Complaints Team Leader - AR

Title: Team Leader - Complaints Job Grade: Level 4, Zone 2 About Camden

Camden is building somewhere everyone can thrive, by making our borough the best place to live, work, study and visit. Because we're not just home to UK's fast-growing economy, we're home to the most important conversations happening today. And we're making radical social change a reality so that nobody gets left behind. Here's where you can help decide a better future for us all. We are committed to connecting to our communities and listening and responding to make change to what we hear. Complaints and other formal enquiries provide a regular and rich source of feedback from our citizens that inform us when things have gone wrong. Learning from these gives us the opportunity to improve services to support our citizens. The Team Leader - Complaints plays a key role in how we deliver the right outcomes to our citizens and in continually improving our services to deliver our ambitions.

About the role

This is an active leadership role in the Information Governance service to develop and lead a citizen-focused and efficient complaints handling procedure that meets the requirements of all related legislation, guidance and policy requirements of the Local Authority under statutory and non-statutory complaints policies and procedures. The role leads a team that handles all complaints received in the Council ensuring they are responded to by the correct service and within required timescales. The role also provides education, training and awareness to everyone in the council on the requirements of complaints handling, relevant legislation and best practice to facilitate and embed learning from complaints that promotes continuous improvement. The role will deal with citizens directly who are not satisfied with the services they have received from the council in order to create a better future for all and improving services provided by the council to its residents.

About you

• We need someone who can drive continuous team performance and engagement, review and improve processes and systems, and deliver high-quality data and insights to senior stakeholders to support wider service improvements.
• You will champion service excellence by maintaining expert, up-to-date knowledge of complaints legislation, enquiry procedures, and information-governance best practice, ensuring the service remains compliant, effective, and forward-looking.
• You will bring a strong understanding of relevant legislation, proven ability to oversee complex casework, and confidence in providing accurate reporting and analysis, addressing non-compliance effectively.
• You advise and assist with the management of complaints and formal enquiries, including liaising with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and Housing Ombudsman (HO) on behalf of Camden.

Work Environment

You will be required to work in line with Camden's agile working framework including flexible and remote working patterns which are a combination of office-based and home working, as required by the service and lead and manage a team and the effective delivery of services within that framework. The main office is located at 5 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG.

People Management Responsibilities

• You will manage the day to day work of staff (9 to 12+) in the Central Complaints Team to ensure a flexible and professional service that enables the organisation to meet the needs of citizens and our legal requirements in regards to complaints.
• You will be responsible for all training, learning, team development and personal development of team members ensuring the maintenance of high quality standards.
• You will manage, both informally and formally, the investigation and resolution of service and staff issues in line with the agreed policies and procedures and make recommendations for continuous learning and improvement, development and professionalism of staff and the services they deliver.
• To cover as required other specialist areas within the Information Governance Service as part of the wider management Team.

Technical Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of statutory complaints policies and procedures related to the public sector and Local Authorities Acts and responsibilities.
• Experience of relevant technical and professional guidance and good practice in complaints handling and formal enquiries management.
• Knowledge of UK data protection legislation, including the DPA 2018 & GDPR.
• Demonstrable ability to take ownership of a team's performance, set clear expectations, and provide firm, consistent management to ensure consistent high level of performance, quality and customer care delivery standards are met.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the capability to build effective working relationships, maintain authority, and handle challenging situations with confidence and professional composure.
• Proven experience in guiding teams through change, addressing underperformance, and fostering a culture of accountability and high-quality service.
• Ability to work on own initiative and with minimal supervision and able to make accurate, considered judgements and decisions.
• Ability to convey complex and technical information clearly and concisely in plain English.
• Demonstrable experience of use of systems and information, with the ability to collate, manipulate, analyse and present complicated data in plain and simple language.
• Experience of working with a case management system that delivers statistical and performance data relating to complaints and formal enquiries, showing trends to ensure performance measures & standards (statutory and non-statutory) are met.

Qualifications

• A recognised professional qualification in one or more specialist areas within Information Governance (or equivalent demonstrable relevant experience).

Relationships

You will report into the Head of Business Support.

You will be required to liaise with various teams and services across the council and partner organisations, resolving issues and providing advice as required. Key contacts will be:

• Senior leadership teams across all directorates
• Portfolio Holders and Elected Members
• Officers of Camden Council
• Officers in other local authorities, London-wide bodies and central government departments e.g. LGOSCO & HO.
• Citizens from within and outside the borough
• External organisations who are contracted to provide records management functions and tools to the council.

These relationships will involve the resolution of contentious matters that will require persuasion and negotiation with colleagues. The outcomes of these discussions may have implications for the organisation, in particular, in the provision of excellent customer service and the achievement of business objectives with a focus on learning and service improvement and promotion of good practice.