Summary:

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

Responsible for ensuring customers receive accurate, timely, accessible, and consistent information across all customer touchpoints including telephone, digital channels, mobile applications, self-service technologies, field operations, and all other future customer engagement platforms. This position provides overall leadership for customer communications, operational readiness, workforce planning, customer analytics, quality assurance, technology implementation, and continuous improvement initiatives. Oversees the management and governance of enterprise customer information, collaborating across departments to support safe, reliable, and customer-focused transit service.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Provides leadership, supervision, coaching, and performance management for the Customer Information team, including the Contact Center, VIAtrans Reservations, Ticket Window Operations, Transit Centers, Field Representatives, and Customer Resolution Representatives.
• Develops Customer Information staff and supervisors through coaching, succession planning, performance management, and employee engagement.
• Formulates workforce management strategies and uses analytics to drive operational improvements.
• Establishes departmental goals, ensuring alignment with VIA's Strategic Plan.
• Develops and manages annual operating budget and ensures compliance with ADA requirements, Title VI, labor agreements, and all other applicable regulations and policies.
• Directs daily operations of the Customer Information Contact Center, ensuring service levels meet organizational goals including answer speed, abandonment, first contact resolution, quality assurance, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement.
• Directs VIA's online customer service operations across social media, live chat, messaging, email, and future digital channels, establishing response standards, staffing models, escalation procedures, quality assurance measures, and performance metrics. Coordinates with Marketing and Communications to ensure customer responses are timely, accurate, consistent with VIA's brand, and appropriately routed for resolution.
• Provides operational oversight of VIAtrans Reservations, ensuring ADA complementary paratransit compliance and coordinating with Accessible Services, Operations, and Technology and Innovation to improve reservation accuracy and customer experience.
• Oversees technology and software implementation as well as future enhancements, to include customer-facing technologies such as Genesys Cloud, RideCo, CRM, Transit App, VIA App, IVR, Knowledge Management, social media management, live chat, digital messaging, and future AI-enabled customer service technologies.
• Develops reservation performance metrics including response time, booking accuracy, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.
• Responsible for strategic oversight of all ticket window operations, to include providing operational leadership for Transit Centers and Field Representatives.
• Coordinates staffing for service changes, special events, emergencies, weather events, construction projects, and community outreach.
• Develops procedures supporting fare media, goCard+, mobile ticketing, account-based fare systems, and retail partnerships.
• Supports Transit Ambassadors during Customer Information initiatives.
• Coordinates with Finance regarding reconciliation and fare controls.
• Leads customer communication readiness for major service changes, route modifications, construction, Green and Silver Line, emergencies, and detours.
• Coordinates Customer Information strategies with Planning, Operations, Marketing & Communications, and Public Engagement.
• Leads Voice of the Customer initiatives using complaints, commendations, surveys, speech analytics, and customer feedback.
• Develops executive dashboards and reports on operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), workforce metrics, digital adoption, reservation performance, and customer trends.
• Maintains VIA's Single Source of Truth (SSOT) for customer information across IVR, website, mobile applications, Contact Center, Ticket Windows, Transit Centers, Field Representatives, and Transit Ambassadors.
• Partners across departments to improve the overall customer experience.

This job description excludes marginal functions that are incidental to performing the job. Other duties may exist.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's college degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications or related field and ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in customer service, customer experience, contact center operations, or a closely related field, with at least two (2) years in a supervisory or management capacity. Experience may be substituted in lieu of education on a year-to-year basis up to four (4) years.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Public Transit experience.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Knowledge of customer experience principles, public transportation operations, ADA complementary paratransit, workforce management, contact center operations, change management, analytics, customer communications, emergency operations, and continuous improvement.
• Knowledge of new fare technologies and customer service platforms to ensure that staff are equipped and trained to transition customers into new fare technologies and all associated customer policies and procedures are in place prior to execution of fare technology.
• Must have demonstrated experience in all aspects of call center management, including use of call center technology, development and application of data and KPIs to improve employee performance, and managing or supervising a team of fifteen (15) or more call center employees.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, influence executive decision-making, build partnerships, analyze operational data, and lead organizational change.
• Must be familiar with all areas of VIA related to bus service and able to disseminate necessary information to staff.
• Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, with employees, customers, executives, and community stakeholders.
• Ability to interact effectively and professionally with individuals at all levels of the organization, using tact, discretion, and diplomacy.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Ability to perform complex work and make independent decisions.
• Ability to read and compose complex materials.
• Experience using Microsoft Word, Excel and Access, PowerPoint, and other software/database programs.
• Knowledge of applicable government regulations and Federal, State, and local laws pertaining to transportation issues.
• Must be able to maintain good work attendance.

Safety Accountability Statement:

- Employees must consider safety in all tasks performed, as well as demonstrate safe judgment and decisions that not only maintain their own safety; but that of fellow employees and customers.

- Demonstrate a professional commitment to assure compliance with all organizational policies, practices, and programs related to safety, health, and system security.

- Employees have a responsibility to identify and report hazards, as well as potentially unsafe conditions, to your immediate supervisor or Safety Department.

- Employees are responsible, and required, to stop a job/task to prevent an unsafe incident or act from occurring. This acknowledges the threat of potential injury, property damage and the opportunity for better judgment to be used.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Physical ability required to be mobile, bend, stoop, stand, reach, and occasionally lift 5-25 pounds of objects, such as files, equipment and supplies, and books.
• Must have sufficient mobility to travel off property.

WORK ENVIRONMENTS:

• Works within normal office environment, with occasional travel off property.
• Work involves deadlines and multiple priorities.
• Work may involve unusual and extended working hours.