About First Bus:

Are you ready to advance your career with one of the UK's leading bus operators? Join a forward-thinking company that embraces cutting-edge bus technology, from innovative mobile apps to environmentally friendly vehicles. We are passionate about delivering passenger journeys that are sustainable, comfortable, and efficient. We are at the forefront of innovation in the industry, connecting communities and shaping the future of public transport.

At First Bus, we’re accelerating our ambition to become a truly customer-led business, and this role sits at the heart of that transformation.

Operating across diverse regional markets, we serve millions of customers every day. To unlock sustainable growth, we’re strengthening our Customer Excellence capability, ensuring the voice of the customer shapes how we design, deliver and continuously improve our services.

As Head of Customer Excellence, you’ll lead the customer experience strategy across Regional Bus, turning insight into action and driving measurable improvements across proposition, operations, digital channels, contact centres and frontline delivery. This is a remote based role with UK travel required.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Experience Strategy & Vision

• Define and lead a clear, Customer Experience (CX) strategy aligned to business growth ambitions.

• Establish a CX framework and standards that can be applied consistently across regions.

• Identify and track external CX trends, benchmarks and best practice to continuously evolve our approach.

Customer Insight & Voice of the Customer

• Own customer insight, including feedback, complaints, NPS and behavioural data
• Act as the central source of truth for customer experience
• Identify systemic issues, trends and growth opportunities
• Ensure insight is accessible and drives decision-making at all levels
• Partner with Commercial and Customer Proposition to shape segmentation and proposition

Service Design & Customer Journey Excellence

• Drive and deliver service design, embedding structured approaches such as customer journey mapping and experience blueprinting.
• Identify critical customer journeys and moments that matter, prioritising improvement where it will have the greatest impact.
• Work closely with the Digital team and Customer Proposition Director to ensure seamless, end-to-end experiences across physical and digital channels.

Insight-Led Transformation & Delivery

• Translate insight into clear, prioritised interventions that improve customer outcomes.
• Partner with Regional teams and Transformations Managers to deliver change at both systemic and local levels.
• Track and measure the impact of improvements, ensuring changes deliver tangible and sustained results.
• Embed CX into governance, decision-making and performance management processes.

Frontline Engagement & Customer Culture

• Champion the customer agenda across frontline teams, ensuring colleagues understand their role in delivering great experiences.
• Work closely with HR and Training teams to embed customer-centric behaviours, capability and accountability.
• Translate strategy into simple, practical guidance that empowers teams on the ground.

Contact Centre & Customer Channels

• Lead the Contact Centre and customer interaction strategy, improving quality, efficiency and resolution.
• Use customer contact data as a critical source of insight to identify root causes and inform improvement plans
• Ensure customer channels are aligned, effective and deliver a consistent experience.

Skills/Experience

• Proven senior leadership experience in Customer Experience, Insight, Service Design or Transformation roles.
• Strong track record of defining and delivering CX strategies in complex, multi-site or operational environments.
• Expertise in customer insight, analytics and translating data into action and measurable outcomes.
• Experience in service design and customer journey mapping methodologies.
• Ability to operate at both strategic and operational levels, balancing national consistency with regional nuance.
• Strong stakeholder leadership skills, with the ability to influence across senior and frontline audiences.
• Deep understanding of how to embed customer-centric culture and behaviours at scale.

Rewards

Your health is important to us which is why we offer Simply Health & Smart Health for you and your dependents at no cost to you! This offering includes cash back benefits across optical & dental as well as virtual GP appointments, mental health support and nutrition and fitness advise. Our EAP provision offers 24hr, 365 days a year mental health support
• We are also committed to your financial wellbeing, and we offer a platform with many discounts on high street brands and supermarkets etc
• Working at First you also receive discounted train travel for you and your family after 6 months service as well as a free bus pass
• Cycle to work scheme
• 25 days' holiday + bank holidays
• Pension scheme and chance to buy discounted First Group shares
• Enhanced maternity / paternity pay
• Flexible working

Equal Opportunities

Public transport serves everyone, whatever their differences. At First Bus, we want to be an employer open to you, no matter what your differences are. We aspire to be an inclusive organisation because diverse backgrounds, thinking and experiences bring so many benefits to our customers, communities, and people. We welcome applications from all.