Customer Experience Team Leader

Our purpose is…

To change people's lives for the better through wellness. We are passionate about supporting people to lead healthy fulfilled lives by providing a space where they can focus on their physical, mental and social well-being.
Our mission is to create an environment where wellness works for everyone. At Virgin Active wellness is not just about fitness- it's about creating real experiences that support members in their holistic health journey.
We provide a luxury wellness environment that fosters personal growth, community, and transformation. Our approach is accessible, inclusive, and built on the foundation of social wellness.
Our wellness offering is built on core pillars which define who we are and how we deliver on our promise:

1. Refreshing Real Experiences: Authentic, engaging experiences that inspire lasting wellness.
2. Holistic Wellness: A comprehensive approach integrating fitness, mental health, nutrition, and recovery.
3. Curated Guidance and Progress: Personalized coaching and programs to support sustainable progress.
4. Communities Without Conformity: Diverse, welcoming environments where everyone feels empowered.

Your Purpose...

• Be the custodian of service and operational communications with all members; ensuring all members receive relevant communications in a timeous and professional way.
• Oversee the team responsible for service escalations, including specific critical escalation channels.
• Act as the point of contact between the HO Customer Experience team and the call centre.
• Support the HO Customer Experience in delivering all service recovery initiative to ensure excellent service standards and the highest levels of member satisfaction.
• Work to proactively develop and implement, check, and communicate the correct customer service and operational messages to the correct member segmentations as per the business needs and requirements.
• Inform the Customer Engagement manager of all comms in advance to ensure these effectively communicate internally with training processes where required.
• Supports all service recovery project initiatives to ensure systemic transparency and no negative impact to business process/requirements.
• Work to resolve any incoming escalated queries from UK, Exco, Customer Engagement manager.
• Provides members with solutions and ensures completion to member expectations.

Your Duties and Responsibilities...

MANAGE AND ENSURE EFFECTIVE PRO-ACTIVE OPERATIONS/SERVICE MEMBER COMMS STRATEGIES ARE CARRIED OUT

• Work with the CRM team and Head of Member Engagement and Retention to create and communicate the correct messages to members regarding member accounts. (Financial and Legal Comms) These Include but are not limited to Price Increases, Age Ups, End of Term, Club Refurbs, Good News Stories.
• Ensure that correct messages are sent to the correct segmented data base.
• Ensure that correct comms channels are used to communicate effectively and cost effectively. Includes digital and in club comms.
• Ensure that above comms is sent in required timeframes as per legal and the consumer protection act.
• Manage the Operational/Service Comms calendar for all Pro-Active comms going to members. The calendar must ensure comms are sent at convenient times for members, while also managing work flow volumes are optimal for the central call center.
• Share the operational / service calendar and any changes with the central call center to ensure staff availability for queries arising from these.

MANAGE AND ENSURE EFFECTIVE REACTIVE OPERATIONAL / SERVICE MEMBER COMMS STRATEGIES ARE CARRIED OUT

• Work with the CRM team and Customer engagement manager to create and communicate the correct messages to members.
• Work with other teams to ensure all correct actions are completed to ensure effortless members experience including: notes are posted, comms are sent out internally and possible correct Bulk action is completed, bulk refunds / bulk apology sms 's etc.
• Adapt the applicable comms calendar accordingly when these reactive communications are to be sent, with the possibility of rescheduling Pro-active comms to minimise risk for the business.

MANAGING AND OVERSEEING THE SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

• Coordinate with Social Media Team: Ensure social media content aligns with member communication strategies. Work closely with the social media team to ensure all proactive, reactive, and emergency communications are consistent and timely across platforms.
• Manage Social Media Escalations: Oversee the resolution of social media escalations, ensuring that all member concerns raised through social channels are addressed swiftly and professionally. Monitor social media platforms for any emerging issues, complaints, or feedback that need immediate attention.
• Ensure Alignment with Member Comms Calendar: Coordinate with the social media team to ensure that social media posts and messaging align with the operational/service comms calendar. This helps to maintain a seamless communication experience for members, whether they engage with the brand on social media or via other channels.
• Monitor and Report on Trends: Keep track of social media trends, member sentiment, and engagement metrics. Use this data to report on the effectiveness of social media communication efforts and propose improvements based on feedback and engagement levels.
• Training and Support for Social Media Team: Provide ongoing training and support to the social media and escalations team to ensure they are well-equipped to handle member communications in line with company policies and strategies. This includes handling crises or emergencies on social media with a focus on brand consistency and professionalism.

DEAL WITH MEMBER QUERIES AND EMERGENCY COMMS

• Deal with escalated member queries from various channels within the business as well as from external sources .ie Consumer council.
• Manage emergency comms with current escalations team for sms and app notifications that need to be developed and sent during and outside of office hours.
• Assist the Head of Customer Experience with service recovery strategies and objectives.
• Manage relationship and all queries escalated form the Consumer Ombudsman.
• Be responsible for all customer service escalations relating to the app and rewards. Provide regular reporting on trends, and investigating and raising root causes with Head of Customer Experience and assist to drive change initiatives.

WRITE AND MANAGE THE COMMUNICATION OF ALL MEMBER RELATED POLICIES

• Write and provide support / training for any all processes and policies in line with member experience strategies, working closely with with Head of Change and Internal Comms.
• Ensure approved policies are published on the vault.

REPORTING

• Assist with all reporting requirements relating to the Customer Experience function. This includes but is not limited to all KPI, measurement and reporting initiatives as well as in club customer experience touchpoints such as surveys, member engagement touchpoints etc.

We can't live without… (Minimum Requirements)

• 5–7 years of relevant experience in customer service, communications, or operations, ideally in the wellness, fitness, or hospitality industry.
• Experience in managing communications (both proactive and reactive) for large, diverse member/customer bases.
• Experience using case management, marketing automation platforms and / or other relevant digital tools.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, either managing teams or leading cross-functional projects, with a focus on delivering operational excellence and service improvements.
• Experience in managing a social media team focused on KPIs related to responses to comments received via various social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and reporting on trends.
• Experience in crisis management or service recovery, dealing with escalated queries from both internal teams (e.g., Customer Engagement) and external bodies (e.g., Consumer Ombudsman).

We'd like you to have… (Attributes)

• Strong VASA knowledge of systems.
• Be a strong team player.
• The ability to energize people & teams, the ability to lead & drive change.
• Good coaching & training skills.
• Attention to detail, organized and self-motivated.
• Initiative/pro-active, Innovative.
• Leadership, Trustworthy, Team player.
• Work under pressure, and solution orientated.
• Pride in work.
• Adaptability (must be able to adapt to a fast paced, changing environment).
• Be curious (must be willing to succeed, seek opportunities to learn and grow).
• Have a winning mentality (must be willing to go over and above to achieve success).
• Must be motivated to achieve success.
• A commitment to making a difference in people's lives.
• A Growth mindset.
• The ability to work independently.
• Trustworthiness (must always act in doing the right thing).
• A drive to create moments of magic for our members.
• The ability to make decisions and take ownership and responsibility for the decision.
• Action orientation.

We'd love you to have… (additional skills)

• Ability to manage multi-functional teams.
• Exhibit strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Exhibit strong organizational skills through working independently and being able to prioritize project deliverables and deadlines.
• Good people & management skills.
• Confident in delivering training & presentations.
• Good financial/admin knowledge.
• Ability to plan effectively.
• Wellness knowledge, to engage and inspire others to take a holistic approach to wellness.
• The ability to be agile.
• The ability to be collaborative.
• High Interpersonal skills (EQ).