Contract - Retailer Department Manager

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work. The working hours are 35 hours, 9-5 Monday to Friday with the occasional 10-6 day 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.

Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home for a maximum of 50% of the working days in any one month, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.

Role:

This role will be a multifaceted and senior position within HFE, developing and motivating a large department so that its associates can deliver an exceptional service to our customers and retailers.

A positive and influential personality is required, with an attention to detail and a desire to maintain a well-respected department, built on a vision that seeks to expand peoples’ dreams and potential.

An appreciation for consistency, regulation and best practice will also be essential as the department is responsible for credit assessment, complaint handling, anti-fraud processes and customer/dealer joy. All of which have legal, regulatory, and reputational implications.

You will need to create an environment where associates are empowered and take ownership for their actions and are recognised for the value they add. That will need to be achieved through strong leadership and the ability to identify problems and opportunities within current working practices whilst ensuring that the business is resource efficient.

Main Responsibilities:

1. Maintaining and building upon strong retailer relationships as well as those with our HME (Honda Motor Europe), HME-UK (Honda Motor Europe-UK) and HFE (Honda Finance Europe) colleagues, to be the “Lender of Choice”.
2. Promote an environment where your team acts with integrity, leading by example, promoting best practice and ensuring the team’s conduct exceeds the expectations of our retailers, customers and our regulator.
3. Motivation and management of the team to deliver retailer service excellence ensuring retailer relationships are maintained through the department functions.
4. Deliver service to retailers in line with Consumer Duty rules and always ensure the right outcomes for customers through encouraging the right retailer behaviour.
5. Deliver regular reporting through first line QA to manage deliverables and service KPIs and identify where improvements and support are required.
6. Management of the credit assessment and activation work queues to ensure completion in a timely manner, regardless of the channel that the application was received through to ensure that SLAs are met.
7. Manage, develop, and assess the team through the appraisal process. Set SMART individual goals and objectives.
8. Organisation of resource to cover all work shift patterns required within the department to maintain a high level of both retailer service.
9. Support the Customer Department Manager as required with resources and expertise.
10. Manage and implement procedures and policies as required.
11. Manage departmental reports and use them to provide a basis for recommendations to HFE senior management when changes in policy and direction are required.
12. Implement departmental process improvements and efficiencies using TQM (Total Quality Management) principles.
13. Build the department’s annual plan, setting clear objectives to achieve the company’s overall objectives and strategy.
14. Review, identify and balance all elements that affect HFE risk whilst maintaining a commercial viewpoint.
15. Work to help deliver customer retention through initiatives that will enable HFE to better understand the needs of our dealers and customers.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

Required

1. Be able to communicate the vision to influence others to deliver the best results.
2. Significant experience as a high credit assessment mandate holder is preferable.
3. Experience of managing large teams within a successful call centre environment.
4. A solid understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that governs the finance industry.
5. Strong organisational skills which have enabled you to previously lead multiple assignments, to prioritise and deliver to tight deadlines.
6. Enjoy working in a customer focused environment where people are always treated with respect and encouraged to use their own initiative.
7. Confident but flexible.
8. Self-motivated and proactive in approach.
9. Open, honest and prepared to be challenged on decisions.
10. Compassionate and thoughtful.
11. Looks for positivity in everything.
12. Finds ways to reduce duplication of effort.
13. Leads by example.

Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.

This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.