Head of Customer Experience

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional transport authority in Sheffield is seeking a Head of Customer Experience to develop customer-centric strategies and lead customer-facing teams. This permanent, full-time role offers an annual salary of £54,214 - £58,049 and includes hybrid working. Candidates should have strong leadership and customer service experience, with a degree-level qualification or equivalent. This position plays a critical role in improving the transport experience for the public.

Benefits

Local Government Pension Scheme

Enhanced Holiday Entitlement

Hybrid working arrangements

Employee discounts and financial advice

Qualifications

• Experience leading customer service or account management teams, ideally in a regulated environment.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, managing budgets effectively.
• Collaborative leadership style with excellent communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead, motivate, and develop managers in customer-facing services.
• Oversee performance and continuous improvement of transport assets.
• Manage the customer contact centre and ensure targets are met.

Skills

Leadership

Customer service excellence

Commercial acumen

Analytical skills

Education

Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience

Job description

Head of Customer Experience

Application Deadline: 1 October 2025

Department: Public Transport Operations

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Sheffield Head Office

Reporting To: Director of Public Transport Operations

Compensation: £54,214 - £58,049 / year

Description

• Hours: 37 hours
• Contract: Permanent
• Salary: £54,214 - £58,049
• Location: Sheffield (This is a hybrid role with a minimum of 3 days per week in the office)

South Yorkshire is delivering one of the most ambitious transport investment programmes in the country. With a multibillion-pound pipeline of transformational projects, this role sits at the heart of shaping customer experience, setting standards, and driving improvements that make a real difference for people across the region.

As Head of Customer Operations, you will take full responsibility for end-to-end development and delivery of our customer-centric strategies. You will lead and inspire our customer-facing teams, ensuring our sites, products and services deliver high quality, accessible and reliable information to support public transport users.

You will play a pivotal role in driving cultural change across transport in South Yorkshire, embedding new approaches to customer service and influencing decision-making at senior levels. Your work will shape the way passengers experience our transport network, from interchanges and park & ride sites to journey planning, customer contact and digital services.

The role is also central in supporting the delivery of our Enhanced Partnership and wider bus reform, ensuring that customer voices are heard and reflected in our services.

Applications must be accompanied by a cover letter (please see details below regarding content). Please note, all applications should be made directly via our Careers portal. Please note South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority does not hold a sponsorship licence and cannot provide Skilled Worker sponsorship for any roles advertised.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead, motivate and develop managers responsible for the day-to-day delivery of customer-facing sites, products and services.
• Oversee the performance and continuous improvement of our interchanges, park and ride sites, and on-street transport assets.
• Lead the customer contact centre, ensuring customer queries and complaints are responded to effectively, and performance targets are achieved.
• Ensure journey planning and timetable information is accurate, accessible and responsive to customer needs.
• Drive the development and integration of customer service standards, embedding them across the organisation to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes.
• Develop and implement new customer-facing products and services, including digital and self-service channels.
• Align customer experience metrics with strategic goals, using insights to drive improvements and efficiencies.
• Manage budgets effectively, controlling costs and maximising income opportunities to strengthen delivery.
• Build strong partnerships across the organisation and with external stakeholders to ensure a joined-up approach to customer success.
• Prepare evidence-led reports and briefings for senior stakeholders, including the Mayor and Transport & Environment Board.

About you

We are looking for a proven leader in customer service who is confident working in a fast-paced, political environment. You will have a strong track record of motivating and developing high-performing teams, managing customer-facing services, and delivering measurable improvements in customer experience.

You will bring:

• Experience leading customer service or account management teams, ideally in a regulated environment.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with experience managing budgets and driving efficiencies.
• A collaborative leadership style, with excellent communication and influencing skills to engage senior stakeholders.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to align customer service delivery to organisational objectives.
• Proven ability to manage performance frameworks, KPIs and service level agreements.
• Knowledge of using technology and digital solutions to enhance service delivery.
• A degree-level qualification or equivalent experience.

In your covering letter, we would like you to provide evidence of your competence in the following areas:

• Leading and motivating customer-facing teams, with experience of performance management and staff development.
• Managing complex service delivery in a customer-focused environment.
• Experience of working with multiple stakeholders to deliver customer improvements.
• Strong analytical skills, able to interpret data and present evidence-based recommendations.
• Successful track record of delivering change and embedding new ways of working.

Benefits

All colleagues have access to a Local Government Pension Scheme and the chance to be part of an organisation where you can really make a difference. Located in Sheffield City Centre, we are well-placed for transport links and encourage employees to take advantage of the active travel facilities. Work/life balance is extremely important to us here at SYMCA with our recognised family/friendly policies, genuine work flexibility, recognition, and shared success.

In addition to the above, some of benefits include -

Local Government Pension Scheme – A comprehensive and attractive pension scheme with the ability to be flexible in the number of contributions you pay in along with peace of mind from immediate life cover and terminal illness cover after 2 years.

Continuous Employment – If you are currently employed by a Local Government employer, or any other employer under the Redundancy Modification Scheme, and do not have a break in service, your length of service can be transferred upon starting. This will apply to entitlement calculations including annual leave, maternity leave and enhanced sick pay.

Enhanced Holiday Entitlement – From 28 to 36 days annual leave entitlement (depending on length of service) plus bank holidays. Pro-rata for part time colleagues.

Annual Leave Purchase Scheme – The ability to purchase up to a further 15 days per year in addition to your normal annual leave

Hybrid working – Our offices are a space where we come together and collaborate. Most of our roles are offered on a hybrid basis with the exception of some support roles being onsite full time. Please note, unless specified within the job advert, we cannot accommodate remote working contracts.

Flexible Hours Scheme – Most roles within SYMCA work under the Flexi-Scheme which allows office-based employees’ flexibility and discretion over their working hours. Under the scheme employees can accrue a defined amount of credit or debit of working hours, and to take time-off in the form of Flexi-Leave or banked Annual Leave.

Rewarding You – Reducing everyday expenses through discounts, benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more with Reward Gateway and Cycle-to-Work schemes.

Training on the job – Support with upskilling skills through on-the-job training and qualifications

Professional Membership Fees – Where membership to Professional bodies is applicable to your role, SYMCA will reimburse your membership fees where applicable and following approval by Line Management.

Diversity at South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority – Our workforce is made up of a diverse community, where we all belong and feel part of something bigger. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. All employees are eligible to request Flexible Working arrangements from day one of employment as such all requests will be considered subject to operation requirements. Where candidates share disabilities within the application process, if they demonstrate that they meet all essential criteria from the Role Profile within their application, they will automatically be invited to interview. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the process, please contact [e-mail] or include within your application form detailing the adjustment and how it will assist in managing any barriers.