Senior Complaints Practice Lead

The starting salary for this role is £66,774 per annum based on a 36-hour working week. This role is initially being offered as an 18-month fixed term contract.

Our customer service team is looking for a new Senior Complaints Practice Lead to help us achieve our ambition of high quality, inclusive services, that we can be proud of and that make a positive difference in people's lives.

This is an exciting role for someone to come in and manage our Customer Relations Team and provide a strategic lead to our Complaints Team Managers. You'll be put in a position to drive change across our valuable services, influence service outcomes and empower the team to achieve the council's aims and objectives.

The role is based in Dakota Building, Weybridge, although there are opportunities to work from home.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team

The Customer Relations Team is part of Customer Services which provides a single point of contact for around 90% of the organisation's initial contacts and is the focal point for receiving feedback from the public. As a centre of customer service excellence, we provide information, advice, and support to services across the whole county council.

About the Role

As Senior Complaints Practice Lead you will provide specialist knowledge, expertise, and strategic oversight to the management of the organisation's complaints teams, to ensure consistency of approach and maximise opportunities to drive best practice across the whole organisation. You will support the service in developing and delivering on its strategic direction by ensuring the voice of the customer is central to all activity.

You will provide a 'whole organisation' view of insights and learning from complaints, and design and deliver training to build skills, develop consistent practice standards and ensure the best use of resources and systems. You will be responsible for driving organisation-wide service improvement, reporting to, and attending Audit and Governance Committee meetings, serving as link officer for the LGSCO and engaging in national and regional opportunities to share best practice.

As part of the Customer Services Senior Management Team, you will take joint responsibility for the successful performance of all teams within Customer Services.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Experience of managing complaints functions at a senior level in a public sector organisation
• A detailed understanding of statutory complaints procedures and processes
• Ability to provide analysis of evidence and data in a meaningful way, to influence service improvement
• Ability to develop and deliver relevant training, policies, procedures and guidance
• Experience of dealing with the LGSCO.

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 18/02/2024 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.