Senior Complaints Operations Leader

Hastings Direct; Leicester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Car allowance £5k

Private medical Insurance

Life assurance

Pension contribution matching up to 10

27 days annual leave

Job summary

Hastings Direct is seeking a Senior Complaints Operations Leader to oversee a large-scale complaints function across Retail Insurance and Claims, driving fair customer outcomes and regulatory compliance.

The role requires strategic leadership, strong governance, and a track record of improving complaint resolution cycles while partnering with cross-functional teams in a hybrid working environment.

Qualifications

• Significant operational leadership experience in complaints or customer operations.
• Experience managing senior operational leaders with large spans of control.
• Strong understanding of FCA DISP requirements and Consumer Duty.
• Proven track record of leading change and continuous improvement programmes.
• Knowledge of Retail Insurance products and claims processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead a large-scale complaints operation across Retail Insurance and Claims.
• Ensure fair customer outcomes and regulatory compliance.
• Drive operational performance and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Partner with Claims, Customer Operations, Risk and Learning & Development.
• Present performance insights to senior stakeholders and executives.

Skills

Operational leadership

FCA knowledge

Regulatory compliance

Change management

Stakeholder management

Tools

MI dashboards

Job description

Job Title: Senior Complaints Operations Leader

Location: Leicester or Bexhill (Hybrid)

Welcome to Hastings Direct We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become The Best and Biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our data and tech capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We’re proud of the journey we’re on as a company and know that our continued success will rely on the contribution of our talented colleagues. We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there. The fact you’re now reading this job advert means we’ve tempted you to find out more about #lifeatHD – we really hope you like what you see, and you’ll join us to share in the success of the exciting chapter that lies ahead. We understand some people may not apply for jobs unless they feel they tick every box. If you’re excited about joining us and think you have some of what we’re looking for, even if you’re not 100% sure we would love to hear from you.

Role Overview

As Senior Complaints Operations Leader, you’ll be responsible for leading a large-scale complaints operation across Retail Insurance and Claims, with accountability for delivering fair customer outcomes, meeting regulatory requirements, driving operational performance and creating a culture of continuous improvement. As a key member within our Complaints Leadership Team, you’ll shape complaint strategies, influence broader business improvements and work closely with Claims, Customer Operations, Risk, Compliance and Learning & Development to reduce complaint demand and improve customer experience.

Job Details – Demonstrable Experience

• Operational Leadership – leading and developing a team of Operational Leaders responsible for complaint handling operations, creating a high-performing culture focused on accountability, customer outcomes and employee engagement, ensuring effective resource planning and operational capacity management and delivering against complaint volume, productivity, quality and customer outcome targets
• Customer and Regulatory Outcomes – ensuring complaints are handled fairly, consistently and in line with FCA DISP requirements and Consumer Duty expectations, driving improvements in complaint resolution at the earliest possible stages, reducing complaint cycle times and increasing first touch resolution opportunities and maintaining robust governance and controls, acting as an escalation point for complex, high-risk and high-profile complaints
• Insurance and Claims Expertise – providing senior operational leadership across both Retail Insurance and Claims complaints, using deep understanding of policy administration, underwriting, customer servicing and claims journeys to identify root causes, partnering with Claims and Operational teams to address recurring customer pain points and supporting business-wide initiatives to improve claim and service experiences that generate complaint volumes
• Performance Management – owning the delivery of operational KPI’s including complaint volumes, resolution times, ombudsman overturn rates, customer outcomes, quality measures, employee engagement, cost efficiency and presenting business performance insights and recommendations to senior stakeholders and executive audiences
• Continuous Improvement – challenging existing processes and identifying opportunities for automation, digitisation and simplification, leading transformation initiatives to increase efficiency while maintaining customer outcomes and supporting the implementation of new technologies/complaint handling capabilities
• Stakeholder Management – building strong partnerships, representing complaints within governance forums and strategic business initiatives and supporting executive reporting and regulatory engagement where required

Essential Skills & Experience

Significant operational leadership experience within complaints, customer operations, claims operations or conduct-focused environments with a strong understanding of customer journeys Proven experience of managing senior operational leaders, with large spans of control and leading operational teams through multiple management layers – with exceptional coaching capability Strong understanding of FCA complaint handling requirements and Consumer duty Track record of leading change, transformation and continuous improvement programmes, with experience of using MI, data and insight to drive decision making Strong understanding of Retail Insurance products and Claims knowledge across one or more insurance lines

Interview Process

• Recruiter intro/screening call
• 1st stage interview with hiring leader
• 2nd interview with hiring leaders leader

Inclusion

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our careers website. Regrettably we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Benefits

• in addition to a competitive salary and £5k car allowance you will also receive…
• Flexible working – we champion a flexible hybrid working approach – please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail
• Competitive bonus scheme - all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
• Physical wellbeing – as a Band 4 colleague, Hastings pay for you to receive private medical Insurance (also known as PMI). This gives you flexibility and convenience to see a specialist or consultant and allows you to decide when and where you will be seen
• Financial wellbeing – as well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover, income protection at no extra cost, and matched pension contributions up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an award winning package which includes – discounts, cashback, free independent mortgage advice and free access to financial wellbeing support
• Mental wellbeing programme – we have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own in-house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs
• There's more! – 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your weeks, access to our health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more...

Culture

Join us and you’ll find a different way of doing things. We call it the 4Cs. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. As one of our colleagues, you’ll be helping to drive our growth, so in return, we’ll give you all the support, training and development you need. Our 4Cs principles are simple: we believe by creating the right culture for our colleagues and giving them the right tools to do their job, we’ll deliver good outcomes for every customer, helping us to grow the company profitably and sustainably and allowing us to invest in the communities we serve.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks. At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.