Customer Services Manager

Bristol Water plc; West of England; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

23 days annual leave (plus bank hols)

Holiday buy and sell scheme

Competitive pension scheme with match

Life assurance

Group income protection

Enhanced family leave

Employee share schemes

Free annual flu vaccination

Employee Assistance Programme (24/7)

Cycle to Work scheme

Car share scheme

Give As You Earn charity scheme

One paid volunteering day per year

Retail and lifestyle discounts

Job summary

Bristol Water is seeking a Customer Services Manager to lead frontline teams, drive service excellence and ensure regulatory compliance. You’ll coach, develop staff, manage performance, and collaborate with regulators, customers and partners to improve processes and outcomes in a busy, customer-focused environment.

The role requires strong leadership, analytical thinking and a track record of delivering improvements in contact centres or operations, with a focus on first contact resolution and

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading customer service or operational teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong people leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop teams.
• Experience managing performance, attendance and employee relations matters.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience leading change and driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to make confident decisions and take ownership of outcomes.
• Experience using data and reporting to drive performance improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate and develop frontline customer service teams.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, coaching sessions and performance reviews.
• Support employee development and career progression.
• Manage employee relations, attendance, conduct and performance matters where required.
• Create a positive, engaged and high-performing team culture.
• Ensure work queues are effectively managed and service level agreements are achieved.
• Act as an escalation point for complex customer cases and complaints.
• Drive a "right first time" culture to improve first-contact resolution and reduce repeat customer contact.
• Ensure customers consistently receive high-quality service and support.
• Monitor and improve customer experience performance measures.
• Analyse performance data and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Conduct root cause analysis to understand customer contact drivers and implement sustainable solutions.
• Lead and embed operational and process improvements.
• Ensure reporting is accurate, timely and supports informed decision-making.
• Drive productivity through coaching, cross-skilling, training and process refinement.
• Build strong relationships across operational and corporate teams.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to deliver business objectives.
• Represent Bristol Water in meetings with external stakeholders where required.
• Work closely with regulators, industry bodies and service partners.
• Promote and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Support assurance processes relating to customer service and performance obligations.
• Ensure operational activities align with company and industry standards.

Skills

Team leadership

Coaching

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management

Performance management

Continuous improvement

Data analysis

Decision making

Job description

Powered by Water, Driven by Purpose

At Bristol Water, we’ve been serving generations of families since 1846. Ensuring people in our communities have access to healthy water is paramount, which is why we work around the clock testing our water hundreds of times a day.

We’re proud to be part of Pennon Group, a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

Ready to make a splash?

The Role

As Customer Services Manager, you will lead a team of customer service professionals responsible for delivering exceptional service to our customers while achieving key operational, customer, and regulatory performance measures.

You will provide strong leadership, coaching, and direction to frontline teams, ensuring workloads are effectively managed, service levels are achieved, and customer issues are resolved efficiently. You will also play a key role in driving continuous improvement, embedding change, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements including OFWAT standards, C-MeX, B-MeX, R-MeX and Guaranteed Standards of Service (GSS).

This role offers an exciting opportunity to influence customer outcomes, shape and design operational processes, and develop high-performing teams within a regulated and customer-centric environment.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & People Management

• Lead, motivate and develop frontline customer service teams.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, coaching sessions and performance reviews.
• Support employee development and career progression.
• Manage employee relations, attendance, conduct and performance matters where required.
• Create a positive, engaged and high-performing team culture.

Customer Service & Operational Excellence

• Ensure work queues are effectively managed and service level agreements are achieved.
• Act as an escalation point for complex customer cases and complaints.
• Drive a "right first time" culture to improve first-contact resolution and reduce repeat customer contact.
• Ensure customers consistently receive high-quality service and support.
• Monitor and improve customer experience performance measures.

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Analyse performance data and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Conduct root cause analysis to understand customer contact drivers and implement sustainable solutions.
• Lead and embed operational and process improvements.
• Ensure reporting is accurate, timely and supports informed decision-making.
• Drive productivity through coaching, cross-skilling, training and process refinement.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships across operational and corporate teams.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to deliver business objectives.
• Represent Bristol Water in meetings with external stakeholders where required.
• Work closely with regulators, industry bodies and service partners.

Regulatory Compliance

• Promote and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Support assurance processes relating to customer service and performance obligations.
• Ensure operational activities align with company and industry standards.

What We're Looking For

Essential Experience & Skills

• Proven experience leading customer service or operational teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong people leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop teams.
• Experience managing performance, attendance and employee relations matters.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience leading change and driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to make confident decisions and take ownership of outcomes.
• Experience using data and reporting to drive performance improvements.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver results through others.

Why Join Bristol Water?

At Bristol Water, we believe in creating an environment where everyone can thrive, bring their best every day, and feel truly valued. That's why we offer a benefits package designed not just to reward, but to support your wellbeing, development and future.

Benefits Include:

• 23 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), increasing with length of service
• Holiday buy and sell scheme
• Competitive pension scheme with company contribution matching
• Life assurance
• Group income protection
• Enhanced family leave including maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave
• Employee share schemes
• Free annual flu vaccination
• Employee Assistance Programme (24/7 support)
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Car share scheme
• Give As You Earn charity scheme
• One paid volunteering day per year
• Retail and lifestyle discounts platform

Closing Date: 20th November 2026

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.

Be yourself, we like it that way. Together, we will build a culture of belonging, where inclusion is instinctive. Diversity is our strength and a reflection of our communities. We care, we value everyone, we celebrate uniqueness.

Our core values, which are essential to our success, are:

Be Rock Solid - Build trust and be trusted. Be the one we all look to and can depend on.

Be You - We want you to bring your best everyday. Be yourself and make your mark in your individual way.

Be the Future - Embrace change. Drive Progress. Own the challenge.