Customer Contact Advisor (1st line)

We are recruiting for Customer Contact Advisors to join our Secured Lender Services team in Bristol.

Your Role 

As a Customer Support Advisor within our Secured Lender Services team, you will play a critical role as the first point of contact for customers of our regulated mortgage lender clients. You will be providing support to people facing sensitive and complex situations such as mortgage arrears and the risk of repossession. You’ll provide trusted, outcome-based support guiding them with clarity, empathy, and precision.

Working within a regulated and fast-paced environment, you’ll take ownership of inbound and outbound contacts across multiple channels, triage complex situations, identify vulnerability, and help customers understand and manage their financial responsibilities. You’ll play a crucial role in preventing formal complaints through effective early intervention, while maintaining compliance with FCA standards and client expectations. This role requires expert customer engagement, high emotional intelligence, and strong technical knowledge of mortgage servicing, arrears management, and FCA consumer duty requirements. 

Responsibilities 

• In line with our ‘Right First Time’ strategy, deliver timely, accurate, and compassionate support to customers across inbound and outbound contact channels (phone, email, web). 
• Use active listening and empathy to uncover the root causes of financial difficulty and build trust with customers from all backgrounds. 
• Assess each customer’s situation to agree fair, affordable, and sustainable solutions in line with client mandates and regulatory frameworks. 
• Apply your working understanding of MCOB principles to support fair and proportionate outcomes for customers facing arrears or financial difficulty. 
• Educate customers on their responsibilities and available options, supporting them to take informed action and avoid escalation. 
• Manage the customer, not the interaction. 
• Adhere to the FCA’s Consumer Duty principles, ensuring your support is fair, appropriate, and focused on the best possible outcome. 
• Recognise and sensitively manage indicators of vulnerability, escalating cases where needed in line with internal pathways. 
• Maintain accurate, complete, and compliant case records across internal and client systems. 
• Recognise when a case may be at risk of escalation to legal proceedings and ensure all reasonable steps - such as engagement attempts, forbearance options, and vulnerability considerations - have been explored and recorded. 
• Spot early signs of dissatisfaction and act to resolve issues at first contact wherever possible. 
• Ensure any open complaints or vulnerabilities that could impact case progression are flagged and addressed before escalation, aligning with DISP and TCF requirements.
• Proactively de-escalate complaints before they become formal, applying sound judgement and problem-solving in line with policy. 
• Support the identification and reporting of root causes and emerging themes, contributing to broader service improvements. 
• Meet personal and team KPIs, including quality assurance, first contact resolution, utilisation time and compliance. 
• Provide constructive feedback to support improvements to customer journeys, scripts, and processes. 
• Participate in quality calibration, coaching, and skills development sessions, sharing insight and best practice. 
• Participate in the testing of new policies, products, or services, advising on customer impact and conduct risks. 

Expected Outputs & KPIs 

• First Contact Resolution (FCR): 80% 
• Quality Assurance Compliance: 90% 
• SLA Adherence (Wrap/Handling): 95%+ 
• Vulnerability Identification Accuracy: Tracked via QA and audit 
• Client Scorecard Alignment: Contribution to key metrics (e.g. call quality, compliance, resolution rate) 

Your Skills and Experience

• Previous experience of dealing with customers within credit control, customer service, customer account management within a financial or professional services environment. 
• Strong telephone communication skills with the ability to empathise and relate to the sometimes-emotive conversations that take place with customers. 
• Ability to handle difficult conversations remaining sensitive and professional at all times. 
• Successfully build rapport with customers to understand the situation & identify the best solution. 
• Good listening skills and ability to question and challenge information provided. 
• Ability to work within strict processes and guidelines. 
• Ability to simultaneously use IT systems and databases alongside speaking on the telephone. 

Essential 

• Experience in a volume customer contact role, ideally within financial services, debt recovery, or mortgage servicing. 
• Experience in providing regulated support to vulnerable customers. 
• Understanding of the regulatory environment (FCA, TCF, Consumer Duty) and how it applies in real-time customer interactions. 
• Proven ability to manage emotionally sensitive and complex conversations with professionalism and confidence. 
• Comfortable using multiple systems simultaneously to document cases, update records, and check information. 

Desirable 

• Prior experience working with mortgage arrears, or property possession cases. 
• Familiarity with early collections, affordability assessments, or regulated complaint handling. 
• Exposure to client-driven environments with service-level and quality expectations. 

Behaviours

Challenge Convention 

• Demonstrates active curiosity, embraces change and looks for ways to improve customer experiences. Challenges the norm for the better. 
• Thinks creatively to find practical solutions, not just follow scripts. 
• Brings fresh ideas forward, helping shape smarter ways of working. 

Work Side by Side 

• Supports colleagues, shares learning, and builds a positive, collaborative environment. 
• Acts as a trusted partner to customers and peers. 
• Demonstrates role model behaviour by upholding standards and supporting team wellbeing. 

Be Open and Inclusive 

• Welcomes diverse perspectives and listens with empathy and respect. 
• Ensures customers feel heard and understood, whatever their background or circumstance. 
• Encourages a safe and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. 

Drive Sustainable Action 

• Takes ownership of personal development, always looking to grow and improve. 
• Takes ownership for delivering quality service and fair outcomes. 
• Thinks long-term — helping customers make informed, sustainable decisions. 
• Acts with integrity and care in every interaction, building trust that lasts.

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