Senior Customer Experience Manager

Closing Date

2026-10-26

Job Title: Senior Customer Experience Manager

Location: Durrington, West Sussex (hybrid, 2 days per week)

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37 hours per week

Salary: £68-70,000 (depending on skills and experience)

There has never been a more important time to join Southern Water. As we move through AMP8, we are delivering one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes in the industry, focused on improving environmental performance, service resilience and long‑term affordability for customers.

About the role

The Senior Manager of Customer Experience is accountable for defining and executing the organisation’s customer experience (CX) strategy across all business units. This role shapes the vision for how customers engage with the organisation, drives service excellence, and ensures customer-centricity is embedded in culture, processes, and decision-making.

The role leads a team of about 15 to deliver cross company programmes with measurable improvements that elevate customer experience and reduce cost to serve. This role influences senior leaders, partners with executive stakeholders, and leads large-scale transformation programmes that deliver measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, operational performance, and reputation.

What you will be responsible for

• Apply human-centred design and transformation practices to simplify, modernise and continuously improve customer journeys across all channels.
• Establish clear ownership, accountability and performance management of customer journeys, driving continuous improvement and consistent customer communications to deliver better outcomes, efficiency and value.
• Implement robust CX governance, performance reporting and standards to ensure consistent service delivery, transparent accountability and compliance with regulatory expectations.
• Lead the use of customer insight, feedback and analytics to identify priorities, inform decision-making and drive targeted improvements that enhance customer experience and reduce costs.

What you’ll bring to the role

• Demonstrable experience leading large scale customer experience, journey transformation, or service redesign across complex enterprise environments.
• Proven ability to influence and challenge executive leadership, driving collective accountability for customer outcomes.
• Experienced in leading multidisciplinary CX functions and building high performing specialist teams.
• Knowledge of customer insight methodologies, journey management, human centred design, service design, and CX measurement frameworks as well as UK Customer Service regulations and GDPR compliance.
• Strong strategic thinker with a track record of turning insight and strategy into measurable improvements in CX, cost to serve, and commercial performance.

Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.

"Our mission is to protect and enhance life through water—and we need passionate people to help us achieve it. If you’re inspired by our purpose and believe you can contribute, apply today. You don’t need to meet every criterion; what matters most is your drive to make a difference."

If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com- Introduce Yourself)

Our Commitment to Diversity

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Additional information

In line with Southern Water’s security requirements, successful candidates will be required to provide evidence of their identity, eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record check (DBS) and verification of their employment and/or education history for the past three years.

Appointment to this role is subject to the successful completion of all pre‑employment checks, including security vetting.

Please note that if a candidate does not meet the required security standards or fails to pass the vetting process, Southern Water reserves the right to withdraw the offer of employment. Some positions may also require higher levels of security vetting, which may involve providing additional documentation.

Welcome

Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In.

We succeed together

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position.

Need flexibility in your work?

Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?