Customer Department Manager

At Honda, we embrace inclusion in our various policies. While there is no contractual right to work from home, you can request to work from home for a maximum of 50% of the working days in any one month, provided there is no business requirement to attend the office.

The working hours are 35 hours, 9-5 Monday to Friday, with occasional 10-6 days and Saturdays. A day in lieu of the Saturday will be provided the following week. There is the option to take a 30-minute lunch over 4 days so that the fifth day will be a 2pm finish.

Role:

This role will be a pivotal and demanding position within HFE, developing and motivating a large customer service department so that its associates can deliver a world-class service, every day. A positive and influential personality is required, with an attention to detail and a willingness to lead by example when supporting HFE’s customers from the start of their finance agreement through to its end, ensuring the correct customer outcomes.

You will have an in-depth knowledge of consumer duty and thrive working in a highly regulated area. Your desire for consistency and best practice will be essential. You will be self-motivated to keep up to date with regulatory changes and aware of potential challenges ahead to influence improvements and changes in how the department works.

Responsible for an area which has a large impact on Honda’s reputation, you will need to have experience in supporting customers in financial difficulty and those that are vulnerable, working with the high expectations of our regulator to ensure that the right customer outcome is always achieved.

Main Responsibilities:

• Deliver service support to customers in line with Consumer Duty rules, ensuring the right customer outcomes are at the forefront of every action.
• Promote an environment where your team acts with integrity, leading by example and ensuring the team’s conduct exceeds the expectations of our customers and our regulator.
• Motivation and management of the team to deliver customer service excellence, maintaining customer relationships through department functions.
• Deliver regular reporting through first line QA to manage deliverables and service KPIs, identifying where improvements and support are required.
• Management of customer complaints, enquiries, and amendments to ensure timely completion.
• Manage collections and recoveries customers to ensure the correct forbearance processes are followed, achieving the best customer outcome.
• Proactive risk management of the collections and recoveries functions to minimise operational impact.
• Management of customer processes to empower the team to identify vulnerable customers and offer personalised assistance.
• Manage, develop, and assess the Customer Services team through the appraisal process, setting SMART individual goals and objectives.
• Organisation of resource to cover all work shift patterns required within the department.
• Support the Retailer Department Manager with resources and expertise.
• Manage, review, and implement procedures and policies.
• Manage departmental reports and use them to provide recommendations to HFE senior management.
• Implement departmental process improvements and efficiencies using TQM principles.
• Build the department’s annual plan, setting clear objectives to achieve the company’s overall objectives and strategy.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

Required

• Ability to communicate the vision to influence others.
• Significant experience as an exceptional customer service professional.
• Experience managing large teams within a successful call centre environment.
• A solid understanding of the legal and regulatory framework governing the finance industry.
• Strong organisational skills to lead multiple assignments and deliver to tight deadlines.
• Enjoy working in a customer-focused environment where respect and initiative are encouraged.
• Confident yet flexible.
• Self-motivated and proactive.
• Open, honest, and prepared to be challenged on decisions.
• Compassionate and thoughtful.
• Positivity in all endeavors.
• Ability to reduce duplication of effort.
• Lead by example.

Honda is committed to equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants, and visitors. We encourage respect for individual differences and talents while making full use of one's own abilities.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes uniqueness and differences. We recognize that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them, fostering a culture of belonging consistent with Honda's core values.