We are looking for a Customer Operations Manager to lead the team responsible for supporting customers and managing cases through flatfair’s End of Tenancy process.

This is a hands-on people and service management role. You will be responsible for team performance, customer support, workflow, service levels and operational escalations, making sure cases are progressing effectively and customers are getting clear, timely support.

You will work closely with the Head of Operations and EOT Technical Lead, while owning the day-to-day delivery of the EOT customer operation.

As our case volumes continue to grow, you will also help us improve the way the team works so we can handle more cases efficiently without relying on headcount growth alone.

What you will be responsible for

Lead and develop the team

You will manage a team of six EOT Associates and be responsible for their performance, development and engagement.

You will:

• set clear expectations and maintain strong accountability across the team

• coach and develop colleagues

• manage performance issues where needed

• support recruitment and onboarding

• make sure the team has the knowledge and confidence to handle customer queries well

• build capability so more issues can be resolved first time and without unnecessary escalation

Own day-to-day customer operations

You will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the EOT customer operation.

This includes:

• managing queues, case allocation, priorities and capacity

• keeping backlogs and aged cases under control

• making sure cases are progressing and service levels are maintained

• balancing workload across the team

• identifying risks to service delivery and acting early

• providing clear direction when volumes increase or the team is under pressure

You should be comfortable managing a live caseload environment where priorities can change quickly and good judgement matters.

Manage customer and operational escalations

You will be the main point of escalation for EOT Associates on customer support and operational issues.

You will support the team with difficult, sensitive or disputed customer situations and help make sure they are handled clearly and consistently.

You will also need to recognise when a case requires specialist technical input and make sure it is escalated appropriately.

Own service and team performance

You will be accountable for performance across customer service, productivity and quality.

You will use operational data to understand where the team is performing well, where there are issues and what needs to change.

This could include:

• coaching or capability gaps

• changes to workload allocation

• recurring customer issues

• delays or bottlenecks in the process

• areas creating unnecessary repeat contact

• opportunities to improve productivity or quality

You will need to balance speed, customer experience, quality and appropriate case outcomes.

Improve how the operation works

We expect EOT case volumes to continue increasing, so we need to keep improving how the team works.

You will be expected to identify practical ways to increase capacity and improve the customer experience.

This may include:

• reducing unnecessary manual work

• improving processes and workflows

• identifying opportunities for automation

• helping the team provide clearer and more complete responses first time

• creating clearer decision frameworks

• reducing repeat customer contact

• reducing avoidable operational escalations

• improving how cases are prioritised and progressed

You will work with Product and other teams where wider changes are needed and help make sure agreed changes are properly implemented within EOT.

What we are looking for

You will have experience managing a frontline customer support, operations, claims or case-management team in a fast-paced environment.

You should also have:

• strong people management experience, including coaching, development and performance management

• experience managing caseloads, queues, priorities, capacity and service levels

• good judgement when handling difficult or sensitive customer situations

• confidence making day-to-day operational decisions and taking ownership of problems

• experience using data to understand performance and identify areas for improvement

• a practical approach to process improvement

• experience implementing change within a frontline team

• strong written and verbal communication skills

• the ability to work effectively with different teams and stakeholders

Experience in claims, insurance, property, dispute resolution, financial services or another case-based customer environment would be useful, but is not essential.

We are more interested in finding someone who understands how to run a strong customer support operation, manage a live caseload and develop a team.

How you will work

You should be someone who takes ownership, stays calm when things are busy, gives people clear direction and is comfortable making decisions.

You should also be someone who notices when a process is creating unnecessary work or a poor customer experience and is prepared to improve it.

You will work closely with colleagues across Operations, Product and the wider business, and will be expected to bring forward practical ideas rather than simply raise problems.

Location: Hybrid (1 day a week in the office)
Direct reports: 6

Tools

The team currently uses Zendesk, Aircall, Slack, Holistics and Notion.

Experience with these specific tools is useful but not essential.

About flatfair

flatfair is changing the way renting works by making tenancy deposits simpler and fairer for renters, landlords and agents.

We are a growing business, and we work in a way that gives people real ownership. We expect people to make good decisions, speak up when something could be better, work closely across teams and support each other to do great work.

That means this role comes with plenty of responsibility, but also plenty of opportunity to shape how the EOT operation develops as we grow.

If that sounds like the kind of environment you would do your best work in, we would love to hear from you.