Customer Care Manager

About the job

What you will do

• Help shape customer care strategies that support Watu's overall goals, and identify opportunities to grow and improve the contact centre.
• Lead, mentor and develop a team of customer care supervisors and agents across voice and digital channels, so they are motivated, skilled and aligned with the company's objectives.
• Oversee the day-to-day operations of the contact centre, ensuring efficient and effective handling of customer enquiries and issues.
• Implement best practices to improve response times, reduce call handling times and raise customer satisfaction.
• Evaluate gaps in processes and champion improvements by developing practical solutions for our tools and processes.
• Reinforce a positive performance culture by monitoring KPIs and metrics, holding regular performance reviews, giving constructive feedback and putting improvement plans in place.
• Generate and analyse contact-centre performance reports, use the insights to make decisions and drive improvement, and report progress to senior management.
• Work closely with other departments to identify customer pain points and ensure a seamless experience across all channels, including voice, chat, email and social media.
• Act as the escalation point for complex or high-priority customer issues, and develop crisis plans for unexpected situations.
• Keep up to date with trends in customer experience and recommend new approaches where they add value.
• Work with the Watu South Africa leadership team to protect and advance the company's interests, and to deliver excellent customer service and the operational targets set for the contact centre.

What we are looking for

• Passion for Watu's mission to empower entrepreneurs.
• Two to five years of proven experience in a customer service role, including supervisory or management responsibilities, and a strong understanding of contact-centre operations.
• Self-motivated, with high energy, the ability to prioritise, meet deadlines and adapt in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• Strong leadership skills, with a track record of driving performance, shaping culture and developing people.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build rapport and work with a diverse team.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a team spirit. You go the extra mile and help others reach shared goals.
• Clear leadership: you set a clear vision, inspire your team to deliver it, and are willing to lead by example on the front line when needed.
• Strong management skills: you plan, organise and control departmental activities and make sound decisions under pressure.
• Sound financial judgement, including managing a departmental budget and being accountable for the costs and outcomes it funds.
• Ethical and professional conduct. Successful background checks will be required, carried out with the candidate's consent and in line with POPIA.

Working conditions