Contact Centre Leader - Complaints

Hastings Direct; Leicester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

£5k car allowance

4Cs annual bonus

Private medical insurance

Life assurance (4x salary)

Pension matching up to 10%

Cycle to work and health schemes

Job summary

Hastings Direct in Leicester or Bexhill is seeking a Contact Centre Leader for Complaints to oversee a high‑performing team focused on fair, timely resolution and customer outcomes.

You will partner with Operations, Risk, Compliance, Quality Assurance and Customer Experience to drive service excellence, regulatory compliance and continuous improvement.

The role requires building a culture of ownership, coaching Leaders, and delivering improvements across volumes, quality and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience in a regulated complaints environment.
• Strong knowledge of insurance complaints handling and regulatory requirements.
• Experience in leading operational performance through KPI’s, quality measures and customer outcome metrics.
• Experience in using MI and data to drive decision making and performance improvement.
• High level of customer focus and commercial acumen.

Responsibilities

• Lead Team Leaders within the Complaints operation, coaching and developing them.
• Deliver strong operational performance across complaint volumes, quality and outcomes.
• Drive a culture focused on customer fairness and continuous improvement using MI/data.
• Own resource planning, capacity management and delivery.
• Lead change initiatives and provide updates to senior stakeholders.
• Collaborate with Quality, Risk, Compliance and Customer Experience to raise standards and ensure FCA DISP compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory knowledge

Performance management

Data-driven decisions

Stakeholder management

Job description

Job Title: Contact Centre Leader - Complaints

Location: Leicester or Bexhill

We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become The Best and Biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our data and tech capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We’re proud of the journey we’re on as a company and know that our continued success will rely on the contribution of our talented colleagues. We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there. The fact you’re now reading this job advert means we’ve tempted you to find out more about #lifeatHD – we really hope you like what you see, and you’ll join us to share in the success of the exciting chapter that lies ahead.

We understand some people may not apply for jobs unless they feel they tick every box. If you’re excited about joining us and think you have some of what we’re looking for, even if you’re not 100% sure we would love to hear from you.

Role overview

As our Contact Centre Leader in Complaints, you’ll lead a high-performing insurance complaints operation, managing a team of Leaders, who in turn lead complaint handling teams that are focused on delivering fair, timely and customer-focused complaint resolution. You’ll be a visible and influential leader, working closely with senior stakeholders across Operations, Risk, Compliance, Quality Assurance and Customer Experience to drive service excellence and identifying opportunities for business improvement. This is a key leadership role for someone who can balance customer outcomes, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency and colleague engagement. You’ll create a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement, ensuring customers receive the right outcomes.

Job details – you’ll need to have demonstrable experience in:

• Leading, coaching and developing your Team Leaders within the Complaints operation, supporting them in managing performance, capability and overall colleague development – championing employee engagement and building a positive, high-performing culture
• Delivering strong operational performance across complaint volumes, quality, customer outcomes and service level commitments
• Driving a culture focused on customer fairness, root cause analysis and continuous improvement, by using MI and performance data to identify trends, opportunities and risks
• Taking ownership of resource planning , capacity management and operational delivery
• Leading operational change initiatives and implementing process improvements, providing regular updates and insight to senior stakeholders on operational performance and emerging complaint themes
• Collaborating with Quality, Risk Compliance and Customer Experience teams to improve complaint handling standards and ensuring compliance with FCA regulations, DISP requirements and internal governance standards

Essential skills/experience:

• Significant leadership experience within a regulated complaints environment, managing Team Leaders and delivering results, as well as coaching, developing and motivating teams
• Strong knowledge of insurance complaints handling and regulatory requirements
• Experience in leading operational performance through KPI’s, quality measures and customer outcome metrics
• Experience in using MI and data to drive decision making and performance improvement, with a track record of leading operational change and continuous improvement initiatives
• Strong stakeholder management skills, high level of customer focus and commercial acumen

The interview process

Recruiter intro/screening call 1st stage interview with hiring leader 2nd interview with hiring leaders leader

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our careers website.

Regrettably we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Benefits:

• in addition to a competitive salary and £5k car allowance you will also receive… Flexible working – we champion a flexible hybrid working approach – please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail
• Competitive bonus scheme - all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
• Physical wellbeing – as a Band 4 colleague, Hastings pay for you to receive private medical Insurance (also known as PMI). This gives you flexibility and convenience to see a specialist or consultant and allows you to decide when and where you will be seen
• Financial wellbeing – as well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover, income protection at no extra cost, and matched pension contributions up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an award winning package which includes – discounts, cashback, free independent mortgage advice and free access to financial wellbeing support
• Mental wellbeing programme – we have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own in-house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs

There's more! – 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your weeks, access to our health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more...

Join us and you’ll find a different way of doing things. We call it the 4Cs. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community.

As one of our colleagues, you’ll be helping to drive our growth, so in return, we’ll give you all the support, training and development you need. Our 4Cs principles are simple: we believe by creating the right culture for our colleagues and giving them the right tools to do their job, we’ll deliver good outcomes for every customer, helping us to grow the company profitably and sustainably and allowing us to invest in the communities we serve.

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks.

At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.