Customer and Change Lead

What will you be doing?

In this this role, you will play a pivotal part in building customer relationships, refining support processes and enhancing the user experience of our applications through strategic engagement and collaborative problem-solving. A typical day will include:

Building Customer Relationships: Foster strong relationships with customers, both internally and externally, ensuring their perspectives are integrated into our strategic decisions.

Using Customer Feedback: Gather and act upon customer feedback to enhance satisfaction and pinpoint areas for service improvement.

Developing Customer Engagement Framework: Create a customer engagement framework, encompassing performance reviews, reporting standards, satisfaction measures, and user groups. Define roles within this structure and ensure adherence through effective controls.

Supporting Process Enhancement: Collaborate with the Applications Support Manager to refine change processes, SLA reporting, and resolution paths for sustained high-quality service.

Performance Monitoring and Improvement: Monitor team performance, offering insights to enhance support processes, team structure, and service quality.

Cross-Team Collaboration: Work collaboratively with DTI teams, identifying and resolving application support-related issues swiftly and communicating effectively.

Improving User-Focused Documentation: Develop and update customer-centric documentation, empowering users to proficiently utilise applications and reducing support inquiries.

Creating a Culture of Transparent Communication: Keep customers informed through regular updates on forthcoming changes and the application roadmap, fostering collaboration and trust.

About you

Our ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a head for strategic thinking and effective leadership. You will be comfortable and confident with application systems and collaboration.

You're someone who excels at building strong relationships with customers, both inside and outside the organisation. You're great at not just hearing customer concerns, but actively finding solutions and being ready for any challenges they bring to the table. With a background in customer support and relationship management, you're all about ensuring customers have a positive experience.

You're knowledgeable in application architecture, including servers, databases, and networking components. Plus, you have a good understanding of project management, change management, ITIL, and customer service strategies, all contributing to your expertise.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Professional subscriptions / registration - if your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

We're a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we're embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from Anna Earnshaw, our Chief Executive, about working for West Northants Council: https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU

At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.