Manager Customer Experience

Napier City Council is seeking a Manager Customer Experience Water Services on a 12 month fixed-term basis to lead the delivery of high-quality, customer-focused water service experiences across our community. This is a hands-on leadership role where you’ll shape how customers interact with Water Services, ensuring every engagement is clear, responsive, and well supported.

This role sits at the heart of Water Services, bringing together customer service, technical support, communications, and administrative coordination. You’ll work closely with residents, developers, contractors, and internal teams to ensure water service processes are easy to navigate and consistently delivered to a high standard. With a strong focus on continuous improvement, you’ll also help strengthen systems, uplift capability, and ensure service delivery aligns with regulatory and organisational requirements.

Reporting to the Head of Water Operations, this is a great opportunity for an experienced leader who enjoys working across both customer-facing and technical environments, and who can bring structure, clarity, and energy to a busy and important service area.

Te Āheinga - The Opportunity

• Lead the Water Services customer experience function, ensuring consistent, high-quality service delivery
• Oversee customer communications, engagement activity, and service information across multiple channels
• Manage new water connections, technical enquiries, and coordination of consent-related support
• Provide leadership to the customer services team, including coaching, performance support, and capability development
• Drive improvements across systems, processes, and reporting to enhance efficiency and customer outcomes
• Oversee administrative and coordination functions that support Water Services operations

He kōrero mōhou - About You

• A relevant qualification in Business, Communications, Engineering, or Water Services (or equivalent experience)
• Strong experience in customer service, operations, administration, or technical service delivery (7+ years preferred)
• Proven leadership capability, with experience guiding teams in service-focused or technical environments
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills, with the ability to work confidently across diverse stakeholders
• Solid understanding of regulatory environments, compliance requirements, or water/service-based operations
• A practical, solutions-focused approach with a commitment to improving systems, service delivery, and customer experience

Ngā painga mōhou - What we Offer

• 5 weeks' annual leave after 2 years service
• Discounted health insurance work scheme + Eye test subsidy
• Retailer discounts + study assistance
• Employee Assistance Program (OCP)
• Quarterly values awards + Birthday vouchers + Social club
• Free flu vaccinations (annual)
• Ka Awatea Cultural Wānanga + NCC Kapa Haka
• Te Reo Māori language classes

Kia mōhio mai - Please note

Napier City Council is moving toward a joint regional water entity under the Local Water Done Well reform. This means future changes to how water services are governed and delivered are likely, including potential shifts in organisational structure, reporting lines, and regional collaboration. Applicants should be comfortable working in a dynamic environment and open to evolving responsibilities as part of a larger, regional approach to water management.

This is a fixed 12-month opportunity, full time role working 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday. You’ll be based in Napier.

The annual salary package for this role is between $130,195 - $153,170 (including KiwiSaver), with the final offer depending on your skills and experience.

We will be interviewing applications as we receive them and may close the role when we have found the right person.

He kōrero mō Te Kaunihera o Ahuriri - About NCC

At Napier City Council, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and work to make our hiring process fair and accessible. If you need any support or adjustments during your application or interview, let us know—we’re happy to help!

Our success is grounded in strong partnerships with Mana Whenua and Iwi, supported by our Māori Partnerships team, Te Waka Rangapū, which builds cultural capability through education and training.

Before you join, you’ll need to complete pre-employment checks (including criminal background checks, with some roles requiring health screening and drug & alcohol testing). As an NCC employee, you may also be called on to support Civil Defence emergencies when our community needs us most.

Please visit Napier City Council Careers website to see full job description