Customer Onboarding Team Leader in Manchester

At Close Brothers we look to recruit individuals from all different backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if you don’t tick every box. We celebrate diversity, promote inclusivity and are open to discuss flexible work options to help you balance your work and home life.

Join the Close Brothers Asset Finance (CBAF) team where you will manage a team of dedicated professionals in Sale, Manchester who deliver a seamless and compliant customer onboarding experience. You’ll coach and develop your team to achieve and sustain required competency levels while consistently meeting service, quality and performance targets. This includes embedding standardised processes, driving continuous improvement, and proactively identifying opportunities to enhance customer outcomes.

We’re looking for a proactive, people‑manager with a strong track record of delivering excellent customer outcomes. You’ll bring the ability to drive consistency and collaboration, with strong communication skills and the ability to build effective working relationships with stakeholders at all levels, both inside and outside the business.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the day-to-day team activities, overseeing workflow queues, prioritisation and case allocation to ensure timely, high-quality and compliant customer outcomes.
• Monitor performance using MI, identifying risks, backlogs or deviations and taking prompt corrective action to maintain service standards.
• Conduct regular quality assurance checks, ensuring adherence to processes, data accuracy and regulatory requirements, with clear feedback and coaching provided.
• Maintain robust record-keeping standards across the team, ensuring all customer interactions and documentation are accurately captured and stored.
• Provide hands‑on operational support during peak periods to ensure continuity of service and delivery against SLAs.
• Lead daily team huddles to review performance, set priorities and drive focus on key risks, issues and improvement opportunities.
• Apply structured problem‑solving to resolve operational issues at source, escalating where required and supporting consistent ways of working.
• Drive continuous improvement by identifying trends (including complaints and MI), sharing insights and implementing enhancements to customer experience and processes.
• Build strong relationships across the wider business, collaborating with stakeholders to share best practice and improve overall onboarding performance.
• Lead, coach and develop a high‑performing team, setting clear objectives, driving accountability and fostering an inclusive, engaged culture.
• Manage performance, capability and development through regular feedback, training, succession planning and alignment to the Training & Competence framework.
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding and employee relations in partnership with HR, ensuring a fair and consistent approach.

We would love to hear from you if you have:

• Prior experience working with customers, demonstrating high standards of service and providing excellent customer outcomes.
• Effective leadership capability – people management, coaching & development, operational execution and change management.
• Proven experience of working proactively and taking initiative.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaborate with the team and wider business.
• Highly numerate with analytical ability.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, ability to communicate with both customers and colleagues at all levels of seniority and liaise effectively with other internal departments.
• Strong interpersonal skills, quick to develop and maintain relationships both internally and externally.

It is not essential but would be great if you:

• Previous knowledge and experience of the Financial Services Industry and in similar operational or customer facing role.
• Previous knowledge and experience of the Asset Finance industry.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Products.
• Experience of lean management and applying operational excellence tools or techniques.

Inclusivity and Accessibility

We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We recognise that candidates may have specific needs that require adjustments to ensure they have a fair and equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities. Candidates who require the job description or application form in an alternative format, or any other adjustments, are encouraged to email us at or request a call back.