Head of Operations - Contact Centre

• Head of Operations - Contact Centre
• Financial Services Industry
• 9–12 Month FTC
• Manchester | Hybrid | Occasional Travel to Carlisle
• You must be eligible to work in the UK without the need for Sponsorship

Role Purpose

We are seeking an experienced Head of Operations / Contact Centre leader to take responsibility for the day-to-day leadership, performance and effectiveness of a key customer operations function within a leading financial services organisation.

This role will provide senior leadership across operational and contact centre teams , ensuring the delivery of excellent customer outcomes, high-quality service, strong regulatory compliance and a positive colleague experience.

Leading a team of Team Leaders and operational specialists, you will be responsible for creating a high-performing culture focused on customer experience, service quality, operational performance, technical excellence, efficiency and continuous improvement .

You will ensure operational and contact centre activities are delivered consistently, risks are effectively managed and customers receive the high standards of service expected within a regulated financial services environment.

Key Responsibilities

Operational & Contact Centre Leadership

• Lead the day-to-day operation of customer operations and contact centre functions, ensuring effective delivery of service, quality and business objectives.
• Provide leadership, coaching and direction to Team Leaders and operational teams.
• Drive contact centre performance across key measures including customer service, productivity, quality, service levels, efficiency and customer outcomes .
• Create a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and customer focus.
• Act as the senior operational escalation point for the function.
• Ensure appropriate workforce planning, resource allocation and operational capacity to meet customer demand.

Customer Outcomes & Service Excellence

• Own customer outcomes across the operation, ensuring customers receive fair treatment and consistently high-quality service.
• Drive improvements in customer experience, contact centre performance and service delivery.
• Monitor customer feedback, complaints, quality trends and service performance, taking proactive action to address emerging issues and risks.
• Ensure customer interests remain central to operational decision-making.

About You

You will be an experienced senior operational and contact centre leader with a proven track record of leading large-scale customer-facing teams, ideally within a regulated financial services environment.

You will have strong experience managing through Team Leaders and will be comfortable operating in a high-volume contact centre environment , using data and performance MI to drive service excellence, productivity and customer outcomes.

You will combine strong people leadership and stakeholder management skills with a genuine focus on customer experience, operational excellence, performance improvement and developing high-performing teams .

Essential Experience

• Proven experience leading large contact centre and/or customer operations teams , through Team Leaders or equivalent management structures.
• Strong experience within a customer-facing, high-volume contact centre environment .
• Proven ability to drive contact centre KPIs, including service levels, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
• Strong track record of delivering positive customer outcomes and service improvements.
• Excellent people leadership, coaching and development skills.
• Experience working within a regulated environment .
• Proven ability to use data, MI and performance metrics to identify trends and drive operational improvement.
• Experience managing customer complaints, escalations and service quality.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Excellent communication, decision-making and leadership capabilities.
• Experience leading teams through operational change or transformation.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within pensions, SIPP, SSAS or wider financial services .
• Understanding of FCA regulatory requirements and Consumer Duty principles .
• Experience delivering operational transformation and change programmes.
• Experience managing multi-site contact centre or customer operations teams .
• Experience with workforce planning, capacity management and contact centre MI.