Retail Customer Services Director

Overall Summary

At Close Brothers we look to recruit individuals from all different backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if you don’t tick every box. We celebrate diversity, promote inclusivity and are open to discuss flexible work options to help you balance your work and home life.

Join our Retail division where you will play a key role as a member of the Operations Leadership team. Reporting to the Retail COO, you'll own the in-life customer journey across the Retail businesses (Motor, Premium & Savings) - driving exceptional service, good customer outcomes and seamless, efficient operations.

From a strategic perspective the role needs to drive significant enhancements to the customer proposition, with a strong focus on the digital servicing agenda. This will involve enhancements to customer self-service capabilities, as well as use of robotics and AI to drive incremental enhancements.

To succeed in this role, you'll need a blend of strategic vision, operational excellence and innovative, customer-centric thinking. You'll have substantial experience of leading large operational teams within a Retail banking environment and will be able to demonstrate the ability to lead, influence and collaborate.

Our teams are spread throughout the UK, with major hubs in Doncaster, London & Manchester. Candidates can be based in any of those three locations, but will be required to travel to all three fairly regularly.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the development and execution of the Retail Operations strategy in collaboration with business leaders to drive service excellence and commercial success.
• Shape and deliver a scalable, digital-first Target Operating Model that supports long-term growth and improved customer outcomes.
• Champion continuous improvement to enhance customer experience, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness across Motor, Premium, and Savings.
• Define and implement a market-leading customer proposition aligned with Consumer Duty and regulatory standards.
• Drive delivery of high-quality service across customer contact, complaints, and collections, setting clear performance and excellence standards.
• Oversee capacity planning, forecasting, and operational MI to optimise team performance and resource allocation.
• Partner with technology, change, risk, and compliance teams to ensure systems, controls, and processes are robust, effective, and future-ready.
• Lead key fraud prevention initiatives, ensuring effective oversight, governance, and adherence to risk appetite.
• Manage and develop high-performing teams, investing in coaching, development, and strong performance management practices.
• Promote a strong culture of inclusion, engagement, and personal growth across the operational teams.
• Set and manage budgets and headcount to ensure efficiency and alignment with strategic priorities.
• Represent Retail Operations in change programmes and transformation initiatives, contributing to direction-setting and delivery.
• Establish a clear, consistent customer contact strategy-defining channels, touchpoints, and service levels.
• Ensure adherence to all governance, risk, and regulatory requirements with robust audit and control frameworks.
• Own the development and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures to ensure operational consistency and compliance.

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF YOU HAVE:

• Exceptional leadership skills with substantial experience of leading a large operational team, based across multiple offices
• Strong experience within the Retail banking Industry, ideally in an organisation with multiple business units and a variety of product offerings.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and build effective working relationships
• Organisation skills, with the ability to manage multiple work streams, working to tight timescales whilst maintaining quality
• The ability to drive performance improvement
• Highly numerate with strong commercial acumen

IT IS NOT ESSENTIAL BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU ARE:

• Experience with Automation and/or AI
• Experience running outsourced operations

We are an inclusive organisation and committed to ensuring our recruitment process is as accessible as possible to everyone. We will make adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. If you need the job description or application form in an alternative format or would like to discuss the recruitment process with us, please email us at [email protected] or request a call back.

About Us

At Close Brothers we support employees to balance their work life priorities and in this role you will be able to enjoy a mixture of hybrid working.

Close Brothers is a leading UK merchant banking group providing lending, deposit taking and securities trading. We employ approximately 3,000 people, principally in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Close Brothers Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250.

To find out more about Close Brothers, please visit our careers page: https://www.closebrothers.com/careers

To find out more about life at Close Brothers:

https://www.closebrothers.com/life-close-brothers#374017299-899295541

To find out more about our benefits:

https://www.closebrothers.com/employee-benefits

To find out more about our commitment to creating an inclusive environment:

Our Responsibility - Diversity and inclusion ¦ Close Brothers Group