Head of Customer Contact

At Accent we believe everyone has the right to a safe, secure and warm place to call home. Are you ready to go above and beyond to ensure our customers receive a best-in-class repairs experience?

We’re looking for a  Head of Customer Contact - Repairs  to lead our Repairs customer service team in Peterborough.

About the role and person:

• 35 hours per week
• Permanent

As the  Head of Customer Contact – Repairs , you’ll be responsible for the efficient and effective running of the contact centre and linked communication channels ensuring KPIs are achieved, and excellent levels of customer service are delivered.  Regularly reviewing performance and service delivery, you’ll ensure the service remains fit for purpose and provides value for money. You’ll embed a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring that any cases of customer dissatisfaction are dealt with at the earliest opportunity and complaint escalations are kept to a minimum. Stakeholder engagement skills are key as you’ll work closely with other teams within the newly formed Customer Relations Team, especially the Housing Hub to ensure that high levels of service are consistently delivered to our customers. There is also an opportunity to explore and influence future contact channels for customers.

This is an exciting role as we have plans to evolve the service and we would welcome someone with experience of developing and implementing a strategic vision for a busy, repairs service contact centre. 

For a full job description of this role please click .

Salary

The spot salary for this post is £62,843 per annum for applicants who fully meet the requirements of the post. Applicants, who do not meet all the requirements of the post, will start 5% or 10% below the spot salary.

What will you get from us?

In addition to a competitive salary and agile working, we also have a focus on employees’ development. We support both professional and personal development, ensuring everyone has a development plan and provide access to a wide range of internal and external learning resources.

You’ll also receive:

• 28 days paid holiday (pro-rata excluding bank holidays) per year rising by 1 day per year up to a maximum of one working week.
• A choice of Pension Schemes including a Defined Benefit Scheme with a 7.5% member contribution or a Defined Contribution Scheme with a 4% member contribution and 4% employer contribution. Both pension schemes provide Life Insurance Cover.
• Option to purchase additional holiday of up to 2 of your working weeks (at managers discretion.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• "Hapi" Benefits App with multiple discounts. 
• Cycle to work scheme.

What skills/behaviours do you need to be a Head of Customer Contact - Repairs?

• Extensive contact centre management experience – in a multi-channel environment.
• Experience in management of a responsive repairs service.
• Proven track record in delivering good customer service.
• Ability to operate at a strategic level. 
• Experience of managing a large team and multi-disciplinary networks.
• Experience of people management/development and training.
• Financial and budget awareness.
• Knowledge and awareness of current issues in social housing.
• Ability to assimilate written and numerical information in a report or presentation format and deliver to a variety of stakeholders.
• Awareness of ICT and telephony systems relevant to a contact centre environment.
• Awareness of managing and responding to customer expectations and changing preferences in terms of contact channels.
• Be a results driven individual with sound judgement and strong decision-making skills.
• To be available to consult regarding emergency repair issues out of normal office hours.

Interview Dates

First stage interviews will take place on Friday 1st November in person. 

Second stage interviews will take place on Friday 8th November in person. 

Location

The successful candidate will be required to live within a commutable distance to our  Peterborough  office with some travel as required.

We’re a keen promoter of agile working and encourage working from home, as long as we meet our customers’ needs.

We’ll provide you with the equipment and software you’ll need for the purpose of your role however it will be your responsibility to have an appropriate space to work from as well as a suitable broadband connection/provider.

Who are Accent? 

At Accent, we believe that everyone should have access to an affordable, sustainable, and safe home, and our work across the country aims to do just that. 

We’re a national organisation, but with a community focus. We were formed in 1966 and have grown in the time since, and now provide homes and services to over 40,000 customers. 

We understand the impact our work can have in creating better places for people to live by providing well-designed housing, which is in short supply, and building sustainable communities where people choose to live. We are proud of our Homes England Strategic Partnership, which allows us to build even more homes in areas of housing need. 

But we are not just about building new homes. We invest in our existing homes to make sure they offer our customers the very best in living standards by adapting to meet new ideas, environmental changes, new regulations for safety and security and modern technology to make them a home for life, in every way our customers need them to be. 

Caring for our customers also means caring for their environment. With our ambitious energy-efficient development plans, and our retrofitting projects which are modernising our current homes; we are putting sustainability at the fore so that we can drive value for customers now and in the future. 

As anchor institutions in the communities where we work, it’s important we leverage partnerships and seek opportunities for customers that provide the foundations for better living. We build relationships which accelerate and advance our work to ensure customers are supported if they need it and can be happy living in their homes. 

Our new operating model puts our colleagues in the heart of our communities. We are committed to building strong relationships with our customers and we work alongside them to co-curate the services we deliver. 

We never stop evolving – we are ambitious and driven and understand that great performance is a product of an inclusive and supportive environment, where colleagues can thrive and achieve their best. With a new people strategy and corporate strategy which will sets out our commitments from 2024-2027, it’s an exciting time to join Accent.  

If you require reasonable adjustments to any part of our recruitment process, please let us know we will ensure requirements are met.  

Please don’t delay in submitting your application. Where roles are urgent or we receive a high volume of applications, we may interview and conclude the process prior to any closing date indicated. 

If you have any queries about the role, please email:  

"PeopleServices@accentgroup.org".  

Please note candidates must have current eligibility to live and work in the UK, Accent do not currently hold a sponsorship license. 

We are excited about our future and if you are too, we’d love to hear from you.