Customer Experience Lead - Adult Community Learning

Customer Experience Lead - Adult Community Learning

Permanent, Full Time

£36,948 to £43,468 per annum

Location: Essex

Working Style: Fixed-base worker*

Closing Date: 4th June 2026

*Please note this is a fixed-base role. Whilst you will be contractually based in your preferred ACL office (listed here), the role allows for some home-working and a requirement to attend ACL sites 2-3 days per week, in line with business need.

Adult Community Learning (ACL) is ECC’s provider of lifelong learning experiences for Essex residents. ACL offers qualifications to help people move nearer to, enter or progress within the workplace or gain skills to enhance life chances. The service focuses many of its programmes and activities on the hardest to reach communities within Essex. ACL learners have access to a diverse range of accredited and non-accredited courses which encourage creativity, healthy lifestyles, social inclusion and engagement.

This role leads customer-facing operations across ACL centres, ensuring every learner receives an excellent and consistent experience from first contact through to completion. The postholder embeds high service standards, drives continuous improvement, and upholds the requirements of current Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF), DfE funding rules and ACL’s quality expectations. Working collaboratively with Curriculum, Learning Support and Digital teams, the role champions accessible, inclusive and digitally-enabled environments that support strong learner outcomes.

Operating in a fast-paced learning environment, the role balances short-term operational delivery with strategic contribution to long-term curriculum and quality planning. The postholder shapes a culture of outstanding customer experience, develops staff capability and builds effective relationships across internal teams and external partners to support learner progression, achievement and community engagement.

Role responsibilities

• Collaborate with MIS and Admissions to enable a positive enrolment experience for customers, ensuring financial compliance for enrolments, including correct handling, receipting and security of income, use of payment systems and adherence to ECC financial procedures.
• Develop, implement and continuously refine customer-service standards aligned to the ACL Service Operating Framework, ensuring compliance with current Ofsted EIF expectations, funding requirements and ECC customer-experience principles, ensuring every learner receives a consistent, positive and professional experience that supports enrolment, engagement, progression and achievement.
• Build capability and confidence of Customer Experience Officers, providing coaching, mentoring and constructive feedback that promotes a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and learner-centred practice.
• Analyse customer insight, learner feedback and performance data to identify service gaps, improve learner-journey touchpoints and drive targeted interventions that strengthen satisfaction and outcomes.
• Work collaboratively with Digital, Learning Support and Sector teams to ensure joined-up processes, accurate information flows and seamless learner experiences from enrolment through to achievement.
• Champion accessibility, inclusivity and digital-first approaches ensuring that all customer-facing environments, communications and interactions meet diverse learner needs and remove barriers to participation.
• Represent ACL within corporate customer-service forums and cross-council working groups, influencing decisions, sharing best practice and strengthening ACL’s alignment with wider ECC service priorities.
• Support operational planning and service readiness for curriculum delivery cycles, contributing to long-term quality improvement strategies and development of future customer-experience enhancements.
• Ensure compliance with ECC policies, safeguarding expectations and statutory/ regulatory requirements, proactively identifying risks and taking timely action to maintain safe, high-quality learner services
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Educated to RQF Level 3 or equivalent by experience, demonstrating strong foundational knowledge relevant to customer-facing service delivery within a learning environment, with evidence of continuing professional development.
• Proven experience leading customer-service teams, ideally within adult education, FE, or the public sector, with the ability to motivate staff, build capability and embed consistent service standards.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence, coach and build positive relationships across varied teams and stakeholders.
• Well-developed analytical and problem-solving ability, using data, feedback and insight to identify service gaps, diagnose issues and implement sustainable improvements.
• Knowledge and understanding of current Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and its implications for delivering high-quality learner experiences and effective customer-service practice.
• A demonstrable commitment to inclusivity, quality and continuous professional development, with the ability to promote accessible, learner-centered approaches that remove barriers and support progression.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

To read more about us please visit: Policy, Economy, Investment and Property - Working for Essex

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service.  The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate.  This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.  For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

Follow us on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Downloads

Pay and Reward | Our Ways of Working  | About Us  | Organisation Behaviours