Contact Center Manager

Description

Position Summary-Naperville, IL (In-Office) Comp: $55K/Annually 

The Contact Center Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and operational execution of the Contact Center supporting Retail, SMB, and Enterprise clients. This role oversees day-to-day service delivery operations, workforce management, escalation handling, SLA performance, quality assurance, and client experience.

The Contact Center Manager is expected to drive operational excellence, maintain consistent service standards, support employee development, and partner with leadership to continuously improve support operations and client satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

Contact Center Operations Management

• Oversee daily Contact Center operations across Retail, SMB, and Enterprise support teams.
• Ensure proper 24/7 operational coverage across phone queues, ticketing systems, chat support, and escalations.
• Monitor operational performance against SLAs, response times, queue health, and client impact.
• Identify operational gaps and implement improvements to enhance service delivery and client satisfaction.
• Ensure all teams follow established SOPs, escalation procedures, and documentation standards.
• Partner with leadership to define and maintain service expectations for each client segment.
• Analyze operational trends and reporting to proactively improve performance and efficiency.

Team Leadership and People Management

• Manage Contact Center Leads and Analysts across all support levels.
• Ensure Leads are actively managing daily performance, queue activity, and operational trends.
• Drive accountability across the Contact Center to ensure operational consistency, service quality, and employee performance standards are maintained.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management to support employee growth and accountability.
• Conduct performance reviews, corrective actions, employee development planning, and performance improvement initiatives.
• Maintain accountability across all shifts to ensure consistency in service delivery and operational expectations.
• Promote a culture of ownership, urgency, professionalism, documentation quality, and client-focused support.
• Partner with the Training Manager to identify knowledge gaps and support ongoing technical and soft-skill development.

Client Support and Escalation Management

• Serve as an escalation point for client-impacting issues, service concerns, and recurring operational trends.
• Participate in client meetings as needed, including escalation calls, service reviews, onboarding discussions, and operational follow-ups.
• Communicate professionally with clients regarding service issues, escalation updates, and resolution plans.
• Ensure client escalations are properly documented, tracked, and resolved in a timely manner.
• Partner with internal leadership and technical teams to resolve systemic issues impacting the client's experience.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Training, Implementation, Customer Success, Managed Services, and other internal teams to support consistent service delivery.
• Work collaboratively across departments to improve operational efficiency and reduce repeat issues.
• Assist with onboarding new clients, implementing operational changes, and supporting new service initiatives.

Performance Management and Reporting

• Own departmental KPIs including SLA adherence, CSAT, quality assurance scores, escalation reduction, backlog management, and schedule adherence.
• Review Contact Center reporting and provide actionable feedback to improve operational performance.
• Prepare operational summaries and performance reporting for leadership review.
• Monitor trends related to ticket volume, recurring technical issues, client escalations, and service performance.
• Recommend improvements to staffing models, queue management, workflows, and escalation procedures.

Scheduling, Payroll, and Workforce Coordination

• Manage Contact Center schedules to ensure appropriate staffing coverage based on operational demand.
• Review and approve timecards, PTO requests, schedule adjustments, and payroll-related items.
• Monitor attendance, punctuality, and schedule adherence across all shifts.
• Maintain workforce plans aligned with service requirements and business growth.

Technical Oversight

• Maintain a strong understanding of IT support operations, client environments, and industry trends.
• Provide operational and technical guidance to Leads and Analysts when needed.
• Partner with technical teams to improve troubleshooting standards, reduce repeat escalations, and enhance support consistency.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, automation, escalation handling, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with leadership to implement process improvements and operational standardization initiatives.
• Assist with the development and refinement of SOPs, reporting dashboards, quality programs, and service processes.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Contact Center, Service Desk, Help Desk, or Technical Support leadership.
• 3+ years of direct people management experience.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to manage fast-paced operational environments.
• Experience managing multi-client or multi-tiered support operations preferred.
• Strong understanding of ticketing workflows, SLA management, escalation handling, and client service delivery.
• Experience with workforce management, scheduling, and payroll coordination preferred.
• Experience working within Microsoft 365 environments.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with experience using operational reporting to drive improvements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within an MSP, IT Services, Healthcare IT, or Enterprise Help Desk environment.
• Experience with contact center platforms such as 8x8, Genesys, RingCentral, or similar systems.
• Experience with ticketing platforms such as Fresh Service, ServiceNow, Ninja One, or similar systems.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, endpoint management, and basic networking concepts.
• Experience supporting 24/7 operational environments.
• Experience improving SOPs, escalation matrices, QA programs, and operational dashboards.
• ITIL Foundation certification or similar service management certification preferred.

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured by the Contact Center Manager’s ability to:

• Maintain consistent SLA performance across Retail, SMB, and Enterprise clients.
• Build and maintain a reliable, professional, and technically capable Contact Center team.
• Improve CSAT scores, documentation quality, and ticket handling consistency.
• Reduce repeat escalations and improve operational efficiency.
• Improve employee engagement, accountability, and retention.
• Drive operational improvements that enhance both client and employee experience.