Head of Customer Care Insights in Southampton

We are open to the successful candidate being based from either our Cardiff, Manchester or Southampton office. Travel between sites will be required (likely once/twice per month to one other location). Hybrid working: All Starling colleagues spend a minimum of 10 days per month in the office with flexibility to work the rest from home.

About Starling

At Starling, we are on a mission to provide people with a fairer, smarter, and more human alternative to traditional banks. We are building a leading digital bank, driven by fast technology, fair service, and honest values. Our vision is to create a banking industry that serves everyone, which we accomplish by developing best‑in‑class proprietary technology, offering an exceptional customer experience, and establishing a strong, sustainable business. Our five core values — Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim for Greatness — are at the heart of everything we do, guiding our strategy and shaping our culture. We are a branchless, largely paperless bank, committed to responsible banking, sustainability, and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

The Opportunity

The Head of Customer Care Insights is a pivotal new role responsible for driving transformative improvements across the entire Customer Care division. This role acts as a central intelligence hub, evaluating performance and customer outcomes across all departments, including the Contact Centre, Complaints, Vulnerability, Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) activity, and Financial Assistance. The primary objective is to gain a deep understanding of operational realities and customer experiences, translating these insights into actionable strategies that lead to measurable improvements in people, customer, and business outcomes. The successful candidate will be a strategic leader who can not only identify root causes but also champion and evidence the successful implementation of change.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively analyse data from all customer care departments (Contact Centre, Complaints, Vulnerability, FOS, Financial Assistance) to understand the why behind current performance levels and customer outcomes (e.g., drivers of First Contact Resolution (FCR), Average Handling Time (AHT), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)).
• Review and analyse FOS decisions and insights, translating external feedback into necessary internal actions and change strategies to better improve customer outcomes and reduce future escalations.
• Develop and deliver comprehensive strategies to improve all key customer metrics (e.g., FCR, CSAT) and drive operational efficiencies across the Customer Care division.
• Lead and execute analysis on customer complaints and operational failure points to identify systemic issues impacting customer experience and business efficiency.
• Work collaboratively with department heads on the implementation and tracking of improvement initiatives, providing robust evidence that the implemented changes have successfully delivered the intended business, customer, and people improvements.
• Own the mandate for cost efficiency across the Customer Care area, consistently seeking opportunities for "customer wins" that simultaneously reduce operational expense.
• Evaluate the current processes and treatment protocols for vulnerable customers to ensure they are delivering consistently correct and fair outcomes, identifying any disparities in treatment.
• Determine necessary process, policy, and training changes required to enhance the fair treatment of vulnerable customers and work with department heads to successfully implement these changes.
• Own and maintain the governance framework for Customer Care insights and change initiatives, ensuring accountability, transparency, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
• Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with all Customer Care department heads, Operations teams, and shared services (e.g., Technology, Risk, Product) to facilitate cross‑functional implementation of changes.

Requirements

Behaviours & Competencies

• Strategic Storytelling and ability to look at data and find the "so what?"
• Stakeholder influencing between technical teams and business leaders, with the ability to challenge senior stakeholders' assumptions without burning bridges.
• A proactive mindset and ability to identify themes and emerging trends.
• Enthusiasm for driving forward efficiency, quality and service improvements with the tenacity to overcome any obstacles.
• Commercial Acumen, evidenced through prioritisation of improvement initiatives.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of media (written and verbal) to a wide range of audiences — customer, stakeholders, external bodies.
• Analytical skills to investigate, collate and evaluate information.
• Ability to take a problem‑solving approach and analyse information and situations to generate recommendations and solutions.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities.

Why Join Starling?

• Make an Impact: Work on projects that directly shape the future of banking and improve the financial lives of our customers. Starling is technology‑led, and you'll have the freedom to accomplish your goals in innovative ways.
• Culture of Excellence: Be part of a collaborative, empowered, and forward‑thinking team. We encourage experimentation, ownership, and a relentless focus on "doing the right thing."
• Growth and Development: We are committed to your professional growth, offering opportunities to learn new technologies, take on new challenges, and own interesting things from day one.
• A Bank That Cares: We're a Living Wage employer, committed to flexible working, and dedicated to creating a fair, open, and safe working environment with compassion and inclusion at its core.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Company‑enhanced salary sacrifice pension scheme (7% employer contribution). Private Medical Insurance with Vitality including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr & Mrs Smith and Peloton. 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you). An extra day's holiday for your birthday. Life Insurance at 4x your salary. 16 hours of paid volunteering time a year. Ability to buy or sell annual leave. Generous family‑friendly policies. Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off. Incentivised refer a friend scheme. Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks. Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing.

Our Commitment to Equality

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.