Closing Date
2025-11-03
Job Title: Head of Customer Service Planning & Operational Excellence
Location: Hybrid working between our head office in Worthing, and home.
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday - Friday
Salary: Competitive salary commensurate to experience + £500 monthly car allowance and bonus up to 20%.
Job Overview
Southern Water is undergoing a bold transformation of its Customer Operations function, led by a newly appointed Customer Operations Director. As part of this journey, we’re building a high-performing leadership team to deliver a step-change in customer service, operational resilience, and strategic capability.
We’re now recruiting a Head of Customer Service Planning & Operational Excellence, a newly created role designed to optimise core operational capabilities, drive commercial efficiency, and shape the future of customer service delivery.
This role will be instrumental in stabilising and modernising our customer service operation, building strong governance, and improving the effectiveness of our outsourced partnerships. It’s a unique opportunity to lead change at scale, influence strategic programmes, and help set the direction for future transformation.
Accountabilities include, but are not limited to:
1. Operational Strategy & Efficiency: Lead initiatives to optimise planning, forecasting, and scheduling across our customer service function, targeting improved service level delivery and business efficiency.
2. Governance & Commercial Oversight: Strengthen governance frameworks and partner management controls to ensure commercial outcomes align with business goals.
3. Operational Readiness & Change Enablement: Introduce frameworks that ensure customer-facing teams are fully prepared for change — from pricing updates to service enhancements.
4. Support Function Leadership: Oversee contact centre support functions including tooling, technology, and enablement, ensuring the operation is set up for success.
5. MI Ownership & Insight: Take full ownership of operational MI, enabling transparency, performance tracking, and strategic insight.
6. Transformation Influence: Play a key role in shaping strategic programmes, using operational knowledge to inform decision-making and future operating models.
7. Leadership & Succession: Act as a key support to the Customer Operations Director, with clear succession potential. Build capability and resilience across the wider team.
About You
We’re looking for a strategic, commercially astute leader with:
8. Extensive experience in outsourced contact centre operations, ideally from the client side
9. Strong background in workforce management, forecasting, planning, and scheduling
10. Proven ability to lead change and deliver operational readiness at scale
11. Excellent understanding of commercial contracts, governance, and partner management
12. A pragmatic, solutions-focused mindset with the ability to work in ambiguity
13. Experience managing support functions and enabling high performance across customer service teams
14. Willingness to travel internationally (South Africa, India) and across the UK as needed
Package
This role will be full time Monday to Friday with a hybrid approach to working between our Head Office in Worthing, and home.
We are offering a competitive salary commensurate to experience, a £500 monthly car allowance, private medical and bonus up to 20%, as well as other benefits including:
• Company and performance-related bonus
• Generous pension with up to 11% company contribution
• Life assurance payment equal to four times your annual salary
• Health benefits through a Cash Plan
• Two paid community volunteering days a year
• 25 days annual holiday
• Occupational health service
• Perkbox benefits offering discounts and savings on several products and experiences
• Study support may be available for job-related qualifications
• We offer competitive maternity leave and flexible return to work options
Join Southern Water and see how far your career could progress with a company committed to career progression, training and development opportunities, our customers and the environment.
Why Southern Water?
Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.
You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where senior professionals can make a meaningful impact, influence major strategic decisions, and drive long-term value creation.
At Southern Water, diversity and inclusion are core values. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an environment where every individual is empowered to succeed.
This is more than a role; it’s an opportunity to lead, innovate, and make a lasting impact. Apply now to be part of our transformational journey.