Director of Customer Operations and Process Excellence

GENERAL SUMMARY OF POSITION:

The Director of Customer Care & Process Improvement is responsible for leading the customer care function across six manufacturing locations while driving continuous improvement initiatives that enhance customer experience, operational efficiency, and business performance. This role serves as the strategic leader for customer order management, customer communication, service excellence, process standardization, and cross-functional collaboration between Customer Care, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Logistics, Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Information Technology.

The Director will develop a high-performing customer care organization, establish world-class service metrics, implement process improvements, and create scalable systems that improve order fulfillment, proactive customer communication, on-time delivery performance, and overall customer satisfaction. The individual will serve as the primary voice of the customer within the organization while ensuring alignment between customer expectations and operational capabilities.

This role requires a hands-on leader who combines strong people leadership, process improvement expertise, analytical capabilities, and manufacturing business acumen to drive operational excellence and customer-centric performance. The position is accountable for departmental performance, staffing strategy, budget management, customer satisfaction programs, and cross-functional process effectiveness. This is a full-time, on-site role. The selected candidate will be required to work in person at our Morrisville, North Carolina office each day. Remote or hybrid work arrangements are not available for this position.

CORE & ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

TASKS:

CUSTOMER CARE LEADERSHIP

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Customer Care Representatives supporting customers across multiple manufacturing locations.
• Establish performance expectations, service standards, and professional development plans.
• Build and maintain a customer-focused culture emphasizing responsiveness, accountability, problem resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Develop succession plans and organizational capability through talent development and leadership coaching.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, train, and retain high-performing team members.
• Establish and manage Team Lead and/or Supervisor roles to support organizational growth and scalability.
• Develop workforce planning strategies that support business growth while reducing reliance on temporary staffing resources.
• Conduct performance reviews, provide coaching and feedback, and address employee relations matters in accordance with company policies.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for critical customer concerns and service recovery efforts.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT

• Develop and execute a strategic vision for customer care aligned with company growth objectives.
• Ensure consistent customer service practices, policies, and procedures across all manufacturing locations.
• Establish, manage, and continuously improve customer satisfaction measurement programs, including CSAT, NPS, complaint trending, and customer feedback analysis.
• Develop structured root-cause review and corrective action processes for customer complaints, service failures, and negative customer feedback.
• Partner with Sales and Operations to strengthen customer relationships and improve overall customer experience.
• Ensure proactive communication regarding service issues, production delays, inventory constraints, shipment status, and risk mitigation plans.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

• Identify, prioritize, and lead continuous improvement initiatives across customer care, order management, and cross-functional business processes.
• Standardize workflows, policies, procedures, service models, and best practices across facilities.
• Analyze business processes to eliminate bottlenecks, reduce waste, improve responsiveness, and enhance customer satisfaction.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action initiatives related to service failures, order issues, claims, and customer complaints.
• Champion cross-functional process improvements that improve accuracy, reduce manual workarounds, streamline communication, and increase operational efficiency.
• Establish shared performance metrics and accountability across departments to support end-to-end customer success.

ORDER MANAGEMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN COLLABORATION

• Oversee customer order processing, order status communication, and customer issue resolution.
• Partner closely with Manufacturing, Production Planning, Scheduling, Logistics, Distribution, and Procurement teams to improve order fulfillment performance and service reliability.
• Ensure proactive communication regarding production schedules, lead times, shipment status, delivery exceptions, and at-risk orders.
• Develop processes that provide greater visibility into customer orders, service risks, and fulfillment performance.
• Own the returns, RMA, claims management, and customer dispute resolution processes, including turnaround standards, escalation procedures, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Partner with Finance to resolve pricing discrepancies, invoicing issues, customer deductions, chargebacks, and credit disputes.
• Participate in Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes to represent customer demand, service requirements, and emerging business risks.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & ANALYTICS

• Establish and monitor key customer care and operational performance indicators.
• Develop dashboards and reporting tools that provide visibility into customer service, operational performance, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Analyze trends and implement corrective actions to improve service levels.
• Present performance results and improvement initiatives to executive leadership.
• Utilize data-driven decision-making to prioritize business improvements.
• Develop executive reporting on customer satisfaction, complaints, service levels, claims trends, backlog performance, and team productivity.

SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT

• Partner with IT and Operations teams to improve ERP, CRM, order management, and customer communication systems.
• Serve as the Customer Care functional leader for ERP, CRM, and customer-facing technology initiatives.
• Lead requirements gathering, process design, user acceptance testing, training, implementation readiness, and adoption efforts for new systems and enhancements.
• Lead implementation of process automation and workflow improvements.
• Identify technology opportunities that improve service efficiency, customer visibility, employee productivity, and reporting capabilities.
• Drive adoption of digital tools that enhance customer and employee experience.

BUDGET & STRATEGIC PLANNING

• Develop and manage the annual Customer Care operating budget, including labor, technology, training, and outside service expenditures.
• Forecast staffing requirements and support long-term organizational planning.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce costs, and increase organizational effectiveness.
• Support strategic business initiatives that improve customer experience, operational performance, and company growth.

All other duties as assigned.

Overnight travel is required. A portion of this role involves visiting different operational sites. Candidates must be willing and able to travel up to 20% of the time to support various locations as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in customer service, customer care, supply chain, operations, manufacturing, or distribution environments.
• Minimum of 6 years of people leadership experience with responsibility for team performance and organizational development.
• Multi-site manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading process improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
• Experience managing departmental budgets and workforce planning.
• Experience participating in or leading ERP and CRM implementations, upgrades, or digital transformation projects.
• Strong understanding of order-to-cash, fulfillment, logistics, supply chain, and customer service business processes. Strong leadership and team development capabilities.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing operations and supply chain processes.
• Excellent problem-solving and root cause analysis skills.
• Strong analytical and data interpretation abilities.
• Exceptional emotional intelligence with a track record of establishing trust, navigating different workplace cultures during travel, and resolving conflicts constructively.
• Experience building KPIs, dashboards, and management reporting systems.
• Exceptional communication and executive presentation skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to lead change and influence cross-functional teams.
• Customer-centric mindset balanced with operational realities.
• Advanced proficiency in ERP systems, CRM platforms, Microsoft Office, Excel, and business analytics tools.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships across Manufacturing, Sales, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, and IT functions.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

Icon Protection, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, gender identity or expression, transgender status, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic under applicable law. Icon Protection, Inc. is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. xihmbke If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search for and apply for a career opportunity with Icon Protection, Inc., please send an e-mail to to let us know the nature of your accommodation request and your contact information.