Head of Customer Experience

Join our team at the Guardian and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism, and holds power to account. Our team of award-winning journalists, cutting-edge commercial professionals, and industry-leading digital experts are committed to making a difference and represent a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. We offer a challenging and exciting environment for career development, with a focus on training, growth and fostering an inclusive culture.

We’re now looking for a Head of Customer Experience to lead our customer experience team and manage our third-party call centre to deliver excellent and continuously improving customer service to our supporters, help drive down voluntary and involuntary churn and increase the revenue generated from our service operations. In this strategic role you will drive customer satisfaction, by implementing best-in-class customer engagement strategies which aligns to our values, leveraging data-driven insights, and fostering a customer-first culture throughout the organisation.

• Define and implement a customer experience strategy for a rapidly growing customer base, through effective management of an outsourced contact centre.
• Drive customer journey optimisation by mapping, analysing, and enhancing inbound customer touchpoints to ensure a culture of ongoing innovation.
• Lead, develop and inspire a group with backgrounds in operations, reporting, marketing tools, service, sales and retention.
• Work closely with the Retention team to develop initiatives to increase customer retention, engagement, and lifetime value, with a strong focus on reducing churn and enhancing loyalty.
• Utilise data, analytics, and customer feedback to drive continuous improvement, ensuring we anticipate and exceed reader expectations.

• Extensive experience of customer success or customer experience (or related field).
• Experience in media, publishing, or subscription-based businesses with proven ability to design and implement customer strategies.
• Experience in managing third-party service providers.
• Background in customer journey mapping, process improvement and service design across voice and digital channels.
• Strong people management experience, including building and leading cross-functional teams.
• Success in reducing churn, increasing engagement and driving customer loyalty.
• Familiarity with Salesforce and AI-driven tools.
• Familiarity with omnichannel customer engagement.
• Understanding of media-specific subscription metrics like LTV, churn rate, and ARPU.

We value and respect all differences (seen and unseen) in all people. We aspire to have inclusive working experiences and an environment that reflects the audience we serve, where our people have equal access to career development opportunities, their voices are heard and can contribute to our future. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Many of our staff work flexibly and we will consider all requests for flexible working arrangements. We’re operating in a hybrid working model with a mix of office-based and remote-based work.

To apply, please upload your latest CV and a cover letter which outlines why you’d love to take on this role, and why you’re a great match for what we’re looking for. We appreciate the time taken to prepare each application we receive. We do not use AI-assisted technology to review applications; every application is reviewed by a member of our recruitment team. The closing date for applications is 10am on 4th April 2025.

All roles at the Guardian are open for everybody to apply. It is important to us that you feel supported and comfortable throughout your recruitment process, in order to perform your best. Please let us know if there are any changes we could make to help your application, this includes providing documents in accessible formats or personalising the process to better support your needs. Please contact Alice to discuss further so we can work with you to support you through your application.

• You’ll have 30 days of annual leave per year (plus bank holidays) with the option to purchase an additional 5 days.
• Our pension scheme is generous; if you contribute 5% then we will contribute 8-12% (depending on your age).
• We believe in giving back, which is why employees are given 2 volunteering days annually and the option of payroll giving.
• Season ticket loans are also available.
• You are entitled to private healthcare, life cover, income protection, and eye tests.
• You can also opt in to dental insurance.
• We have enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave policies in place.
• We also support our employees by offering an IVF, menopause, baby loss, and trans equality policy.

We want everyone to feel like they belong at the Guardian and we champion diversity of thought. Our various employee forums provide a platform to use their voice to foster an inclusive workplace. We became the first major media organisation to achieve B Corp status. We offer tools to help you prioritise your wellbeing including access to our employee benefits platform which provides tailored support for health and wellbeing. In addition, we also offer free yoga and pilates classes. These run alongside our corporate gym membership and cycle to work scheme. Our canteen has views overlooking the Regents Canal and caters for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We encourage personal and professional growth. Employees have access to a broad range of tools and solutions, and we are happy to support the pursuit of professional qualifications through vocational courses and apprenticeships.