Complaints Experience Lead

Co-operative Bank plc; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus scheme

Private medical and health screenings

Pension with enhanced contributions

Job summary

The Co-operative Bank is seeking a Complaints Experience Lead to join the Complaints Centre of Excellence in Manchester/Coventry. This role shapes the complaints strategy, driving fair outcomes and customer advocacy through expert handling and data-driven insights.

Working in a Hybrid model, you will lead complex investigations, coach teams, and ensure compliance with FCA requirements, DISP, and Consumer Duty while delivering tangible service improvements across the Group.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in complaints within a regulated financial services environment.
• Expert knowledge of FCA complaint handling requirements, DISP and Consumer Duty.
• Extensive knowledge of Financial Ombudsman Service processes, decisions and expectations.
• Experience of leading, motivating and coaching colleagues.
• Strong understanding of vulnerability, customer advocacy and outcome frameworks.
• Experience persuading and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Experience taking ownership of high-profile complaints.
• Ability to interpret complaint data and regulatory developments to drive improvement.
• Proactive in driving resolution and identifying opportunities for change.

Responsibilities

• Support the ongoing development of the Group's complaint handling strategy.
• Translate lessons from complaints and regulatory changes into action.
• Provide technical complaints leadership and guidance to teams.
• Champion best practice to ensure fair outcomes and exceptional customer experiences.
• Ensure complaint approaches align with regulatory requirements and evolving expectations.
• Deliver across the Group with a culture of continuous improvement.

Skills

Complaints experience

Regulatory knowledge

Stakeholder influence

Leadership coaching

Regulatory requirements

Data interpretation

Job description

We have the exciting opportunity for a Complaints Experience Lead to join our Complaints Centre of Excellence, playing an important role in shaping the future of complaint handling and customer advocacy across the Group.

Our Complaints Centre of Excellence brings together the organisation's complaint handling expertise, ensuring complaints are resolved fairly, consistently and in line with regulatory expectations, while using customer feedback and insight to drive meaningful change. We recognise that every complaint represents an opportunity to learn, improve and strengthen customer trust. Through expert handling, high-quality interactions and fair outcomes, we aim to turn moments of dissatisfaction into opportunities to build loyalty, advocacy, confidence in our brand and improve our products and services.

This role will sit within our Complaints Leadership Team and support the ongoing development of the Group's complaint handling strategy, ensuring lessons learned from complaint trends, customer insight, regulatory change and Financial Ombudsman Service decisions are translated into meaningful action.

The successful candidate will use complaint data, root cause analysis and wider customer intelligence to identify opportunities for improvement across our service, products and processes. The role holder will provide technical complaints leadership & guidance, champion best practice and support colleagues to deliver consistently fair outcomes and exceptional customer experiences. They’ll ensure our complaint approaches remain aligned to regulatory requirements as well as evolving industry and customer expectations. Working across the Group, the role holder will foster a culture of continuous improvement, helping teams learn, adapt and enhance effectiveness at every stage of a complaint.

The role holder will also support the resolution of complex, sensitive and high-profile complaints and providing expert judgement to deliver the right outcomes for customers and the business. They will champion customer advocacy, vulnerability and service recovery, ensuring complaints are not only resolved effectively but are used to drive lasting improvements in customer outcomes, operational performance and organisational capability. We're looking for a true ambassador of good customer outcomes and complaint handling excellence to join us in powering good with every pound.

This role can operate from either our Head Offices in Manchester or Binley , Coventry but as a Group role, travel to both locations will be required and a team-led hybrid working arrangement is in place with at least 2 days in the office required.

• 28 days holiday a year plus bank holidays and a holiday buy/sell scheme
• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• Personal pension with enhanced contributions
  
• Private medical and health screenings
• Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
• Life assurance (6 times annual salary)

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

About you

We're looking for someone who thrives on solving difficult problems, challenging conventional thinking and turning customer feedback into tangible improvements that make a real difference.

For this role its essential you have:

• Significant experience in complaints, customer outcomes, complaint quality or complaints leadership roles within a regulated financial services environment.
• Expert knowledge of FCA complaint handling requirements, DISP and Consumer Duty.
• Extensive knowledge of Financial Ombudsman Service processes, decisions and expectations.
• Experience of leading, motivating and coaching colleagues.
• Strong understanding of vulnerability, customer advocacy and customer outcome frameworks.
• Experience of persuading and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Experience of taking ownership of high-profile complaints.
• Proven ability to interpret complaint data, customer insight and regulatory developments to drive business improvement.
• Strong initiative and capability to own issues and drive resolution, ensuring opportunities to improve are identified and translated into meaningful change and improvements.
• Experience of risk management and ensuring effective controls.

Experience in these areas would be helpful

• Complaint handling transformation or operating model change.
• Developing policy, assurance or professional standards frameworks.
• Experience leading cross-functional improvement initiatives.

About us

In 2025, Coventry Building Society purchased The Co-operative Bank. Bringing together our purpose-led building society with the UK’s original ethical bank was the start of an exciting journey.

Trusted by over four million people, we’re a mutually owned business free from shareholders, and with our combined experience of almost 300 years, our ethics and dedication will continue to guide us. Together, we have shared values and an ethical approach towards our members, customers and colleagues.

We’re officially recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ and our benefits go beyond basic pay, with a discretionary bonus scheme, a culture of reward and recognition and comprehensive support for wellbeing.

We’re serious about equality, of race, age, faith, disability, and sexual orientation and we celebrate diversity. By working together, we know you’ll build more than just a career with us.

Flexibility and why it matters

Proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer

We’re proud to offer an interview or assessment to every disabled applicant who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies. As part of the application process, disabled applicants can opt in for the Disability Confident Interview Scheme. If there are ever occasions where it is not practicable to interview all candidates that meet the essential criteria, such as when we receive a high number of applications, we commit to interviewing disabled candidates who best meet the minimum essential and desirable criteria.

Feedback

We are currently receiving a high number of applications for our roles and, while we review each one carefully against the advertised criteria, unfortunately we're unable to provide individual feedback. We will contact shortlisted candidates directly.

Coventry-Binley Business Park, Hybrid, Manchester

Up to £52,000 (dependant on relevant experience)

Up to £52,000 (dependant on relevant experience)

£25,725 pro rata (Inclusive of a 5% shift allowance)

Coventry-Binley Business Park, Hybrid, Manchester

Full Time

Up to £65,000 (dependant on relevant experience)