Customer Journey Lead - Mortgages

Overview

We are seeking an experienced and customer-focused Customer Journey Lead – Mortgages to own and continually improve the end-to-end mortgage customer journey.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this is a highly influential role responsible for defining what an exceptional mortgage journey looks like and driving the changes required to deliver it. You will oversee the complete customer journey, from initial enquiry and application through underwriting, offer, completion, ongoing servicing and eventual repayment or redemption.

Working across Operations, Commercial, Technology, Change, Risk and Compliance, you will use customer insight, colleague feedback and operational performance data to identify opportunities for improvement and translate them into meaningful, measurable outcomes. You will ensure the mortgage journey is simple, efficient and customer-centric while balancing commercial objectives, operational effectiveness, regulatory obligations and risk management requirements.

This role can be based in either Guernsey or Jersey.

Key Accountabilities

Own and Shape the End-to-End Mortgage Journey

• Develop and maintain a clear view of the current and future mortgage journey across customers, intermediaries, colleagues, systems and third-party providers.
• Define target-state customer experiences and identify gaps between current performance and future ambitions.
• Establish clear ownership across journey stages and remove duplication, inefficiencies and conflicting requirements.
• Create and maintain a prioritised roadmap for journey improvements aligned to strategic business goals.
• Ensure journeys are designed to accommodate a range of customer circumstances, including those requiring additional support.

Lead Customer Experience Design and Communications

• Own business requirements for mortgage forms, documentation and customer communications.
• Ensure customers and intermediaries understand requirements, next steps and expected timescales throughout the process.
• Coordinate communications across Product, Operations, Compliance, Risk and Legal teams.
• Drive consistency and quality across all channels and touchpoints.

Drive Insight-Led Improvement

• Analyse customer feedback, complaints, intermediary insight and operational performance data.
• Identify root causes of delays, fall-out, repeat contact, rework and poor customer outcomes.
• Use journey mapping, customer research and service design techniques to understand customer and intermediary needs.
• Ensure insight drives prioritisation, investment decisions and continuous improvement activities.

Deliver Journey Transformation

• Translate customer and business needs into clear requirements and improvement initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional delivery across Operations, Product, Technology, Commercial, Change, Risk and Compliance teams.
• Simplify processes and reduce unnecessary hand-offs, duplication and requests for information.
• Identify opportunities for automation, digital self-service and straight-through processing.
• Partner with the Customer Journey Lead – Savings to create common customer journey capabilities, standards and approaches where appropriate.
• Support business cases, testing, implementation activities and benefit realisation.

Measure Performance and Set Standards

• Develop meaningful measures of customer outcomes, quality, speed, efficiency and progression through the mortgage journey.
• Monitor end-to-end journey performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Produce reporting and insights for senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• Agree corrective actions with accountable managers and elevate barriers where necessary.

Risk, Governance and Customer Outcomes

• Ensure journey designs incorporate regulatory requirements, accessibility standards, financial crime controls and customer outcome considerations.
• Identify and elevate risks that may cause customer harm or operational issues.
• Support governance forums with performance insights and recommendations.
• Ensure all changes follow appropriate governance, approval and record-keeping requirements.

Requirements

Essential Experience

• Experience within mortgages or a closely related regulated financial services environment.
• Strong understanding of mortgage operations and the dependencies across the mortgage lifecycle.
• Experience improving customer journeys, service delivery or operational processes.
• Proven ability to lead change initiatives and deliver improvements from concept through to implementation.
• Experience influencing and leading stakeholders across multiple functions without direct authority.

Essential Skills and Capabilities

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify root causes and prioritise action.
• Ability to interpret customer insight, complaints data and operational performance information.
• Ability to translate customer needs into effective processes, communications and business requirements.
• Excellent facilitation, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong judgement when balancing customer, operational, commercial, regulatory and risk considerations.
• Ability to challenge established ways of working and promote customer-centred thinking.
• Comfortable operating strategically while also driving practical delivery.

Essential Knowledge

• Understanding of customer journey mapping, service design and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Knowledge of conduct requirements, accessibility standards, customer outcomes, data protection and financial crime considerations relevant to mortgage journeys.

Qualifications

• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience.
• Evidence of continuous professional development.

Desirable Experience and Knowledge

• Experience of intermediary-led, international or expatriate mortgage journeys.
• Knowledge of digital mortgage application, underwriting and servicing platforms.
• Experience supporting transformation programmes or target operating model implementations.
• Experience managing analysts or coordinating cross-functional delivery teams.
• Qualifications or training in Human-Centred Design, Service Design, Lean, Six Sigma, Agile or similar methodologies.
• Understanding of automation, digital self-service and straight-through processing opportunities within regulated environments.
• Knowledge of international mortgage markets and the needs of customers and intermediaries across multiple jurisdictions.