Manager - Customer Support

Job Description:

This position is responsible for ensuring effective and efficient customer service delivery as measured by achieving agreed-on customer satisfaction metrics by directing all resources, activities, programs, processes, and systems related to the operational management of one or more Customer Support teams. Ensure prompt, professional, and courteous support to customers to resolve their issues with Vertex products, and partners (internal and external) that drives retention and creates long term loyalty.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Lead and direct Customer Support team(s) (Supervisors and Analysts) responsible for providing technical and non-technical product support to maintain an environment that balances a sense of urgency and high performance with a team-based culture and learning organization. Support will be delivered through multiple channels including phone, email, Web, and face-to-face.
Coordinate activities to optimize Customer Support operational effectiveness and efficiency, and to maximize customer satisfaction.
Research customer needs and incorporate customer feedback into departmental procedures/products as well as for strategic planning.
Convey customers' needs and requirements to Vertex management and teams within and outside of the Customer CoE.
Optimize resources utilization and focus on service cost containment for mature in market products handled by teams reporting to them.
Provide analysis of operational results via comprehensive reports, establish business unit goals and objectives, and be accountable for achieving designated performance targets.
Facilitate resolution of customer issues escalated to the management level.
Participate in internal and external benchmarking to compare and improve systems, processes and performance.
Develop and/or direct development of policies, procedures and processes to improve service quality, productivity and teamwork.
Research, decide on and use industry best practices to define and optimize processes, activities and roles to meet and continuously improve on defined performance targets.
Foster continuous improvement by evaluating, identifying and driving enhancements based on performance benchmarks and industry best practices, balanced against key performance indicators such as staffing levels, costs, and customer satisfaction levels.
Enhance job knowledge by attending industry related conferences and workshops; reviewing professional publications; networking with other similar organizations; participating in professional societies; and developing and/or maintaining proficiency in the most current software support best practice methodology
Establish effective processes and practices for knowledge sharing and communication.
Lead or participate in other projects or duties as assigned.
Responsibilities require work location in proximity to Contact Center.
Occasional travel required, approximately 20%.
Tier-Specific Responsibilities as Appropriate to Owned Tier:
Manage Customer Support operations by ensuring consistent timely and customer-centric resolution of questions, issues and/or escalations.
Oversee all facets of Customer Support Operations for one or more teams within a Tier, including process, procedure, methodologies & documentation.
Ensure supervisors and highly technical staff have the processes, capabilities and motivation to effectively apply knowledge of technical product, application, environment and/or configuration problems to resolve complex or difficult customer issues.
Ensure supervisors and highly technical staff apply an understanding of complex technology ecosystems to resolve customers issues using new and emerging technologies, and new and emerging Vertex products.
Oversee and continually improve the process of identifying, tracking and reporting on enhancements to Solution Managers so they can be addressed in future releases.
Ensure effective and efficient requirement gathering, feature/ enhancement exploration and conveying same to appropriate Service Groups
Ensure delivery of innovative and effective partner and customer self service capabilities.
Supervise the operational and tactical performance of BPO vendor(s) in order to achieve agreed- on service quality, responsiveness & timeliness metrics.
Participate in other projects or duties.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Determine appropriate resourcing of staff in order to achieve goals and objectives.
Define annual Key Performance Indicators aligned with corporate goals.
Manage and mentor employees on performance gaps, career development opportunities, and strategies.
Manage and coach employees on all human resource related processes including onboarding, performance management, succession planning, employee relations, selection, terminations, compensation and rewards.
Recognize others' contributions and share credit for success.
Own attainment of high employee satisfaction and retention; lead development of program and initiatives within group to attain high employee satisfaction.
Prepare and manage budget as assigned; analyzes variances and initiates corrective actions to maximize operational performance.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Commitment to external and internal customer satisfaction.
Strong leadership and managerial skills that reflect a philosophy of "lead by example".
Working knowledge of customer software support best practices and experience implementing them within an active support operation.
Working knowledge of managing support operations and creating performance dashboards.
Demonstrated ability to develop and implement process enhancements including technology and performance.
Demonstrated decision-making, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities.
Excellent interpersonal skills especially in the area of conflict resolution.
Excellent communication skills with ability to foster and promote open exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Working knowledge of support automation technologies including CRM systems, knowledge management tools, ACD, IVR, CTI, and work force management.
Ability to coach, mentor, lead and motivate others to meet high performance standards and expectations.
Demonstrated ability to build consensus, establish trust, communicate effectively and foster culture change.
Strategy development, execution, performance management, and measurement.
Willingness to work overtime, holidays, and weekends based on business need.
Must possess good organizational skills.
Must be results oriented, customer focused, and exhibit good interpersonal skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft office packages.
Sufficient knowledge of business communications, including telephone, voicemail, and e-mail and operations of office machines.
Working knowledge of Vertex O Series and Vertex Returns Products is beneficial.
Fundamental understanding of customer's use of our products.
Knowledge of the use of support development tools and practices.
Tier-Specific Knowledge, Skills & Abilities, if required to manage owned Tier resources:
Knowledge of platforms, operating systems, computing hardware, ERP systems, database management and/or web authoring tools.
Understanding of complex technology ecosystems and related new and emerging technologies, and new and emerging Vertex products.
Understanding of vendor interface development environments and processes.
Familiarity with the functionality in ERP Financials modules, particularly invoicing and the eBusiness module.
Strong knowledge in supported transmission types (XML, Rest Json) and record types within each transmission (Address Validation, Quotation Requests, Invoice Request, Accruals, and Purchases,) and processing tools such as SoapUI and Postman, as required to manage Tier 3 technical resources.
Knowledge of defect tracking systems, support development tools and practices.
Knowledge of environmental variables and compilation commands.
Knowledge of SSTP, SOC, SAS70.
Understanding of all fields and their use within integrations for complex taxing situations.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Information Systems, or equivalent work experience.
Advance degree preferred.
Seven (7) plus years of related experience working in the support (contact center) industry
Three (3) years of experience managing a team of support leaders, supervisors, or account managers.
Or equivalent combination of education and/or experience

Other Qualifications

The Winning Way behaviors that all Vertex employees need in order to meet the expectations of each other, our customers, and our partners.

Communicate with Clarity - Be clear, concise and actionable. Be relentlessly constructive. Seek and provide meaningful feedback.
Act with Urgency - Adopt an agile mentality - frequent iterations, improved speed, resilience. 80/20 rule – better is the enemy of done. Don't spend hours when minutes are enough.
Work with Purpose - Exhibit a "We Can" mindset. Results outweigh effort. Everyone understands how their role contributes. Set aside personal objectives for team results.
Drive to Decision - Cut the swirl with defined deadlines and decision points. Be clear on individual accountability and decision authority. Guided by a commitment to and accountability for customer outcomes.
Own the Outcome - Defined milestones, commitments and intended results. Assess your work in context, if you're unsure, ask. Demonstrate unwavering support for decisions.

COMMENTS:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals in this position. Other functions may be assigned, and management retains the right to add or change the duties at any time.
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