Customer Contact Manager (1st line)

We are recruiting for a Customer Contact Manager (1st line) to join our Customer Contact team in Bristol.

Your Role

The Customer Contact Manager is responsible for building and shaping the future of our front-line customer contact team at TLT LLP. This is a critical role, accountable for the high-volume element of customer contact activity that represents around 70% of total contact centre interactions. You’ll be response for delivering a best in class customer experience for all customers contacting TLT LLP ensuring customers receive the right outcome at the first attempt. The role involves direct line management of up to 15 Advisors and regular engagement with clients. It requires a proven track record of leading high-performance teams in a regulated contact centre setting.

But this role is more than managing day-to-day operations – it’s about shaping the future. You’ll be the architect of how customer contact is handled at scale, helping the Customer Contact Director lead our customer contact strategy into potential new markets, with a relentless focus on smarter ways of working, operational excellence and measurable customer impact.

You’ll lead the upskilling and development agenda across the front line operation, embed a strong process improvement culture, and be instrumental in reducing failure demand and driving contact deflection through better systems, self-service and smart use of data. With deep experience in contact centre technologies and implementation, you’ll own the contact tech stack roadmap and play a pivotal role in delivering scalable, effective and resilient contact infrastructure across multiple channels. You’ll be equally confident setting future-state strategy and rolling your sleeves up when needed to deliver day-to-day tactical improvements.

Responsibilities

Strategic Oversight

• Lead the 'Right First Time' Customer Excellence Strategy with a laser focus on reducing avoidable contact.
• Define and own the Cost to Serve strategy, including failure demand reduction and contact deflection outcomes.
• Product lead for contact centre technology and infrastructure roadmap (telephony, CRM, WFM, etc.).
• Responsible for ‘Speed to Proficiency’ onboarding and the wider upskilling strategy for frontline teams.
• Shape and drive the customer contact strategy to support expansion into new markets.
• Ensure compliance with FCA Consumer Duty and Treating Customers Fairly (TCF).
• Own the customer contact journey map, embedding continuous improvement throughout. 

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach and develop a team of c. 15 front-line Advisors to deliver performance targets and service excellence.
• Drive a positive, inclusive and high-performance team culture.
• Lead a transition phase focused on rapidly upskilling existing team members against newly defined performance expectations, enabling clear assessment of capability and informed decisions around future hiring needs.
• Deliver coaching, feedback and reviews aligned to our QA and people development frameworks.
• Champion our mission to deliver clear, fair and empathetic support – especially to customers in vulnerable situations.
• Own and deliver contact centre recruitment and volume onboarding strategies to support growth.
• Define career pathways and lead on skills frameworks to create a pipeline of future leaders and specialists.

Operational / Technical Leadership

• Manage all front-line contact performance across all customer channels.
• Establish and continuously improve operational controls to drive consistent delivery against performance metrics – especially FCR, response/resolution SLAs and compliance quality.
• Act as operational lead for client engagements on day-to-day contact delivery.
• Act as primary operational lead for client engagement on service delivery and escalation triage.
• Design, embed and review processes that eliminate failure demand, with a strong emphasis on resolution at first touch and minimising unnecessary handoffs.
• Ensure a tight integration between first line and second-line support functions – feeding high-frequency escalations back into the frontline knowledge base and upskilling teams to prevent repeat escalations.
• Own SOPs, playbooks, and knowledge base design and governance.
• Lead the early resolution agenda by spotting potential complaint triggers and resolving issues proactively – reducing the number of issues that escalate to formal complaint status.
• Ensure compliance with FCA and internal risk controls.
• Lead all audit and assurance activity within front-line operations

Innovation, QA & Continual Service Improvement

• Drive automation and smarter contact solutions that reduce friction for customers and scale efficiently.
• Collaborate across business units to identify systemic sources of failure demand and implement targeted interventions.
• Use QA insights, customer sentiment data and escalation trends to design coaching plans and process refinements that increase resolution confidence at first point of contact.
• Work with second line and complaints teams to systematically address causes of poor experience, friction and regulatory exposure – capturing learnings back into SOPs and knowledge assets.
• Act as the technical SME for contact centre platforms – scoping, selecting and embedding tech that improves deflection, resolution and channel shift (e.g. self-service, conversational AI, smart routing).
• Ensure system and process enhancements are continuously embedded into team workflows through structured change management and frontline enablement.
• Participate in monthly QA calibration and root cause sessions with complaints, QA and operational leaders to ensure scoring consistency and continual learning

