Customer Feedback and Enquiries Lead (Highways Maintenance Focused) in Alconbury

This role sits within the Place and Sustainability (P&S) Central Operations service, forming part of the Customer Experience team, which supports services across the Place and Sustainability Directorate. As the Customer Feedback and Enquiries Lead (Highways Maintenance focused), you will provide senior operational leadership and oversight of Highways Maintenance enquiries, complaints and Member enquiries. You will play a critical role in ensuring high-quality, consistent and defensible responses in line with corporate policy, statutory requirements and Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman expectations.

You will lead the coordination and management of complex, high-risk and politically sensitive casework, working closely with Highways services, contractors and senior stakeholders. Acting as the professional lead, you will ensure responses are robust, evidence-based and customer-focused, helping to reduce repeat contact, improve investigation quality and protect the Council's reputation in a high-profile service area. The role combines strategic oversight with operational delivery and people leadership.

You will line manage a team of 4, including 2 Senior Business Officers and 2 Business Officers working within the Customer Experience team, providing day-to-day management, oversight and support across Highways enquiries and complaints. You will ensure consistent standards, effective workload management and ongoing development of the team. You will support and guide colleagues, oversee quality assurance, and lead on continuous improvement by identifying trends in complaints and enquiries to inform service development and reduce escalation.

You will work collaboratively across the directorate, building strong relationships with Heads of Service, Service Directors, operational teams and corporate colleagues to ensure a consistent, joined-up approach to managing customer contact and resolving issues effectively. The role is hybrid, with time spent working from home alongside regular attendance at offices and Highways depots across the county to support service understanding, evidence gathering and relationship building.

Working as part of a central team, you will operate with a high degree of autonomy, responding to changing demand and priorities while maintaining a strong focus on quality, governance and customer outcomes.

What will you be doing?

• Lead the end-to-end management of Highways complaints, enquiries and Member enquiries, ensuring responses are timely, consistent and evidence-based.
• Act as the senior point of oversight for complex, high-risk and politically sensitive cases, including MP and Councillor enquiries.
• Draft and quality assure responses to ensure they are clear, balanced, empathetic and aligned to corporate and statutory guidance.
• Provide professional challenge and guidance to service areas to ensure investigations are robust and outcomes are appropriate.
• Build strong working relationships with Highways teams, contractors and senior stakeholders to support effective case resolution.
• Lead quality assurance and set standards for enquiry and complaint handling, ensuring consistency, transparency and defensibility.
• Identify trends and themes in complaints and enquiries, using insight to drive service improvements and reduce repeat issues.
• Provide day-to-day line management, coaching and oversight to a team of 2 Senior Business Officers and 2 Business Officers within the Customer Experience team, supporting performance, development and consistency of approach.
• Coordinate workloads and ensure effective prioritisation across the team to manage demand and risk.
• Ensure accurate use of systems, maintaining high standards of data quality, governance and reporting.

About you

You will be an experienced customer experience or complaints professional with the ability to operate at a senior level within a complex, high-pressure environment. You will bring:

• Significant experience of handling complex complaints, enquiries and Member enquiries within a public sector or multi-stakeholder organisation.
• Strong understanding of complaint handling frameworks, governance and regulatory expectations (e.g. LGSCO or equivalent).
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, structured and defensible responses on complex issues.
• Proven ability to manage and coordinate high-volume, multi-service casework, balancing competing priorities and deadlines.
• Experience of working with senior stakeholders, including providing challenge, influence and assurance.
• Experience of leading or line managing teams, including coaching, performance management and development.
• Confidence working both independently and collaboratively, building strong relationships across services.

You will also demonstrate:

• A strong customer focus, with a commitment to improving outcomes and enhancing the customer journey.
• The ability to lead through influence, providing constructive challenge to improve service responses and standards.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret information and reach balanced decisions.
• Resilience and professionalism when handling sensitive, high-risk or politically complex issues.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with the ability to identify trends and drive service change.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and contributing to the Council's wider organisational priorities.

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes. Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do. We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities.

If you don't meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don't be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager to discuss any adjustment needs.