Head of Customer Service

The Opportunity



The post holder will work closely with the Regional Customer Management Lead to inform, influence, develop and execute strategy and work towards positive, collaborative ways of working. This key role will communicate and promote the benefits of customer service, customer engagement and personal selling as part of the same customer experience continuum.



Role Purpose



To lead the development and implementation of innovative customer management and sales strategies both to deliver a consistent and trusted brand experience on a multi-site and multi-channel basis and, to ensure that customer service remains one of the key competitive advantages for the British Council across the Southern Africa Region.



The post holder will:


provide professional leadership and strategic direction for customer service teams in South Africa and countries in the Southern African cluster across traditional customer contact and digital environments


lead the Customer Service function across South Africa to translate overarching customer management priorities into coherent operational plans, policies/processes and activities aligned to the strategic objectives of the Exams business in order to achieve our business targets.


provide expert support to key stakeholders across South Africa and the Southern African cluster


provide analysis, insights and corporate support to facilitate delivery of a consistent high-quality end-to-end customer experience for the Exams business



Function Overview



The post holder will be line managed by SSA Customer Management Lead. S/he will lead a team of approximately 14 staff across 5 countries and directly line manage six reports and dotted line management of seven staff sitting outside South Africa.



South Africa is an important exams operation for the British Council in Sub-Saharan Africa – delivering approximately 34,000 exams annually, as well as having responsibility for the delivery of exams in four other African countries (we call this cross-border collaboration CBC). The exams portfolio is diversified but our two major products are IELTS and School exams. We have offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town but run examinations in multiple locations (including 10 cities for IELTS). The role will work closely with the Regional and Cluster Exams Management Team to inform, influence, develop and execute strategy and work towards positive, collaborative ways of working.



Core accountabilities in this role will include:


Strategy and Planning


Sales management


Team Leadership and Management


Service Delivery and Improvement


Staff Performance Management and Continuous Professional Development


Reporting, insight and systems


Relationships and stakeholder management



About Us



The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.



We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.



For more information about this opportunity, please see below:



Head of Customer Service (South Africa).pdf



British Copuncil behaviours.pdf



British Council Core Skills.pdf



If you feel that you are suitable and would like to be considered for this role, please apply before 23:59 UK time on 19 January 2020



The British Council has a fundamental duty of care of all children engaged in activities with us under our mandatory Child Protection Policy. All our employees must be familiar with and follow the Child Protection Code of Conduct. The British Council affirms the position that all children have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse as set out in article 19, UNCRC 1989.

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