Head of Customer Care in Billingham

The Regional Head of Customer Care is responsible for leading the Customer Care function for their given region, ensuring that homeowners receive a consistently high standard of service throughout their post-completion journey. This role exists as part of the regional senior leadership team, and the incumbent ensures that the voice of the customer is heard across the regional operations to influence the region to perform in a customer-centric way. This role sets the tone for customer experience, driving operational excellence, timely resolution of defects, and continuous improvement in service delivery. The role leads a regional team of customer care professionals, manages contractor relationships, and works collaboratively with build, sales, and technical teams to uphold the company's reputation and deliver a customer-centric approach that reflects the brand's values and commitment to quality.

Main responsibilities

• Promotes the region's drive to deliver five-star customer service by championing the customer journey processes and procedures and ensuring that the documented quality control checks and measures are followed.
• Leading, motivating, and developing the regional Customer Care team to deliver exceptional service and meet performance targets.
• Effective management of the Customer Care team ensuring relevant mandatory & development training is delivered, as well as day-to-day coaching to optimise individual performance.
• Managing team resources to ensure that the team is always resourced accordingly with regards to holidays etc., to enable the business to maintain a consistent five-star service of aftercare.
• Ensure that CRMs are managing Maintenance Tech diaries effectively and efficiently, maximising the resources that are available to deliver the best customer experiences for plots under the control of Customer Care.
• Maintain and manage NHBC survey trackers, capturing RAG status at each part of the journey, and co-ordinating recovery actions that are needed to help secure a positive survey response.
• Ensure the regional Customer Care team are trained and are capable in their roles, are supported, and aligned with the company values and customer service standards, are passionate about Gleeson and our customers, and consistently deliver high levels of performance.
• Drive the team to ensure that they are working to clear detailed action plans, KPIs, especially in relation to defect management, NHQC and NHBC, and SLAs.
• Support the regional Customer Care team to drive and deliver positive HBF survey scores across the region, whilst also influencing the wider regional functions to ensure that they are delivering on their obligations to allow the region to succeed.
• Monitor and drive customer satisfaction metrics and implement improvement initiatives to enhance the homeowner experience.
• Actively drive defect management performance for defects that fall under the direct responsibility of Customer Care.
• Work closely with the regional Construction Director and Contracts Managers to ensure that Build and Customer Care take a combined holistic view on defect management that is fair, equitable, and in the interests of the customer.
• Effective management of post-completion complaints, including customer, NHBC, NHQB, MPs as well as any legal enquiries from our Group Legal team.
• Monitor and report on regional Customer Care performance, including KPIs, trends, and root cause analysis, providing regular updates to the Regional Managing Director and contribute to strategic planning and service improvements.
• Monitor and analyse issues to identify recurring issues and work with relevant departments to address root causes and improve build quality.
• Collaborate with internal departments such as Sales, Build, L&D in support of training and development solutions when required.
• Supporting, training, and coaching regional Technicians, CRAs and CRMs in relation to Customer Care systems, communication style, and writing.
• Monitor, co-ordinate and support the effective administration of NHBC resolution meetings.
• Work with our Group Legal team in support of NHQB defence responses.
• Monitor Customer Care costs to ensure that correct coding is occurring in relation to genuine Maintenance costs.
• Attend weekly Management meetings/Build Sales to ensure that the decisions we make consider the impact on the customer.
• Play an active role in Regional Board meetings, bringing insight and solutions to the table which drive the region's customer-centric agenda.
• Work with functional Directors/Heads to actively and collaboratively drive NHBC Survey response rates.

Required skills and qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in Customer Service, Construction Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Proven experience in a senior customer care or service delivery role, ideally within the housebuilding or residential construction sector.
• Strong working knowledge of NHBC warranty standards, building regulations, and post-completion processes.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management capabilities, with experience in coaching and developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent communication, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills.
• Proficiency in customer care systems, CRM platforms, and Microsoft Office applications.
• Full UK driving license and willingness to travel across the region as required.

Person Specification

Essential Attributes:

• Demonstrated leadership experience in a customer care or service delivery role, ideally within the housebuilding or residential construction sector.
• Strong understanding of post-completion processes, NHBC warranty standards, and customer service best practices.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, with the ability to manage challenging conversations and resolve issues effectively.
• Proven ability to lead and develop teams, fostering a culture of accountability, empathy, and continuous improvement.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to work cross-functionally with build, sales, and technical teams.
• Date-driven approach to performance management and service improvement.
• Ability to analyse data to gain insights and drive positive change.

Desirable Attributes:

• Experience implementing customer care systems or CRM platforms.
• Knowledge of regional housing markets and customer expectations.
• Professional qualification in customer service, construction, or business management.
• Passion for delivering a high-quality customer experience and enhancing brand reputation.