Head of Customer Relations

As Transmission System Operator, EirGrid is at the heart of Ireland's electricity system, ensuring that power flows safely and reliably from where it is generated to where it is needed. EirGrid manages the real-time operation of the power system and oversees the wholesale electricity market, balancing supply and demand every second of the day. We strengthen system resilience through the development and operation of interconnectors to other countries and are also responsible for planning and developing the transmission network, investing in necessary upgrades and expansion to meet Ireland's growing demand and support the transition to a low-carbon future. Our role is expanding significantly to include operating, developing, and owning Ireland's offshore transmission grid, a critical step in harnessing the potential of offshore wind energy.

The Opportunity

The Head of Customer Relations will provide strategic leadership for EirGrid's customer relationship agenda, ensuring that customers experience clear ownership, timely communication, effective issue resolution and a consistently high standard of engagement across the organisation.

The role will lead the development of a proactive, evidence-based and accountable customer relationship model, using customer insight, account management, structured engagement, CRM data and performance measures to improve service, build trust and ensure the customer voice is reflected in business planning and delivery.

The successful candidate will bring the presence, judgement and delivery focus to operate credibly at Head of Function level while staying close to the practical realities of customer service, stakeholder engagement, account management and issue resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for EirGrid's customer relations function, establishing a clear ambition for customer experience, account management and customer-focused performance.
• Lead a step-change in how EirGrid engages with customers and industry, ensuring customer needs, expectations and feedback are understood, prioritised and translated into practical improvements.
• Create stronger organisational ownership of customer outcomes, working across teams to provide a more coherent and coordinated customer experience.
• Design and embed a proactive customer account management model with clear ownership, structured escalation, timely communication, effective issue resolution and credible advocacy for customers within EirGrid.
• Use customer insight, surveys, lessons learned, pulse checks, CRM data and engagement feedback to identify friction points, focus improvement effort and track progress against service objectives.
• Champion customer-facing digital enablement, including CRM and customer information portals, to improve transparency, accessibility, query management and consistency of communication.
• Build trusted relationships with customers, developers, market participants, industry representative bodies and senior internal leaders.
• Act as a visible champion for a customer-centric culture, influencing senior leaders and teams to place the customer voice at the centre of planning, prioritisation, delivery and continuous improvement.
• Lead, develop and empower senior managers and customer-facing teams, building capability, accountability, collaboration and pace.
• Advise the Director of Customer Delivery on customer experience, customer delivery performance, recurring issues, engagement risks and organisational changes required to improve customer outcomes.

About You

• A third level qualification in a relevant discipline such as business, engineering, economics, operations, public policy, communications, law or a related field; a postgraduate qualification would be an advantage.
• Significant senior leadership experience in a complex customer-facing, regulated, infrastructure, utility, energy, telecoms, transport, engineering, public service or business-to-business environment.
• A proven track record of improving customer experience, service delivery, account management, stakeholder engagement or operational performance at scale.
• Strong understanding of complex customer journeys, service design, issue resolution, escalation management, performance frameworks and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to build confidence with senior customers, developers, market participants, regulators, industry bodies and executive colleagues.
• Experience using customer insight, CRM, digital tools, surveys, reporting or lessons learned to drive measurable service improvement and stronger organisational decision-making.
• Strong executive presence, communication skills and judgement, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, explain complexity clearly and maintain trust through challenging issues.
• Excellent people leadership capability, including experience leading through senior managers, developing talent and building high-performing, collaborative teams.

We value potential as much as experience. If you believe you can succeed in this role, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet every requirement.

We're dedicated to diversity and inclusion at EirGrid. We recognise the strength that comes from having a diverse workforce and the importance of a supportive culture for all our people to achieve their potential. Our diversity and inclusion networks have been designed to create an inclusive culture that enables our people to feel a sense of belonging at work.

As an equal opportunities' employer, we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. Reasonable accommodations are offered at every stage of our recruitment process.