Helpdesk Team Leader

Thames Water; Reading; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water utility company in the UK is looking for a Helpdesk Team Leader to manage a team of Customer Service Agents. In this hybrid role based in Reading, you will inspire your team to deliver excellent customer service while meeting performance targets. The ideal candidate will have experience in a fast-paced contact center environment, strong communication skills, and a passion for guiding teams through change. This position offers a competitive salary and attractive benefits.

Benefits

Competitive salary of £33,000 to £40,000 per annum

26 days holiday increasing to 30 with service

Generous Pension Scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading teams to meet KPIs in a contact centre environment.
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers and stakeholders.
• Experience in guiding teams through business change.

Responsibilities

• Lead and actively manage a team of Customer Service Agents.
• Provide coaching and feedback to ensure performance targets are met.
• Handle escalated customer calls and ensure service excellence.
• Drive continuous improvement using customer feedback.

Skills

Confident communicator

Performance-focused leader

People-first leadership

Change leader

Resilient and determined

Commercially and data aware

Job description

Helpdesk Team Leader

Helpdesk Team Leader

Our Developer Services Helpdesk is the front door for our customers, handling around 90,000 inbound calls every year. In this role, you’ll inspire and lead a team of Customer Service Agents to deliver a consistently great customer experience, hit key performance targets, and ensure robust process compliance—directly helping to reduce complaints and improve our DMEX performance.

What you’ll be doing as a Helpdesk Team Leader

This is an exciting time to join the team. You’ll play a key leadership role as we embark on a major system transformation, guiding your people through change with confidence and energy. If you’re passionate about customer experience, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and enjoy leading teams through change, this role offers real impact and opportunity.

• Lead performance in real time – actively manage a team of Customer Service Agents to consistently meet SLAs, abandoned call targets and wider operational measures.
• Coach for success – provide regular, meaningful coaching and feedback to ensure quality standards, processes and performance targets are achieved.
• Build a high-performing, engaged team – use a range of engagement tools and HR best-practice to motivate your team and create a positive, inclusive culture.
• Own the customer experience – confidently handle escalated customer calls and role-model the excellent service you expect from your team.
• Communicate with impact – run effective team meetings, huddles and 1:1s, bringing key messages and performance measures to life in creative ways.
• Develop your people – ensure your team has the right training, support and development to thrive in their roles, including delivery of “Hear For You” action plans.
• Drive continuous improvement – use CSAT, customer insight and frontline feedback to identify pain points and make meaningful improvements for customers and colleagues.
• Lead change with confidence – guide your team through business and system changes, ensuring impacts are understood, training is completed, and your team feels supported while acting as a strong advocate for change.

Based in our Clearwater Court office in Reading

This is a Hybrid role

What you should bring to the role

• Confident communicator – a strong verbal and written communicator, comfortable engaging customers and influencing stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• Performance-focused leader – proven experience leading teams to consistently deliver KPIs such as quality and CSAT, ideally within a fast-paced contact centre environment.
• People-first leadership – skilled at motivating and engaging teams in creative, practical ways to achieve targets while building a positive, high-performing culture.
• Change leader – experienced in guiding teams through system implementations and significant business change, ensuring clarity, buy-in and successful adoption.
• Resilient and determined – brings grit, energy and perseverance to overcome challenges and maintain momentum in demanding operational environments.
• Commercially and data aware – able to use performance data and customer insight to inform decisions, with desirable experience in utilities or Developer Services and strong stakeholder engagement skills.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary between £33,000 to £40,000 per annum.
• 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.