Director, Service Operations

Established in 2021, Independence Pet Holdings is a corporate holding company that manages a diverse and broad portfolio of modern pet health brands and services, including insurance, pet education, lost recovery services, and more throughout North America. We believe pet insurance is more than a financial product and build solutions to simplify the pet parenting journey and help improve the well-being of pets. As a leading authority in the pet category, we operate with a full stack of resources, capital, and services to support pet parents. Our multi-brand and omni-channel approach include our own insurance carrier, insurance brands and partner brands. Independence Pet Group (IPG), a subsidiary of IPH, is one of North America’s largest pet insurance and services organizations. Our impressive family of brands (Figo, Felix, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Pets Plus Us, and AKC Pet Insurance) supports insurance for more than 1,000,000 pets in the U.S. and Canada and provides well-being, safety, resources, and business solutions to the pet industry, including microchip identification and an online pet registry. IPG is seeking a Director of Service Operations – Contact Center. The Director of Service Operations is responsible for leading and scaling insurance contact center operations to deliver exceptional policyholder experiences, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and strong team performance. This role is a leader of leaders, providing strategic direction, coaching, and accountability to managers who oversee frontline teams across one or more service channels, including phone, chat, email, messaging, and digital support. Insurance experience is required, including a strong understanding of regulated service environments, policyholder support, claims or benefits servicing, and compliance-driven operations. Job Location: Hybrid in Scottsdale, AZ or Chicago, IL Main Responsibilities Lead, coach, and develop a team of senior managers, managers, and supervisors responsible for day-to-day contact center performance. Set the operational vision, priorities, and performance expectations for service delivery across all assigned teams and channels. Own key contact center outcomes, including service levels, customer satisfaction, quality, productivity, cost efficiency, employee engagement, attrition, and schedule adherence. Build a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, inclusion, and customer-first decision-making. Partner with workforce management, quality assurance, training, technology, analytics, and business leaders to ensure staffing, processes, tools, and performance routines support business goals. Use data, root cause analysis, and customer feedback to identify performance gaps, reduce repeat contacts, improve first-contact resolution, and enhance the customer journey. Establish and improve operating rhythms, including business reviews, performance scorecards, coaching routines, escalation management, and action planning. Lead operational change initiatives, including new process rollouts, technology adoption, automation opportunities, and service model improvements. Foster innovation and creative solutioning by challenging existing processes, identifying new approaches, and encouraging teams to test and scale improvements that enhance customer, employee, and business outcomes. Manage budgets, capacity plans, vendor relationships, and resource allocation to balance customer experience, employee experience, and financial performance. Ensure compliance with company policies, regulatory requirements, risk controls, and service standards. Ensure service operations comply with applicable insurance regulations, licensing expectations, privacy requirements, audit standards, and internal controls. Partner with claims, underwriting, product, compliance, legal, and technology teams to resolve policyholder issues, improve service processes, and reduce operational risk. Serve as an escalation point for complex operational issues, customer-impacting events, and cross-functional barriers. Develop leadership bench strength by identifying talent, creating succession plans, and building leader competencies across the management team. Leadership Competencies Leader of leaders: Builds capability through managers, creates clarity at scale, and holds teams accountable through consistent leadership systems. Customer-obsessed: Uses customer insights and operational data to improve service quality and reduce friction. Operationally rigorous: Creates structure, discipline, and repeatable processes without slowing down innovation. Data-driven: Connects metrics to root causes and business outcomes, then drives focused action. Change-oriented: Leads teams through ambiguity, transformation, and evolving customer expectations. Talent developer: Coaches leaders, builds succession pipelines, and creates an environment where employees can grow. Collaborative influencer: Works effectively across functions to solve problems and improve end-to-end customer experiences. Basic Qualifications 10+ years of experience in contact center, customer service, service operations, or related operational leadership roles, with experience in the insurance industry highly preferred. Direct experience leading service operations that support insurance customers, policyholders, members, agents, brokers, claims, billing, benefits, or policy administration. Strong working knowledge of how to lead in highly regulated industries, including compliance requirements, service standards, documentation expectations, escalation protocols, and risk controls. 5+ years of people leadership experience, including experience leading managers, supervisors, or other people leaders. Must have and maintain Property & Casualty License or must obtain within 45 days of hire Proven experience managing large, complex service teams in a high-volume, metrics-driven environment. Strong understanding of contact center performance metrics, workforce planning, quality programs, coaching models, and operational governance. Demonstrated ability to translate business strategy into clear operating plans and measurable outcomes. Experience leading change, improving processes, and implementing scalable operating practices. Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret performance data, identify trends, and make sound business recommendations. Excellent communication, executive presence, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Preferred Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in business, operations, management, communications, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered. Insurance licenses, insurance operations certifications, claims certifications, or experience in property and casualty, health, life, benefits, or specialty insurance operations. Experience with omnichannel contact center platforms, CRM systems, workforce management tools, quality monitoring tools, and reporting dashboards. Experience leading remote, hybrid, multi-site, or distributed service teams. Experience with automation, self-service, AI-enabled service tools, or digital transformation initiatives. Experience managing budgets, vendor partnerships, or outsourced service operations. All of our jobs come with great benefits including healthcare, parental leave and opportunities for career advancements. Some offerings are dependent upon the location of where you work and can include the following: Comprehensive full medical, dental and vision Insurance Basic Life Insurance at no cost to the employee Company paid short-term and long-term disability 12 weeks of 100% paid Parental Leave Health Savings Account (HSA) Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) Retirement savings plan Personal Paid Time Off Paid holidays and company-wide Wellness Day off Paid time off to volunteer at nonprofit organizations Pet friendly office environment Commuter Benefits Group Pet Insurance On the job training and skills development Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Interview Technology Notice Please note that phone and video interviews or screenings may be recorded and transcribed using interview technology to support our recruitment process. By continuing with the interview, you consent to this use. Text Messaging Notice If you provide a mobile phone number, you may receive job-related communications via text message. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of text communications at any time by replying “STOP.” #J-18808-Ljbffr Independence Pet Group