmond will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations. If you require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to participate in the job application and/or the interview process, please contact Veronica Kenner, by email at HR-ADA@rva.gov.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

The City of Richmond Values Veterans. We are an official V3 Certified Company.

The City of Richmond is a proud partner with the US Army Partnership for Your Success PaYS Program.

With over 4,000 employees, the City of Richmond is an "Employer of Choice" among cities throughout the nation. The City strives to hire and retain employees who bring dedication and talent to the workforce. Offering a competitive, cost effective, and quality benefits package is one element of an "Employer of Choice".

The City offers a full range of benefit programs from initial hire through retirement. Please visit our Web site for details.

01

10-point compensable veteran. You must have an existing compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more. Other 10-point veteran include disabled veteran or a veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart for wound or injuries received in action, veterans widow or widower who has not remarried, wife or husband of a veteran who has a service-connected disability, widowed, divorced or separated mother of an ex-service son or daughter who died in action, or who is totally and permanently disabled. Do any of these apply?

• Yes
• No

02

5-point veterans must have been discharged under honorable conditions and had one of the following: Active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, in a war, or during the period 4/28/52-7/1/55 or active duty for more than 180 consecutive days other than for training, any part of which occurred during the period beginning 2/1/55 and 10/14/76 or active duty during the Gulf War sometime between 8/2/90 - 1/2/92 or active duty in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized or active duty for which more than 180 consecutive days other than for training, any part of which occurred during the period beginning 9/11/2001 and ending on the date prescribed by the Presidential proclamation or by the law as the last date of operation Iraqi Freedom. Do any of these apply?

• Yes
• No

03

Are you a current City of Richmond employee?

• Yes
• No

04

Employees in this job classification are designated ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL and must be available to report to work during disasters, inclement weather, and other declared emergencies. Are you available and willing to work under these conditions?

• Yes
• No

05

Which answer best describes your highest level of education?

• High School Diploma/GED
• Some college
• Associates Degree
• Bachelors Degree
• Masters/Advanced Degree
• None of the above

06

Which of the following best describes your experience providing direct public assistance or front-counter customer service?

• No experience
• Less than two years of experience
• Two to five years of experience
• More than five years of experience

07

Which best describes your experience interacting with difficult, upset, or irate customers in a professional setting?

• No experience
• Beginner experience - limited exposure
• Intermediate experience - handled occasional difficult interactions
• Advanced experience - regularly managed high-conflict customer situations

08

Select all of the experiences below that you have related to tax billing or administration. (Check all that apply)

• Interpreting real estate bills or account data for customers
• Researching and correcting billing errors or account discrepancies
• Processing bill adjustments or account corrections
• Assisting customers with tax relief or exemption program applications
• Entering or updating data in a municipal billing or CIS system
• None of the above

09

Which answer best describes your experience resolving customer billing disputes or account discrepancies?

• No experience
• Beginner experience
• Intermediate experience
• Advanced experience

10

Do you have local, state, or federal government experience in real estate tax administration or billing?

• Yes
• No

11

Which best describes your experience with data entry and records management (filing, scanning, document organization)?

• No experience
• Beginner experience
• Intermediate experience
• Advanced experience

12

Based on the City of Richmond Department of Human Resources MS Proficiency Scale, immediately described below, what is your level of proficiency using Microsoft Excel? Beginner - At this level, an individual is able to enter and correct data, modify a workbook, format a worksheet, and use printing functions. Intermediate - At this level, an individual understands the concepts of databases and is able to work with charts and to use the list management capabilities of Excel. Advanced - At this level, an individual is automate some operations, manage Macro commands, and create MS Excel applications.

• Beginner experience
• Intermediate experience
• Advanced experience
• No experience

Required Question

Employer City of Richmond

Address 900 East Broad Street

Suite

Richmond, Virginia, 23219

Phone (804) 646-5660

804-646-5660

Website https://www.rva.gov/