Head of Customer Service Excellence & Operational Optimisation

Job title: Head of Customer Service Excellence & Operational Optimisation

Location: Edinburgh or Leeds

Salary: £104,992 - £123,520

Hours: Full time

Working Pattern: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites.

About this opportunity:

We have an exciting opportunity for an inspirational and talented leader to help build the Customer Services Operation of the future. You would be joining IP&I Customer Services (“CS”) at an exciting time as we embark on a major customer experience transformation journey delivering a market-leading service proposition by using technology and enhancing the skills and processes of colleagues.

The role, suiting someone with a background in driving operational optimisation at pace, is central to this change, reporting into Insurance Pensions & Investments Customer Service Director and working closely with wider leadership team to deliver:

• Target Op Model: Design CS’s Target Ops Model, using technology, processes, and people to deliver this multi-year vision.

• Operational Efficiency: Systematically analyse and enhance CS’s operational processes and procedures to drive both efficiency and better experiences for our customers.

• Coordination of Major Initiatives: Work with IP&I’s change delivery ‘Platforms’ to embed major transformation programmes safely into CS.

• Idea Development: Monitor emerging trends, technologies, etc, finding opportunities (greater utilisation of AI, robotics, future tech, etc) and proving / incubating them before rolling out for wider delivery.

What you’ll be doing:

Target Op Model

• Target Op Model: Build and maintain a TOM to transform IP&I Customer Services (“CS”) into the market-leading customer service provider. Integrating technology, data, people and processes to form a Target Operating Model that will achieve CS’s objectives, including customer service excellence, mature customer self-service and straight through processing capabilities, and operational effectiveness.

• Cross-Business Leadership Engagement: Develop a multi-year change roadmap to realise the TOM and work with IP&I’s Leaders (Business, Platform, And Operations), jointly solving challenges and competing priorities, to ensure the TOM is delivered.

• Advisory: Consult and advise CS’s Leadership and wider IP&I Leadership during key points of decision making to ensure the outcomes best align to CS’s TOM.

• Backlog: Develop and drive a prioritised backlog of change being delivered into CS. Working with CS Leadership and wider business to 1) ensure that the initiatives we deliver align with our TOM, and 2) coordinate delivery of the backlog across our delivery partners; initiatives delivered within own team, offshore partners, external suppliers, IP&I’s delivery Platforms, and wider Lloyds Group.

Operational Efficiency

The team includes Model Offices (SME squads embedded within each area of Operations to drive optimisation). This role provides oversight and direction to the Model Office team to ensure that:

• Operational Optimisation: The Model Offices systematically assess CS operations for any optimisation opportunities, then design, test, and deliver those optimisations.

• Embedding Change: Ensure that incoming technology change or business change is 1) embedded effectively and 2) optimised to ensure the benefits are fully utilised.

• Change Adoption: Responsible for leading the adoption of new technologies e.g. Gen AI to enhance customer experiences whilst delivering operational effectiveness, working closely with our transformation teams to digitise and transform Customer Service.

• Risk & Controls: systematically identify and remediate any areas of control weakness or operational risk.

Coordination of Major Initiatives

• Coordinate Major Initiatives: Coordinate on behalf of CS, where we need to support the landing of major programmes into CS. Liaising with the programme teams and wider collaborators to ensure the initiatives' land successfully and are successfully embedded.

Idea Development

• Market & Emerging Trend Scanning: Monitor the market (e.g. competitors, customer needs, and regulatory changes), emerging technologies, and industry trends to 1) ensure CS is making the right Ops Model decisions and 2) identify and drive innovative solutions that drive CS in reaching our TOM.

• Idea Generation: Lead the identification and analysis of new ideas that will help drive better customer service and operational efficiency e.g. utilisation of; AI, technology within wider Lloyds Group, etc.

• Idea Incubation / Development: Select and prove the most promising ideas, completing small-scale proof of concept / prototyping ahead of passing (the successfully proved ideas) to delivery partners to scale-up the delivery.

Why Lloyds Banking Group?

If you think all banks are the same, you'd be wrong. We're an innovative, fast-changing business that's shaping finance as a force for good helping Britain prosper. A bank that's empowering its people to innovate, explore possibilities and grow with purpose.

What you’ll need:

• Embedding large-scale transformation within Financial Services Operations / Customer Service

• Streamlining operational processes through digitisation and automation

• Target Operating Model design and delivery

• Managing complex programmes and navigating ambiguity to drive towards a vision

• Working with executive-level leaders on a day-to-day basis (Director/C-Suite)

• Drafting and presenting exec-level papers and chairing exec-level meetings

It would also be useful if you had...

• Deep understanding of Financial Services operational processes and procedures

• Strong knowledge of the UK financial services sector, including industry trends (Fin Tech), Gen AI usage in a servicing environment, regulatory landscape, competitive dynamics, and emerging trends.

• Capability to anticipate, identify and address challenges related to setting up a new optimisation capability.

• Understanding of data driven decision making.

• Accomplished at managing multiple priorities and working effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

• Ability to remain resilient and adaptable in a rapidly changing environment.

About working for us:

Our focus is to ensure we're inclusive every day, building an organisation that reflects modern society and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We want our people to feel that they belong and can be their best, regardless of background, identity or culture.

We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. And it’s why we especially welcome applications from under-represented groups.

We’re disability confident. So, if you’d like reasonable adjustments to be made to our recruitment processes, just let us know.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%

• An annual performance-related bonus.

• Share schemes including free shares.

• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping.

• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top.

• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies.

If you’re excited by the thought of becoming part of our team, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!