Head of Enforcement in Croydon

We are recruiting a Head of Enforcement for a growing technology led parking and mobility business.

About the Role

This is a senior operational position with responsibility for the complete enforcement function, including PCN performance, appeals, compliance, debt recovery and legal partner relationships.

Responsibilities

• You will lead and develop a team of Appeals and Compliance Specialists, ensuring decisions are consistent, fair and compliant.
• You will use performance data to identify emerging risks, investigate differences between sites and improve the overall effectiveness of the enforcement operation.
• This is not a role focused solely on processing appeals or maximising the number of Parking Charge Notices that are upheld.
• The successful candidate will need to balance commercial performance with legislation, industry standards, fairness to motorists and the reputational interests of the business.
• You will take responsibility for the performance and development of the appeals and compliance team.
• This will include monitoring capacity, workload, decision quality and individual performance.
• You will establish effective methods for checking that appeal and compliance decisions are being made consistently across the team.
• Where standards or judgement begin to slip, you will provide clear guidance, training and appropriate performance management.
• You will monitor PCN and appeals performance across multiple sites, using data to identify trends, anomalies and emerging risks.
• You will investigate the reasons behind unusual results and work with colleagues across the business to resolve site or process related problems.
• You will maintain current knowledge of parking legislation, relevant codes of practice and accredited body requirements.
• When requirements change, you will turn those changes into practical processes and guidance that the operational team can apply.
• The position also includes responsibility for debt recovery and legal partner relationships.
• You will monitor their performance, challenge inappropriate or ineffective practices and ensure that commercial outcomes do not come at the expense of compliance, vulnerable customers or the reputation of the business.
• You will provide clear reporting to senior management covering enforcement performance, appeals, compliance risks, debt recovery outcomes and legal escalation activity.
• You must be able to explain complex issues concisely and tailor information to different senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• You will need previous experience managing or supervising a parking enforcement, appeals, compliance or closely related operational team.
• A strong understanding of the UK PCN lifecycle, appeals handling and parking compliance is essential.
• You should be familiar with relevant legislation, industry codes and the standards applied by bodies such as the BPA or IPC.
• Required Skills
• You must be comfortable working with operational data and able to move beyond simply reporting figures.
• We are looking for someone who can identify a genuine problem, investigate its cause and turn the findings into practical improvements.
• You will have experience developing people, auditing the quality of decisions and addressing performance issues directly and fairly.
• Experience managing debt recovery companies, legal advisers or other external partners would be particularly valuable.
• The right person will understand that effective enforcement is neither about automatically rejecting appeals nor being unnecessarily lenient.
• It requires sound judgement, consistent decision making and the ability to reach fair, proportionate and commercially sensible outcomes.
• You should also be comfortable working in a growing business where priorities can change and existing processes may need to be improved while the operation continues running.
• Flexible remote working options