The VP, Customer Care reports to the VP, Homeowners and manages the Customer Care organization across COO organization. This position is responsible for providing thought and operational leadership as it relates to all aspects of the Customer Care organization.
The VP, Customer Care will partner with other Senior Leaders to develop and communicate the strategic vision for their respective line(s) of business including short and long-range goals that tie into the organization’s objectives and support the product value proposition, market drivers, sales prospects and competitive impact. This position plays a critical role in ensuring clients and/or customer satisfaction and overall performance meet or exceed internal and external expectations and commitments.
Leadership
- Establish and develop an organizational culture fostering team members’ engagement, growth, performance and delivery of business targets.
- Responsible for matrix (i.e. dotted-line) supervision and management with Call Center and Operational leaders across COO organization..
- Support a culture of accountability at all levels through leadership focus, transparency and communication.
- Develop and execute succession planning by identifying aspiring leaders, their work ethic, as well as their ability and desire to lead teams of people.
- Recognize changing business needs and leverage capacity of other parts of the organization to provide support, drive client satisfaction and operational excellence.
- Channel, support and implement firm-wide executive leadership projects and initiatives in partnership with other Operations Senior Leaders.
Business Management and Performance
- Oversee Insurance Tracking Customer Care. Manage the leaders of those organizations towards successful achievement of performance goals.
- Monitor and manage internal and external service levels and ensure the proper processes are in place to deliver expected performance levels.
- Partner with other departments or business leaders to leverage necessary resources to design processes to increase efficiencies and support client requests.
- Partner with operations leadership and Workforce Management to communicate and prioritize client needs to ensure proper execution on client commitments and delivery of best-in-class client experience.
- Partner with Processing various operational areas in order to reduce inbound call volume and improve customer experience for those calls that are needed.
- Lead and direct other departments within the organization as it pertains to communication or projects with the client. Serve as a liaison with internal organizational departments as well as with the client.
- Partner with Process executives and others across the organization to identify and support execution of process changes in line with the organization’s vision and Assurant best practices.
- Nurture relationships with clients; track client service levels and performance for degradation and / or performance improvement. Develop, communicate and successfully implement remediation plans and controls where appropriate. Measure client satisfaction and use findings to identify and address areas of opportunity.
- Create, track and manage teams to defined metrics e.g.: budget variance, cost per unit, items per FTE, quality engagement score, employee engagement score and related corporate action plan metrics.
- Responsible for development, implementation and maintenance of functional systems, tools, processes and procedures used to process and track Operations work.
Crisis and Escalation Management:
- Develop and implement crisis management protocols to handle customer escalations and challenging situations effectively.
- Ensure swift and satisfactory resolution of escalated customer issues, maintaining transparency and professionalism
- Identify systemic issues and implement corrective actions to prevent future escalations.
Build Organizational Talent
- Provide coaching and mentoring to reporting team members based on individual needs
- Collaborate with local HR Business Partners to ensure employees are fully trained and equipped with the resources necessary to carry out their responsibilities and achieve their individual/team goals.
- Partner with the local HR Business Partners and the Learning & Development team to help identify, create and facilitate training required to improve employee performance.
- Work with local HR Partners, Managers and peers to ensure consistent implementation of HR guidelines and corporate policies to foster a fair working environment.
Team Communication and Management
- Communicate progress against key performance indicators and operational developments to Operations/Unit Managers and extended team spanning multiple domestic and international sites via Town Halls and other communications as needed
- Drive participation and support the administration of the enterprise-level employee engagement survey. Analyze results, identify and execute on opportunities to maintain and/or improve employee engagement while fostering a business-process led culture across the organization.
Operations Client Relationship Management
- Drive communication of performance against goals and objectives for internal/external clients and their specific portfolios.
- Participate in existing client activities by attending product development meetings, supporting the implementation of client process changes / new service requirements and drive subsequent communication to Client Executives. Host clients during site visits.
- Serve as executive client point of contact accountable for the escalation and communication of clients’ concerns to the appropriate resources for resolution.
Project Support
- Partner with and support operations leaders and project management teams by identifying and providing SMEs and managers to support the execution of specific tasks and responsibilities within the context of specific projects.
- Promote continuous improvement to deliver value to the client by supporting the PMO with systems enhancements or projects that continue to support operational controls.
- Support internal projects by providing project support/SME insights, driving internal and external communications.
Qualifications
- B.S./B.A. degree
- Minimum of 10 years’ experience leading people, with proven track record of evaluating and building department talent and developing strong working relationships with business partners.
- Minimum of 10 years’ experience managing teams in large operational environments, ideally in an outsourcing environment.
- Minimum of 7 years’ experience working in a rapidly changing environment, requiring prioritization and multi-tasking skills to support both strategic and tactical needs from ideation through execution.
- Minimum of 7 years of people and project management experience implementing and managing across multiple physical and remote locations with a proven ability to manage diverse elements of complex projects/processes for people, tasks, communication, change, etc. to drive optimal outcomes and results.
- Minimum 10 years’ experience mastering PC skills with the ability to use Microsoft Excel, basic analytics/reporting packages, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint.
Preferred Skills
- M.B.A. or equivalent advanced degree.
- Minimum of 5 years in successful strategy planning and solutions consulting.
- Demonstrates strong negotiation, influencing and analytical skills.
- Proven ability to drive quantifiable business results.
- Effective coaching and mentoring abilities to support reporting teams based on individual needs.
- Excellent time management, organization and follow-up skills.
- Ability to meet aggressive deadlines.
- Creative, solutions-oriented, and strategic thinker.
- Proven results associated with leading and driving change.
- Strong interpersonal and oral/written communication skills, demonstrated through past experience and results.
- Must be decisive and results oriented with an elevated level of integrity and customer focus
- Understanding of Contact Center (front office) and widget based (back office) performance metrics / measurements and methodologies.
Pay Range:
$159,500.00 – $266,300.00