Customer Service Team Leader

Apetito-Wiltshire-Farm-Foods; Portbury; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 37,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Living Wage

33 days holiday

Discretionary bonus

Pension match

Free meals on site

Free parking

Christmas voucher

Salary sacrifice

Retail discounts

Job summary

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings. Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

As a Customer Service Team Leader you’ll inspire and develop a team of Advisors, champion service excellence and drive continuous improvement to deliver an exceptional customer

Qualifications

• Previous experience supervising a customer service team in a fast-paced call centre or customer service setting.
• Strong customer service background with a passion for delivering excellent customer experiences.
• Pro-active and can-do approach to work, leading by example.
• Proactive handling of customer escalations and complex customer enquiries with pace and urgency to find a resolution as quickly as possible.
• Experience using customer service systems, telephony platforms and Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to build strong working relationships across departments and influence positive outcomes.
• Proven ability to coach, motivate and develop team members.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively and manage competing demands.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Analytical and data-driven approach to understanding performance and problem solving.
• A continuous improvement mindset with the ability to identify and implement process improvements.
• Resilient and calm under pressure.
• Flexible and adaptable in response to business needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and inspire a team of Customer Service Advisors to deliver outstanding customer service.
• Create and maintain a customer-first culture with customers at the heart of the service.
• Manage day-to-day team performance against KPIs and operational targets.
• Support colleagues and drive continuous improvement through call monitoring, constructive feedback, coaching, regular one-to-ones and performance reviews.
• Analyse customer feedback and service performance data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Produce accurate performance reports and communicate key findings.
• Coordinate customer communications, ensuring customers are kept informed and updated at all times.
• Support the investigation and resolution of customer complaints and escalations, ensuring positive outcomes.
• Collaboration with colleagues across Operations, Transport, Sales and Distribution to support customer experience and service delivery.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and training activities in the customer service team.
• Promote colleague engagement, wellbeing and a positive team culture.
• Deputise for the Customer Service Manager.

Skills

Supervising team

Customer service excellence

Coaching and development

Analytics and KPI

KPI reporting

MS Office

Communication skills

Pressure handling

Tools

CRM systems

Telephony platforms

Microsoft Office

Job description

Overview

Ready to lead a team that makes a real difference every day?

As a Customer Service Team Leader at apetito you'll be responsible for inspiring and developing a team of Customer Service Advisors who are dedicated to delivering an exceptional customer experience for our B2B customers.

Working closely with the Customer Service Manager, you'll champion service excellence, drive team performance and create a culture where people thrive, customers come first and continuous improvement is part of everyday life.

We use CRM and call-centre technology to ensure we deliver KPIs and can pro-actively support our complex portfolio of business customers.

You’ll be calm and focussed when business as usual becomes challenging and pressure increases.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced customer service professional to combine supervisory skills, passion for service delivery and ability to motivate others in a role where you can genuinely make an impact.

Based on-site full time: Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 6.00pm

Due to the location, a driving licence and access to your own transport are essential.

Salary circa £35,000-£37,000 per annum + Bonus + Benefits

Who we are

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dieticians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and inspire a team of Customer Service Advisors to deliver outstanding customer service.
• Create and maintain a customer-first culture with customers at the heart of the service.
• Manage day-to-day team performance against KPIs and operational targets.
• Support colleagues and drive continuous improvement through call monitoring, constructive feedback, coaching, regular one-to-ones and performance reviews.
• Analyse customer feedback and service performance data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Produce accurate performance reports and communicate key findings.
• Coordinate customer communications, ensuring customers are kept informed and updated at all times.
• Support the investigation and resolution of customer complaints and escalations, ensuring positive outcomes.
• Collaboration with colleagues across Operations, Transport, Sales and Distribution to support customer experience and service delivery.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and training activities in the customer service team.
• Promote colleague engagement, wellbeing and a positive team culture.
• Deputise for the Customer Service Manager.

Qualifications/Personal Qualities

Essential:

• Previous experience supervising a customer service team in a fast-paced call centre or customer service setting.
• Strong customer service background with a passion for delivering excellent customer experiences.
• Pro-active and can-do approach to work, leading by example.
• Proactive handling of customer escalations and complex customer enquiries with pace and urgency to find a resolution as quickly as possible.
• Experience using customer service systems, telephony platforms and Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to build strong working relationships across departments and influence positive outcomes.
• Proven ability to coach, motivate and develop team members.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively and manage competing demands.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Analytical and data-driven approach to understanding performance and problem solving.
• A continuous improvement mindset with the ability to identify and implement process improvements.
• Resilient and calm under pressure.
• Flexible and adaptable in response to business needs.

Desirable

• B2B call centre experience
• Line management or leadership experience
• Experience creating reports on customer service metrics

This role is not eligible for sponsorship under the skilled worker route as it does not meet the minimum requirements set out under the UK Immigration Rules.

Company Benefits

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer
• 33 days holiday per year, including bank holidays (which are considered a normal working day)
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary
• Free meals, snacks and beverages on site
• Free parking
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts

Our Values

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer.Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.