Customer Advocacy and Design Manager
Who are we?
We’re here to help people live well and create a better and more sustainable future. We support healthy and liveable communities by delivering water, sewerage and recycled water services to 1.77 million people who rely on us every day and every night. At South East Water, we innovate with purpose and act with care to deliver healthy water for life. Fresh thinking and collaboration are at the heart of our organisation. We are constantly learning, embracing the challenges of today and excited by the opportunities that tomorrow will bring.
The role
At South East Water, we believe in putting our customers at the heart of everything we do! As a leader in water service and provision, we're committed to delivering exceptional experiences that exceed expectations. We're on a mission to revolutionise the way we listen, understand, and respond to our customers' voices, and we need your expertise to make it happen!
As a senior leader of the Customer Experience group, this great parental leave, maximum-term opportunity until 19 December 2025, will be heavily focused on the delivery of our customer, community, employee and shareholder outcomes through leadership of your team and active contribution towards effective leadership of the Customer Experience group as a whole.
The Customer Advocacy & Design Manager will provide dynamic and forward-thinking leadership to deliver a progressive experience that meets the evolving needs and expectations of our customers and the communities we serve. Some of the key accountabilities will include the following:
- Leading the effective resource, budget management and future skill and capability development of the Customer Experience team.
- Fostering strong relationships with external networks to gain deep insights into emerging trends related to challenges and risks impacting customers.
- Delivering the three-year Advocacy & Design Action Plan and Family Violence Plan.
- Championing customer advocacy through the active participation in advisory and working groups both within the sector and beyond.
- Designing, delivering and embedding safety by design principles, ensuring processes are designed with the safety of customers in mind from the beginning.
- Actively contributing to and promote a customer centric culture through various initiatives including a customer champions model.
- Leading the Family Violence Program to drive initiatives that create safer experiences for customers affected by family violence.
- Utilising Voice of Customer (VoC) data and segmentation insights to strengthen customer experience.
- Conducting comprehensive journey and empathy mapping across core customer experiences.
Who are you?
Armed with a tertiary qualification in business administration, marketing, communications or other related field, the successful candidate will have a minimum of five years' experience working in a large, complex government or corporate environment, leading customer experience design and advocacy functions. Along with an ability to build strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders using your exceptional communication skills, you'll also have proven success in developing and leading a high performing team.
Your pragmatic and empathetic approach will ensure that you can adequately balance organisational objectives, whilst keeping customers and the community we serve at the forefront of every decision.
Demonstrated experience, knowledge and understanding of the following key components of the role will ensure your candidacy is considered:
- Deep understanding of challenges impacting vulnerable members of the community and proven success in implementing strategies to improve outcomes for vulnerable customers.
- Developing and implementing safety by design.
- Understanding of customer data, with the ability to analyse and convert insights into measurable and meaningful actions.
- Project management experience and strong business and commercial acumen.
- Broad understanding of the water sector and economic regulatory frameworks would be advantageous.
What's in it for you?
Working at South East Water means you can enjoy a wealth of benefits, starting with the chance to be part of an organisation deeply committed to environmental initiatives and sustainability; one who has been recognised as one of the top 101 Workplaces for Women in Australia by Work180 for the past two consecutive years.
South East Water cultivates a dynamic culture that emphasises collaboration and strong work ethics, supported by career-focused learning and development opportunities.
As a SEW employee, you can enjoy the following offerings from our benefits package:
- Access to My Fitness Passport, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), annual flu shots, and health checks.
- Work-life balance with flexible working arrangements, including hybrid work options.
- Life insurance and salary continuance.
- Additional leave offerings, such as cultural and ceremonial leave and study leave.
- Head office with modern facilities and panoramic beachfront views, a separate parents' room, a prayer and meditation room, an onsite cafe, and free parking.
- Opportunity to be part of great initiatives involving the local community.
We're for everyone
Our people are as diverse as the communities we serve. It makes us better learners, thinkers and collaborators, helping create better outcomes for our customers.
We are deeply committed to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQ+ individuals, people with disability and jobseekers of all ages and cultures. We aim to provide an inclusive, accessible workplace where everyone is welcome, safe, and celebrated. If you need any help with the application process or would like to discuss your reasonable adjustments during interviews, please reach out to our Talent team at careers@southeastwater.com.au.
Keen to make an impact?
Click here to check out the position description. We're accepting applications for this exciting opportunity until Sunday 27 April 2025!
To be considered for this opportunity, you must hold unrestricted working rights for the period of employment at the time of application. Successful candidates will also be required to undergo a number of pre-employment checks, including a police records check
South East Water operates a 24/7 service environment. Whilst this role does not involve after-hours rostered duty, all employees may be required to provide out of hours support from time to time as required.
Visit southeastwater.com.au to learn more about us and how we serve our customers.