Customer Experience Manager

Habinteg; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Habinteg is seeking an experienced Customer Experience Manager to lead the strategy and delivery of customer services, experience, insight, complaints and tenant engagement. You will champion a customer-focused culture and ensure tenant feedback shapes strategy, services and continuous improvement.

You will direct teams, oversee budgets and build strong relationships with tenants, Board members and regulators to drive accessible, responsive services and high standards of governance.

Qualifications

• Degree-level education or equivalent relevant qualification or work experience.
• Evidence of continuing learning and development and current professional behaviours.
• Community and tenant engagement experience with evidenced outcomes.
• Experience establishing partnerships, leading teams and delivering excellent customer services.
• Knowledge of inclusive practice, the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code and relevant regulatory requirements.
• Experience managing complaints, analysing trends and implementing service improvements.
• Experience assessing and evidencing staff competence and conduct through learning, appraisal and performance management.
• Ability to assure service-provider competence and conduct and enable meaningful tenant scrutiny.
• An approved Level 4 housing management qualification, or commitment to work towards one within the applicable regulatory transition period where the post is confirmed as an in-scope Senior Housing Manager.
• Experience delivering community-based projects or working in social housing.
• Experience using digital communication to improve access, engagement and customer service.

Responsibilities

• Contribute as a Leadership Team member to corporate strategy, business plans, organisational objectives and change programmes.
• Lead Habinteg’s strategies for customer services, customer experience, customer insight, complaints and tenant engagement.
• Champion customer-centred decision-making, accessibility and customer ownership across the organisation.
• Use satisfaction data, complaints, feedback, scrutiny and performance to shape priorities and service improvement.
• Lead customer journey improvement, perception surveys, transactional feedback and a robust customer insight framework.
• Oversee accessible customer contact services and complaint handling in line with consumer standards and the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
• Provide assurance reports to the Executive Team and Board on satisfaction, complaints, engagement, performance and compliance.
• Lead, develop and assess customer-facing teams, addressing competence, conduct and performance fairly and effectively.
• Manage budgets, resources and service-provider assurance to achieve strategic objectives and excellent outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with tenants, senior leaders, Board members, regulators, sector bodies and delivery partners.

Skills

Customer experience

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Data analysis

People management

Budget management

Education

Degree-level education

Level 4 housing management qualification

Job description

Responsible to: Executive Director of Customer Experience and Strategy

Direct reports: Customer Engagement Officers x2, Customer ServicesResolution Officer x1 and Customer Services Team Lead x1.

Customer Service Team responsibility: 11 colleagues

Base: Chapman House, Leeds, BD11 1DR (With hybrid working)

Lead customer experience, insight, complaints and tenant engagement across Habinteg.

We are looking for an experienced Customer Experience Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for Customer Services, Customer Experience, Customer Insight, Complaints and Tenant Engagement. As a member of the Leadership Team, you will champion a customer-focused culture and ensure tenant needs, feedback and insight shape organisational strategy, service delivery and continuous improvement.

About the role

You will lead the development and delivery of customer experience strategies, improve customer satisfaction and trust, and provide assurance to the Executive Team and Board on customer outcomes, service performance and regulatory compliance. You will use insight, complaints, satisfaction data and performance information to influence priorities and turn feedback into demonstrable organisational learning.

Working across Habinteg, you will lead high-performing customer-facing teams, oversee departmental budgets and build effective relationships with tenants, Board members, senior leaders, regulators and external partners. You will be accountable for accessible, responsive services and a culture of integrity, respect, accountability and continuous improvement.

What you’ll be doing

• Contribute as a Leadership Team member to corporate strategy, business plans, organisational objectives and change programmes.
• Lead Habinteg’s strategies for customer services, customer experience, customer insight, complaints and tenant engagement.
• Champion customer-centred decision-making, accessibility and customer ownership across the organisation.
• Use satisfaction data, complaints, feedback, scrutiny and performance to shape priorities and service improvement.
• Lead customer journey improvement, perception surveys, transactional feedback and a robust customer insight framework.
• Oversee accessible customer contact services and complaint handling in line with consumer standards and the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
• Provide assurance reports to the Executive Team and Board on satisfaction, complaints, engagement, performance and compliance.
• Lead, develop and assess customer-facing teams, addressing competence, conduct and performance fairly and effectively.
• Manage budgets, resources and service-provider assurance to achieve strategic objectives and excellent outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with tenants, senior leaders, Board members, regulators, sector bodies and delivery partners.

Supporting engaged tenants

• Develop inclusive engagement opportunities, volunteering pathways, tenant training and incentives.
• Expand the menu of ways tenants can connect, influence services and scrutinise competence and conduct arrangements.
• Ensure involvement structures, committees and groups operate effectively through clear agendas, meeting support, action tracking and joined-up communication.
• Business-partner with service leads so tenant involvement informs service development and improvement.

Customer services and complaints

• Continuously improve customer service functions so tenants receive responsive, professional and accessible support.
• Oversee timely, effective complaint resolution and analyse trends and root causes to drive learning.
• Set performance standards, report outcomes and promote service excellence and accountability across customer-facing teams.

Corporate leadership

• Take collective responsibility for organisational performance and contribute to cross-organisational transformation.
• Represent Habinteg with regulators, sector bodies, tenants and partners, and support Board, Committee and Executive reporting.
• Promote innovation, best practice, probity, confidentiality, safeguarding, data protection and health and safety.

About you

You will bring senior management or leadership experience, including contributing to organisational strategy and business planning, leading change and service improvement, and developing customer experience, customer service or customer insight strategies. You will understand customer journey design and be confident presenting strategic reports and performance information to senior leaders and Boards.

You will be an influential, values-led leader with significant experience of customer-facing teams, strong knowledge of social housing consumer regulation and customer accountability, and the ability to use complaints, customer insight and performance information to improve outcomes. You will demonstrate integrity, accountability, respect and courtesy, and listen and respond professionally to tenant concerns, complaints and safety issues.

• Degree-level education or equivalent relevant qualification or work experience.
• Evidence of continuing learning and development and current professional behaviours.
• Community and tenant engagement experience with evidenced outcomes.
• Experience establishing partnerships, leading teams and delivering excellent customer services.
• Knowledge of inclusive practice, the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code and relevant regulatory requirements.
• Experience managing complaints, analysing trends and implementing service improvements.
• Experience assessing and evidencing staff competence and conduct through learning, appraisal and performance management.
• Ability to assure service-provider competence and conduct and enable meaningful tenant scrutiny.
• An approved Level 4 housing management qualification, or commitment to work towards one within the applicable regulatory transition period where the post is confirmed as an in-scope Senior Housing Manager.
• Experience delivering community-based projects or working in social housing.
• Experience using digital communication to improve access, engagement and customer service.

At Habinteg, inclusion is central to who we are and how we work. This is an opportunity to shape customer strategy, lead talented teams and ensure tenants influence decisions, services and organisational improvement.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so early applications are encouraged.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and welcome candidates with disabilities. We encourage jobseekers from all backgrounds and experiences to express their interest.

We are unable to provide visa sponsorship; only candidates with the legal right to work in the UK will be considered.