Customer Service Leader

Life can sometimes be unpredictable, and it pays to plan ahead. Our aim at Legal & General Retail is to help our customers plan for the unexpected, achieve financial security for their tomorrow, and protect everything that’s important to them. To better understand our customers and meet their needs, we’ve brought our protection, retirement income, savings, lending and advice, fintech and mortgage businesses under one umbrella. Created at the start of 2022 through the merging of our long-standing and trusted retail retirement and insurance businesses, we’re a fast-growing division with big, customer-centred ambitions.

We are currently recruiting for a Customer Service Leader to join our Underwriting team on a permanent basis. This is a hybrid role where you’ll work 3 days from home and 2 days in our Cardiff office, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

We are looking for a  strong people manager who has experience of managing technical or regulatory teams within a high paced operational environment.

If you have experience of managing or leading a team in an underwriting environment...then please apply!

What you'll be doing:

• Lead and develop a team to meet the needs and ensure fair treatment of customers, whilst delivering agreed business outcomes. Ensure that service levels are continually monitored and maintain appropriate resource to meet work priorities and customer demand.
• Proactively contribute to business area planning and succession planning to ensure team efforts are aligned to overall department goals. Understand the capabilities and required control versatilities within the division, and contribute to building medium and long term plans to ensure that work can always be covered.
• Work with other CSLs and Customer Service Managers to agree prioritisation and look for areas of continuous improvement in processing and customer service.
• Provide a point of escalation and ownership of complex queries to include complaints, investigating where appropriate and resolving where possible, ensuring any complaints dealt with are logged correctly. Use root cause analysis to identify trends and contribute to continual improvement.
• Coach, train, develop and motivate individuals to achieve objectives as determined by the division’s goals, including customer outcomes, behaviours, quality and productivity. Regularly review these areas, set training and improvement plans and targets as appropriate, in conjunction with the individual’s needs. 
• Be accountable for all areas of process breakdown, regulatory breach and health & safety issues within the division, in order to protect L&G and relevant parties from unnecessary loss, by documenting and ensuring that the team fully understand and comply with all financial, regulatory and legislative controls. Identify, manage and report key risks and deliver controls, in line with the risk management framework, to minimise the impact on L&G.
• Full involvement in recruitment, disciplinary procedures and remuneration decisions, in line with HR practices. Regularly deputise for the CSM and represent the department at senior internal and external meetings.

• The role is subject to FCA accredited Training and Competence requirements. It is also a condition that the jobholder achieves and maintains the level of competence required as an ‘Overseer’ within the specified timescale (currently CF1 & FA2 have to be undertaken and achieved within 2 years).
• High standard of Secondary education
• CF1 desirable

Knowledge:

• An understanding of Legal & General Retail Retirement products, services and operations.
• Understanding of the Legal & General Retail Retirement strategy and how this will impact the service proposition.
• Understanding of work flow and work queue structure

Experience:

• Experience managing or leading a team in an underwriting environment would be advantageous. 
• Experience managing a team in a regulated environment.
• Proven ability to prioritise and manage queries whilst giving due consideration to team performance and activities.
• Good commercial awareness.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Evidence of continuous professional development
• Experience of contributing to cross-functional business teams is desirable

Legal & General is a leading financial services organisation, named Britain’s Most Admired Company in 2023, for the second year running. Rated top in our sector and top for inspirational leadership, we have a strong heritage and an exciting future.  

We’re one of the world's largest asset managers, homebuilders, pension providers and insurers. Connecting to form a unique business model which drives value for our customers and society. And enabling our people to create impact through work that is meaningful and valued.  

If you join us, you’ll be part of a welcoming, inclusive culture, with opportunities to collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds, views, and experiences. Guided by leaders with integrity who care about your future and wellbeing. Empowered through initiatives which support people to develop their careers and excel.  

We strive to be open, mindful, and inclusive, so are always willing to discussing flexible working arrangements and reasonable accommodations for candidates with specific needs. It doesn’t matter if you don’t meet every single criterion in this advert. Instead, think about what you excel at and what else you can bring in terms of strengths, potential and connection to our purpose. 

If you’re open to find out more, we'd love to hear from you.