Customer Service Team Lead (7 month secondment)

Taylor & Francis Group; Weston-super-Mare; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Birthday day off

Extra discretionary Christmas days

Volunteering days

Employee assistance programme

Share Match

Pension scheme

Life assurance and medical care

Job summary

Taylor & Francis Group, part of Informa, is hiring a Customer Service Team Lead. The role balances home working with 3 days per week in the Milton Park office, Oxfordshire, leading a global customer service team to deliver high-quality support and process improvements.

You will drive customer satisfaction, manage escalations, and mentor colleagues, while aligning with company policies and performance metrics. The position requires strong leadership and project delivery skills.

Qualifications

• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office and CS systems (SAP/Salesforce).
• Experience in supervising complex customer issues and meeting KPI/SLA targets.
• Experience managing projects and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to lead by example and coach team members.

Responsibilities

• Lead by example to provide excellent customer service aligned with policy and procedures.
• Own complex/escalated queries to improve first-time resolution and customer satisfaction.
• Manage workload with global capacity and collaborate with management to meet objectives.
• Recruit, train, coach and develop team members; conduct reviews and 1-2-1s.
• Facilitate meetings and deliver presentations to stakeholders.
• Drive process improvements to reduce queries and costs and enhance productivity.
• Oversee assigned projects from planning to milestone delivery.
• Prepare and distribute monthly performance reports.

Skills

Microsoft Office

CRM systems

Customer service leadership

KPI / SLA management

Project management

Lean Six Sigma

Education

Tools

SAP

Salesforce

Job description

Taylor & Francis Group an Informa Business

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis Group produces high quality, peer reviewed books and journals. We produce unique, trusted content by expert authors, spreading knowledge and promoting discovery globally. We aim to broaden thinking and advance understanding, providing academics and professionals with a platform to share ideas and realise their individual potential.

Job Description

Every day millions of people read our content. Would you like to be part of our customer journey?

Are you ready to be a Customer Service Team Lead managing a team with a determination to drive for results.

This key role will work from home and from our offices in Oxfordshire 3 days a week. You will lead by example to encourage and inspire others to provide excellent customer service in line with best practice and company policy and procedures.

The position reports to the Customer Service Manager and will work as part of a global Customer Service team, collaborating to manage day to day business processes and customer workflows liaising with other departments where appropriate. Investigating and driving forward the implementation of process improvements to improve customer satisfaction, first time resolution, and reduce customer effort will be a key requirement.

The successful candidate should have demonstrable previous Customer Service leadership experience covering a variety of CS processes and including management of complex/challenging customer issues.

Closing date for applications: 20 November 2026

Responsibilities will include

• Leading by example to encourage and inspire others to provide excellent customer service in line with best practice and company policy and procedures. Promoting team work & collaboration to effectively achieve individual, team and departmental objectives, sharing knowledge and skills. Provide support within own team and to other teams as required.
• Taking ownership of complex/escalated customer queries through to resolution, striving to increase customer satisfaction/first time resolution and reduce the need for customers to contact.
• Managing workload, reviewing capacity globally and in collaboration with the management team ensuring your team/department handles day-to-day priorities and department objectives. You take steps to remove obstacles that prevent achievement of objectives.
• Recruiting new team members. Providing support, training and coaching to members of the team. You inspire others to deliver excellent customer service and encourage others to participate/learn. You share knowledge/skills and available time beyond your team where needed. You set objectives, conduct reviews and regular 1-2-1's to review progress, manage performance and support team members in their self-development.
• Facilitating meetings and delivering presentations.
• Proactively creating and developing improvement ideas and driving forward the implementation of those ideas to improve customer satisfaction, reduce queries, increase productivity or reduce costs. You provide constructive feedback on new processes and developments. You are open to and embrace change and encourage others to do the same.
• Taking ownership for assigned projects, planning and managing, delivering milestones on time.
• Managing monthly reporting and other performance reports to ensure they are compiled and cascaded by agreed deadlines.

Qualifications

Knowledge and Qualifications

• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office and systems used within Customer Service systems (ideally SAP and Salesforce) with expertise to train new team members.
• Demonstrable previous Customer Service experience in an office environment covering a variety of CS processes and including management of complex/challenging customer issues. Experience of encouraging others to work to KPI's/SLA's.
• Experience of managing projects, engaging contributors at all levels.
• Proven evidence of your ability to supervise colleagues with experience of encouraging others to work to Service Level Agreements and CS metrics.
• Ideally, understanding and experience using Lean 6 Sigma methodology.
• Understanding of the role of related departments and have a range of contacts outside and within Customer Service.

Additional Information

Additional information

What we're offering in return:

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture and hybrid working from home and office
• 25 days annual leave per year plus an extra day off each year for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days for Christmas each year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Employee assistance programme - Offering 24/7 well-being support
• Share Match - Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care.

What you should know:

• This role will be balanced, with 3 days per week being office based. You will therefore need to be based within a commutable distance of our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshire.
• You must have the right to live and work in the UK.
• Closing date for applications: 20 November 2026

Work/life balance:

At Taylor & Francis we care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. You will be joining a thriving business, working alongside an exceptional group of people. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.

Training And Professional Development:

We're passionate about ensuring you have all the tools and resources at your fingertips to reach your short and long-term career goals. We'll support you in your journey by working together on your own bespoke Taylor & Francis Development Plan, ensuring you have the resources, tools, support and coaching that will get you where you want to be.

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you're excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don't fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and contribute regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit-based factor.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn 'Life' Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It's also a good way of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/