Customer Service Team Lead

OUR MISSION To become the car-changing destination of choice. By combining technology, media and deep automotive expertise, we've turned how people buy, sell, advertise and lease cars on its head. What started as a simple reviews site is now one of the largest online car-changing destinations in Europe. Last year alone we grew over 50% with nearly £3bn worth of cars bought on site, while £1.8bn of cars were listed for sale through our Sell My Car service. In 2024 we went big and acquired Autovia - creators of AutoExpress and Evo magazines - doubling our audience overnight. Together we now have one of the biggest YouTube channels in the world with almost 10m subscribers and over 1.1 billion annual views, while we sell 1.2 million print copies of our magazines and have an annual web content reach over 350 million. And we’re a long way from done! CUSTOMER SERVICE @ CARWOW Car-changing is a big deal, and we want to ensure everyone using Carwow has a WOW experience. When those inevitable questions or snags come up during the process, we want to ensure there's a friendly face ready to help. That's where our Customer Service team comes in. We are the first point of contact for our customers, providing exceptional support across various channels, including phone, email, messaging, chat and review platforms. We play a key role in guiding both users and dealers through their journey by solving problems and providing accurate information to achieve a great customer experience. YOUR MISSION As a Customer Service Team Lead, you will lead and support a team of Customer Service Agents by solving problems, improving how the team operates, and developing the training materials that keep it running well. You will split your time between formal people management and hands-on operational work whenever needed. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Team Leadership Lead and support Customer Service Agents, providing day-to-day guidance and coaching. Deliver regular, direct feedback and close out issues raised by the team. Run one-to-ones and people processes, supporting the team's development and representing their interests. Hold team members accountable for performance, behaviour and adherence to operational standards. Analyse team performance data and provide regular reporting on KPIs, SLAs, productivity and quality. Identify underperformance early, creating action plans and following through. Individual Contribution & Problem-Solving Step into the agent role when volumes or gaps require it, communicating with customers across phone, email, live chat and messaging. Investigate and resolve unclear or escalated problems that require more context or judgement than a first-line resolution, including complex complaints. Lead operational improvement projects that streamline the customer journey and the team's day-to-day work. Training & Process Build and maintain training materials, updating them whenever processes or products change. Deliver training and keep the team up to date on new processes and best practices. Monitor quality through feedback, coaching sessions and quality checks, driving continuous improvement. Planning & Resource Management Support workforce planning, including rota management, annual leave, absence cover and contingency planning during peak periods. Efficiently manage workload and volumes, prioritising urgent requests and ensuring timely responses. Collaboration Partner with our other Team Leader and with the Customer Operations Team to keep both teams aligned and share what's working across the group. Act as a point of contact between the team and management, ensuring clear communication of priorities and updates. Balance formal people management with individual contributor projects, prioritising based on what the team needs. Share clear insights from customer feedback to help improve products and services. KEY REQUIREMENTS Previous experience as a Team Leader, or in an equivalent formal people-management role, ideally within a contact centre or customer operations environment. Experience running one-to-ones, delivering structured feedback and managing day-to-day people processes. Ability to step into an agent's day-to-day work and understand what they're dealing with, not manage from a distance. Experience of working in a contact centre environment, dealing with a high volume of inbound calls, emails and chats. Excellent spoken and written English capabilities. Initiative: when something's unclear or a problem has no obvious owner, you investigate it rather than waiting to be told. A natural communicator and advocate for your team, representing their interests. Ability to operate effectively as both a manager and an individual contributor, without losing momentum on either. Carwow operates 7 days a week so you may be required to work any time between Mon-Sun 8am-8pm, including public holidays. Currently, our operating hours as a team are 9am-6pm, Mon-Sat, but this may change in the future. WHY THIS MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU You'll join a team with deep operational knowledge, built by agents solving these problems every day. As a new joiner, you'll need to earn credibility and learn fast, while supporting your new team. This role suits people who build trust through action rather than easing in gradually. Carwow moves fast; we set ambitious goals and are always challenging ourselves to improve. We're a scaleup, so naturally, we're constantly unblocking obstacles and managing moving goalposts. This can also be uncomfortable for some people, so we'd rather flag it up front. INTERVIEW PROCESS Introductory call with our Talent team Step one: Interview with your hiring manager Step two: Values interview WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU Hybrid working Competitive salary to fund that dream holiday to Bali Share options - when we thrive, so do you! Private Healthcare, for peace of mind Meal allowance card (8,32€ per working day) Monthly coaching sessions with Spill - our mental wellbeing partner Enhanced holiday package, plus bank holidays 28 days annual leave 1 day for your wedding 1 day off when you move house - because moving's hard enough without work! On your third year anniversary, you get 30 days of annual leave per year On your tenth year anniversary, you get 35 days of annual leave per year Option to buy 3 extra days of holiday per year Work from abroad for a month (due to popular demand, this offer excludes the moon) Inclusive parental, partner and shared parental leave, fertility treatment and pregnancy loss policies The latest tech (Macbook or Surface) to power your gif-sending talents Up to £500/€550 home office allowance for that massage chair you've been talking about A generous learning and development budget to help you master your craft Regular social events: tech lunches, coffee with the exec sessions, book clubs, social events/anything else you pester us for Refer a friend, get paid. Repeat for infinite money Lunch & learns and Carwow Classrooms with expert speakers who are here for a free lunch Diversity and inclusion is an integral part of our culture. We know that diverse teams are strong teams, so we welcome those with alternative identities, backgrounds, and experiences to apply for this position. We make recruiting decisions based on experience, skills and potential, so all our applicants are treated fairly and equally.