Head of Customer Service Operations in Belfast

Your new company, Choice Housing Group Ireland, are a registered charity and one of Northern Ireland's largest independent housing associations. As an organisation, they manage over 13,000 homes and provide services to more than 33,000 tenants. Choice work hard to develop new homes that are urgently needed within our communities and are committed to excellence and innovation in housing and serving their customers.

Your new role involves providing both strategic and operational leadership across the Service Centre, Facilities Operations, Financial Inclusion and Community Development teams. You will ensure that all customers receive high-quality, responsive and inclusive services while embedding a unified service culture across previously separate areas. Your role will focus on leadership, performance management, service integration and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Strategic Leadership
  • Lead and continuously improve customer service operations across four customer-facing teams.
  • Unify teams under a shared culture, performance framework and governance standards.
  • Lead transformation projects including digital engagement, self-service platforms and service modernisation.
  • Develop and present service strategies, performance reports and recommendations to SMT.
  • Drive service improvement using data, insight and customer feedback.
• Operational Management
  • Oversee day-to-day service delivery across all customer service teams.
  • Monitor KPIs and ensure targets for satisfaction, response times and quality are consistently achieved.
  • Establish a unified performance framework with dashboards and measurable outputs.
  • Use root cause analysis to address complaints and service failures.
  • Lead pilots and process improvements in automation, channel shift and efficiency.
• Customer Engagement & Improvement
  • Strengthen tenant engagement and ensure customer voice informs service design.
  • Use data and feedback to identify trends and lead improvement initiatives.
• People Leadership
  • Lead, motivate and develop managers and frontline teams.
  • Embed a positive, customer-first culture.
  • Implement strong performance management and capability frameworks.
  • Champion equality, diversity and inclusion across all services.
• Risk, Compliance & Governance
  • Ensure effective risk management, compliance and assurance processes.
  • Maintain business continuity plans and incident response arrangements.
  • Ensure compliance with legislation including health & safety, safeguarding, landlord/tenant, equality, GDPR and procurement.
  • Prepare for audits and maintain accurate evidence and records.
• Budgeting & Procurement
  • Develop and control budgets, forecasting demand and capacity needs.
  • Deliver efficiencies without compromising service quality.
  • Lead or support procurement activity to ensure best value.
• Transformation & Digital
  • Champion digital engagement, CRM optimisation, omni-channel approaches and automation.
  • Ensure data quality and promote insight-driven, user-centred design.
• Partnership & Representation
  • Build strong partnerships with NIHE, councils, statutory agencies and community partners.
  • Represent the organisation at forums, inspections and stakeholder meetings.
  • Work collaboratively with peer Heads and Directorates to deliver joined-up services.
  • Contribute to cross-organisational projects.
• Other Duties
  • Support development and growth activities across the Group and subsidiaries.
  • Carry out additional duties as required across organisational locations.

What you'll need to succeed:

Professional / Qualification Essential:

• Degree or equivalent, in a relevant field (e.g., management, business, housing, social policy, customer service operations); and
• 5 Years experience in a senior role to include at least 3 years in a management role within customer facing services. OR
• 7 Years experience in a senior role to include at least 5 years in a management role within customer facing services.

Desirable:

• Formal management or leadership qualification (e.g., ILM Level 5 / CMI).
• Sector-relevant accreditation (e.g., CIH).
• Full Professional Membership of relevant body (e.g., CMI, CIH).

Experience Essential:

• Demonstrable leadership capability, including leading managers and diverse professional teams; and managing teams through change in a live operational environment.
• Strong performance management and analytical skills, with experience using data to meet performance targets, KPIs, and drive continuous improvement.
• Evidence of continuous professional development and a clear commitment to service improvement and organisational learning.

Desirable:

• Experience within housing, public sector or third sector organisations.
• Experience of service redesign, improvement or transformation programmes.

Financial & Governance Essential:

• Proven experience managing budgets, suppliers/contracts, and SLAs.
• Comfortable working in a regulated environment, including experience with governance, risk management, compliance, and audit requirements.

Aptitudes & Competencies Essential:

• Strategic leadership capability, with the ability to set a clear vision and direction for customer services.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to produce and present clear and concise reports to a range of audiences.
• Demonstrable commitment to customer-focused, inclusive and values-led service delivery.
• Proficiency in the use of IT systems relevant to service delivery, including CRM software.
• Personal resilience, decisiveness, and the ability to operate at pace in a complex environment.

Desirable:

• Experience in housing management systems.

Other Essential:

• Full UK driving licence and daily access to private transport.

What you'll get in return:

• Choice Housing offer a superb range of perks and benefits to complement a modern work-life balance.
• Salary - c.£67,000
• 28 days annual leave and 12 public holidays
• 12% employer pension contribution
• Essential car user allowance inclusive of car parking
• Hybrid working available
• Flexible working
• Death in service payment x3 annual salary
• 6 months' paid maternity leave and 2 weeks paid paternity leave
• Bereavement leave
• Dedicated Health and Wellbeing champions/Mental Health First Aiders
• Learning and Development opportunities
• Health cash plan

What you need to do now:

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now. If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.