We’re 1st Central, a market-leading insurance company utilising smart data and technology at pace. Rapid growth has been based on giving our 1.4 million customers exactly what they want: great value insurance with an excellent service. And that’s the same for our colleagues too; we won Insurance Employer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards 2024 and our Glassdoor score is pretty mega too!
If you’re passionate about doing the right thing for customers and making sure great service is more than just a promise, this role could be a perfect fit.
We’re looking for a Customer Outcomes Lead, to join our Customer team in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. You’ll be at the heart of how we measure, manage, and improve the quality of our customer interactions across both internal teams and outsourced partners.
You’ll lead the day‑to‑day oversight of customer outcomes testing, using insight and data to drive better outcomes and support teams to continuously improve. From coaching and performance oversight to shaping how we embed Consumer Duty and FCA expectations into everyday activity, you’ll play a key role in turning insight into action and helping us deliver consistently positive, fair outcomes for our customers.
We love flexibility and hybrid working! This role requires the attendance in the Haywards Heath office at least once a month but if you prefer to be in the office more that’s good with us too. There may also be ad hoc travel to our other office or offsite for training or wider business activities.
Core skills we’re looking for to succeed in the role:
- Customer-first mindset – understands good customer outcomes and uses testing to identify risks and improvement opportunities.
- Lead and develop others – able to coach and support others, setting clear standards and driving consistency.
- Turn data into action – confident analysing data, spotting trends and turning insights into practical actions.
- Influence with confidence – builds strong relationships, challenges constructively and operates effectively in a regulated environment.
What’s involved:
Deliver Customer Outcomes Activities
- You’ll oversee the delivery of manual customer outcomes and competency‑based testing, ensuring activity is completed to agreed volumes and aligned to risk‑based priorities.
- You’ll support Customer Outcomes Testers to carry out accurate, timely, and consistent outcomes testing across customer interaction channels.
- You’ll act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the designated business area and for the Customer Outcomes methodology and framework, delivering targeted sample checks and reviews to support team standards, calibration, and development.
- You’ll work closely with assigned key stakeholders to plan and agree outcomes testing demand, ensuring volumes, priorities, and tester capacity are accurately aligned to support effective delivery.
Insight and Action
- You’ll translate outcomes testing results into clear, actionable insight for frontline managers and operational leaders.
- You’ll ensure feedback supports effective coaching and drives measurable improvement in customer outcomes.
- You’ll track agreed remedial actions, escalating risks, delays, or recurring issues where outcomes are not improving as expected.
- You’ll contribute to the ongoing development of testing standards, competency frameworks, and internal calibration processes.
Team Management
- You’ll provide day‑to‑day leadership, support, and coaching to a team of Customer Outcomes Testers.
- You’ll create a positive, engaging team environment with clear expectations and accountability.
- You’ll lead team huddles, outcomes forums, calibration sessions, and learning reviews to share best practice and embed continuous improvement.
- You’ll monitor and report on team performance, focusing on accuracy, turnaround times, insight quality, and impact.
Stakeholder Collaboration
- You’ll act as a key point of contact between the Customer Outcomes Team and frontline operational areas.
- You’ll build strong relationships with operational leaders to ensure outcomes insight is understood and acted upon.
- You’ll work closely with your Head of Department and Senior Customer Outcomes Manager to support delivery of projects and the Customer Outcomes Target State.
- You’ll collaborate with Training, Operational Excellence, and Complaints teams to identify root causes and reduce avoidable customer detriment.
Regulatory and Quality Focus
- You’ll support internal reviews and reporting related to customer outcomes and compliance activity.
- You’ll ensure outcomes testing remains aligned with Consumer Duty principles, including Fair Value, Customer Understanding, and Customer Support.
- You’ll identify and escalate emerging risks, potential customer harm, or regulatory concerns through appropriate governance channels.
Technology & Continuous Improvement
- You’ll provide manual testing insight that supports the wider quality and outcomes ecosystem, including validation of technology‑enabled insight where appropriate.
- You’ll support change initiatives and pilots that aim to improve customer outcomes, quality, or ways of working, bringing a strong frontline perspective.
Governance & Compliance
- You’ll ensure all customer outcomes testing activity complies with regulatory expectations, Group standards, and internal controls.
- You’ll maintain accurate and auditable records of testing activity, insight, and follow‑up actions.
Culture & Behaviours
- You’ll role model the organisation’s values and demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering good customer outcomes.
- You’ll promote a learning mindset, encouraging curiosity, challenge, and professional development.
Experience & Knowledge:
- Previous experience in a customer outcomes, assurance, quality, or customer operations role, ideally within financial services or another regulated environment.
- Strong understanding of what good customer outcomes look like and how to assess them through manual, competency‑based testing.
- Knowledge of Consumer Duty, FCA conduct standards, or similar regulatory frameworks.
- Experience leading, coaching, or supporting others in a testing, assurance, or operational environment.
- Experience analysing outcomes testing, complaints feedback, or operational data to identify root causes and improvement opportunities.
- Understanding of risk and control principles within customer‑facing operations.
- Knowledge of insurance products, policies, or claims processes is desirable.
- Good understanding of how operational performance links to wider business objectives.
Skills:
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages for different audiences.
- Ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels.
- Good organisation and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
- Confidence presenting insight and facilitating discussions or learning sessions.
- People leadership skills, with a supportive and coaching‑led approach.
- Strong problem‑solving and decision‑making capability.
- Good data literacy, with confidence interpreting trends and root‑cause insight.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively as part of a wider team.
- Strong attention to detail and a structured approach to work.
Behaviours:
- Strong customer focus with a passion for doing the right thing.
- Commercially aware and outcomes‑driven.
- Curious, confident, and open to new ways of learning and improving.
- Proactive, organised, and resilient in a changing environment.
- Inclusive and supportive, helping others to perform at their best.
- Motivated, ambitious, and committed to delivering positive outcomes for customers and the business.
We'd love to hear fom you, apply today!
What can we do for you?
People first. Always. We’re passionate about our colleagues and know the best people deserve an extraordinary working environment. We owe it to them so that’s what we offer. Our workplaces are energetic, inspirational, supportive. To get a taste of the advantages you’ll enjoy, take a look at all our perks in full here.
Intrigued? Our Talent team can tell you everything you need to know about what we want and what we’re offering, so feel free to get in touch.
