Service Director Customer Services in Devon

Plymouth is Britain’s Ocean City - ambitious, forward-looking and proud of its identity. With significant investment, growth and regeneration underway, the city is evolving rapidly. We are focused on delivering high-quality public services, improving outcomes for residents and creating a sustainable, inclusive future.

This is a pivotal leadership role with a clear and uncompromising focus on customer service. As Service Director for Customer Services, you will define, lead and embed a Council-wide approach to customer service excellence. This is not simply about overseeing services, it is about owning and delivering the Council’s Customer Service Strategy, redesigning services around the customer, and building the capability, leadership and training needed to deliver it consistently across the organisation.

You will lead a broad portfolio including the contact centre, customer experience, complaints, business support and city-wide customer access through our ‘front doors’. You will ensure services are simple, inclusive and effective, balancing digitally enabled delivery with high-quality human interaction where it matters most.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, you will operate as a key member of the senior leadership team, working closely with elected members, partners and stakeholders to drive a step-change in customer experience across the organisation.

This is a role with real scale and impact. You will:

• Define and deliver a clear Customer Service Strategy, setting the standard for what good looks like across the Council
• Act as the organisation’s customer services lead, shaping direction and holding services to account for delivery
• Embed a strong, consistent customer-focused culture across all front-line services
• Establish and lead a customer service training and development approach, building capability and confidence across the organisation
• Drive service redesign using data and insight to improve experience and reduce avoidable demand
• Ensure services are digitally enabled and accessible, while remaining inclusive for those who need additional support
• Oversee key enabling services including contact centre, complaints and business support, ensuring high performance and value for money

This is an opportunity to define how customer service is delivered across the Council, lead cultural and organisational change, and position Plymouth as a high-performing, customer-focused authority.

We are looking for a strategic customer services leader who can operate effectively at Chief Officer level. You will bring:

• A strong track record of defining and delivering customer service strategy at scale
• Significant experience of leading customer service or customer experience functions, with a clear focus on outcomes
• The ability to embed a customer-focused culture across complex organisations through leadership and influence
• Experience of building organisational capability, including designing and delivering customer service training and development
• A strong understanding of how data, insight and digital approaches can improve customer experience
• Political awareness and experience of working with elected members and senior stakeholders
• A focus on performance, outcomes and continuous improvement

You will be a visible and credible leader, able to set direction, build capability and deliver measurable improvement at pace.

Plymouth City Council is committed to delivering better outcomes for our residents and communities. This role offers the opportunity to redefine how we serve our customers, lead significant cultural change and make a lasting impact on the experience of every resident who interacts with the Council.

The expectation is that the role will be office-based for 3 to 4 days per week to support collaboration and visibility, with flexibility around how the remaining time is worked. As a flexible employer, we are open to discussing working arrangements to balance service needs with individual circumstances.

If you have any queries, please contact neil.stevens@plymouth.gov.uk

Please note the current role profile is undergoing a grading review and cannot be published at this stage, but the draft version can be provided on request via the email address above.

Closing date: 28 May

Assessment Centre: 11 June

Final interview: 17 June