Assistant Director of Resident Experience

Allen Lane Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 112,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwark Council is seeking an Assistant Director of Resident Experience to lead resident access, digital channels and service design. You will shape strategy, oversee transformation and ensure inclusive, accessible services across web, mobile and face‑to‑face channels.

Reporting to the Director of Digital and Resident Experience, you will build a high‑performing team, govern customer satisfaction metrics and drive data‑led improvements that benefit residents, businesses and visitors.

Qualifications

• Strategic leader with expertise in resident experience, digital engagement and service design.
• Deep knowledge of digital channels, web platforms and accessible services.
• Track record of innovating with AI, chatbots and automation to help residents.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and digital transformation programmes.
• Proven ability to manage large budgets with measurable outcomes; public sector preferred.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement with collaborative leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Council's resident experience and digital channel strategy, ensuring accessible, user-centred services.
• Own design, development and continuous improvement of resident facing digital channels and customer platforms.
• Lead resident engagement, insight and service design activity with user research and evidence-led improvement.
• Develop and govern Council-wide measures of resident experience and customer satisfaction.
• Shape digital access across web, mobile and face-to-face channels, including AI-enabled interfaces.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams with governance for significant investments and expenditure.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Resident experience

Digital engagement

Service design

AI/automation

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Assistant Director of Resident Experience - £89,514 - £112,044

Department: Resources

Reports to: Director of Digital and Resident Experience

Job Description: find out more here.

About us

This is a rare opportunity to provide strategic leadership for how residents access, experience and engage with Southwark's services. Southwark is a dynamic London borough serving over 300,000 residents with diverse needs and as Assistant Director of Resident Experience, reporting to the Director of Digital and Resident Experience, you will lead the Council's resident experience, digital access and channel strategy, ensuring services are accessible, inclusive and responsive while aligning to wider organisational priorities.

You will shape and lead the Council's digital channels and resident facing platforms, lead service design and resident insight activity, and ensure technology enabled services improve access, satisfaction and outcomes. You'll lead the development of a Transformation Programme to support a more connected, personalised and proactive service to residents, businesses and visitors, working alongside the Assistant Directors for Innovation and Change and for Technology Operations and Security to ensure the resident perspective shapes digital, data and technology decisions.

Southwark's Digital and Resident Experience service is newly formed, and this is a genuinely exciting opportunity to shape and build the structure of this function.

About the role

In this role, you will:

• Lead the Council's resident experience and digital channel strategy, ensuring residents can access services through inclusive, user-centred and effective channels that align with corporate priorities.
• Own the design, development and continuous improvement of resident facing digital channels and customer platforms, ensuring they are accessible, effective and responsive to resident needs.
• Lead resident engagement, insight and service design activity, embedding user research, co-design and evidence-led improvement into service transformation.
• Develop and govern a Council wide approach to measuring resident experience and customer satisfaction, using insight, feedback, analytics and service data to inform continuous improvement.
• Shape the Council's digital access model across web, mobile and face-to-face contact channels and emerging AI-enabled interfaces, ensuring consistent and accessible resident experiences.
• Lead and develop multidisciplinary teams across resident experience, digital channels, engagement and service design, with delegated responsibility for significant operational and capital investment programmes and approval authority for substantial expenditure.

What we're looking for

We're seeking a strategic, resident focused leader who brings:

• A deep understanding of resident experience, digital engagement and service design principles, sufficient to set strategic direction and standards across resident facing services.
• In-depth knowledge of digital channels, web platforms, contact models and emerging digital interaction technologies, including how to deliver accessible, inclusive and effective services.
• A passion for innovation and a track record of putting it into practice, including the responsible use of AI, chatbots, virtual assistants and automation to improve how residents get help, underpinned by strong service design and user research so that new technology makes services simpler, more accessible and more personal for residents.
• Significant experience leading resident experience, digital channels, customer access or resident engagement functions in a complex organisation and leading digital transformation or service redesign programmes that deliver measurable benefits.
• Significant experience of senior level leadership of multidisciplinary teams, setting direction, standards and expectations across resident facing services.
• Extensive experience managing significant budgets, programmes or service investments with strong financial control and measurable outcomes; experience within local government or the public sector is desirable.
• Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with a collaborative and inclusive leadership style that promotes accessibility and innovation.

Additional information

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Assistant Director of Resident Experience | Southwark

For enquiries, please contact [e-mail]