Expected Outputs:

• Leading Right First Time / First Contact Resolution Rates (c 80%)
• High Team Performance Scorecard (90%+)
• Response / Resolution SLAs consistently met (Team and customer level)
• CTS improvement (Cost per contact, utilisation etc)
• Staff Performance and Engagement (ENPS / occupancy, promotion etc) 

Your Skills and Experience

Experience Required:

• Proven experience leading high performance customer service teams in a high-volume, regulated contact centre environment, preferably in the Financial Services sector.
• Experience of leading a team dealing with vulnerable customers.
• Demonstrated ability to lead tactical day-to-day operations while shaping long-term strategy.
• Skilled in coaching, people development, and performance management.
• Knowledge of high-performance coaching models such as OSKAR, GROW etc.
• Knowledge on how to scale service teams effectively and cost efficiently.
• Demonstrable track record of driving service improvement and operational efficiency. Strong record of reducing failure demand, improving contact deflection, and improving service quality.
• Deep expertise in contact centre technologies, sourcing and implementing platforms including telephony, CRM, WFM, QA tools and Knowledge Systems.
• Delivery experience in transformation programmes and agile or hybrid project environments.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong knowledge of FCA regulations and compliance frameworks relevant to financial services or lending (desirable).
• Formal training or qualifications in LEAN, Six Sigma or other recognised process improvement methodologies (strongly preferred).

Behaviours:

• Challenges Convention: Encourages curiosity and innovation within the team to improve how customer challenges are handled. Questions legacy methods and fosters creative problem-solving to deliver faster, fairer, and better customer outcomes. Uses data and feedback to identify trends and drive improvements beyond minimum compliance.
• Works Side by Side: Builds strong, collaborative relationships across teams and stakeholders. Acts as a role model for fairness, emotional intelligence, and effective communication in challenging situations. Creates an environment where the team shares knowledge, supports one another, and collectively owns performance and customer outcomes.
• Open and Inclusive: Promotes openness, respect, and transparency across the team. Ensures diverse perspectives are welcomed and every colleague feels safe to contribute. Manages difficult conversations with fairness and integrity, and actively supports initiatives to reduce bias and improve inclusivity.
• Drives Sustainable Action: Takes accountability for delivering consistent, high-quality service aligned with regulatory and client standards. Focuses on building team capability and frameworks that reduce risk and improve customer trust over time. Invests in personal development and empowers others through coaching, challenge, and opportunities to grow.

About TLT

Fast paced, fast growing and forward thinking, TLT is the law firm that helps clients stay one step ahead, and we do the same for our people.

We work with high profile clients in innovative sectors. With local, national and international reach, we have over 1,800 people in offices across the UK and a network of partner firms across Europe, India and the US. TLT was named Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2023. This marks the third year in a row the firm has taken away this accolade in industry awards - having previously been named Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards in 2021 and the British Legal Awards in 2022.

Our purpose is to protect, prepare and progress our clients for what comes next and it’s essential that we do the same for our people, our planet and our communities too. In our open and collaborative culture, we encourage everyone to be their whole self, to have a voice and to contribute.

Our Benefits

We value our employees highly and we want you to feel valued. You’ll receive a competitive salary with an annual pay review. You will also have access to an extensive range of benefits via our flexible benefits scheme including 25 days holiday (which will increase to 30 days based upon length of service) and private medical insurance. 

At TLT we have a progressive fully flexible working approach. We empower our people to work in a place and at a time that meets their needs, those of their clients and of the wider team and firm. Part of this agile approach is a focus on hybrid working and supporting the work/life balance of our people. We’re happy to talk about how flexible working can work for you and this role. 

TLT is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment and encourages applications from all suitably qualified people, regardless of disability, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected by the laws in the locations in which we operate.

We welcome applications from people with disabilities and are committed to providing reasonable adjustments, where necessary, to make interviews and jobs more accessible. Should you have any difficulty during the recruitment process, require any reasonable adjustments or an application to Access to work please contact the recruitment team on Recruitment.Operations@TLT.com