JOB SUMMARY
The Senior Director of Customer Operations provides strategic leadership for Exacta's Customer Operations and Field Services organizations. This role is responsible for delivering an exceptional operator experience across Exacta's portfolio of third-party Historical Horse Racing (HHR) operators and Churchill Downs Incorporated facilities by ensuring reliable system performance, operational excellence, and responsive field support. The incumbent develops scalable service strategies, leads cross-functional collaboration, establishes meaningful operational metrics, and drives continuous improvement to maximize customer satisfaction, system uptime, and long-term business success.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Field Services
• Lead field service teams responsible for the installation, configuration, maintenance, and repair of Exacta Connect/NXT systems and HHR gaming infrastructure at operator venues.
• Develop and enforce standardized field service procedures, safety protocols, and quality benchmarks to ensure consistent service delivery.
• Drive key field performance metrics including first-time fix rates, mean time to resolution (MTTR), and operator satisfaction scores.
• Manage field technician workforce planning, scheduling, and dispatch to ensure optimal coverage across active and expanding HHR markets.
• Maintain appropriate parts inventory, tooling, and equipment availability to support field operations and rapid issue resolution.
• Build a culture of continuous improvement by leveraging operational data and operator feedback to refine service delivery processes.
Customer Operations
• Own the overall customer operations function for Exacta's portfolio of third-party HHR operators and Churchill Downs Incorporated HRM facilities, ensuring seamless day-to-day system operation and support.
• Define and execute the customer operations strategy to deliver a proactive, consistent, and high-quality customer experience from onboarding through ongoing partnership.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators including support ticket resolution times, escalation rates, customer satisfaction (CSAT), and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Develop and maintain escalation management processes for critical system issues, serving as the senior point of contact for high-priority operator accounts.
• Partner closely with Sales, Business Development, Product, Engineering, and Operations to ensure successful operator onboarding, contract execution, and long-term account retention.
• Monitor operational health, identify trends, and implement proactive engagement strategies that improve system performance and customer outcomes.
• Develop a deep understanding of each operator's business environment-including venue size, machine mix, and market conditions-to tailor operational support strategies.
• Provide strategic leadership, coaching, succession planning, and performance management for Customer Operations and Field Services teams.
• Daily customer support operations include machine and system maintenance, installation support, and any other daily tasks required to support our customer's businesses.
• Management of routine projects and processes (machine adds, removals, relocations, etc.).
• Regulatory compliance including licensing, change notifications, new product approvals, and new jurisdiction company certification to ensure compliance with State and Federal laws.
• Provide resources and collaborate with Technical Operations for large projects and new deployments.
• Prepare, track, and provide monthly updates on Gaming Operations annual budgets.
• Prepare operational reports and executive-level updates highlighting service performance, risks, opportunities, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Monthly domestic travel to customer sites is expected. Some international travel may be required.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.
REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES
• Demonstrated ability to lead high-performing, geographically dispersed teams while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer-centric decision making.
• Proven strategic leadership skills with the ability to translate business objectives into scalable operational processes, measurable performance standards, and sustainable service excellence.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with the ability to establish credibility and trust with executive leadership, customers, regulators, and cross-functional business partners.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with experience leveraging operational metrics, customer feedback, and business intelligence to drive continuous improvement and informed decision-making.
• Ability to lead through change while maintaining employee engagement, operational stability, and a positive customer experience in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Excellent coaching, mentoring, and talent development skills with a demonstrated commitment to succession planning, employee growth, and leadership development.
• Advanced organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, competing deadlines, and complex operational initiatives simultaneously.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing departmental budgets, forecasting operational expenses, and evaluating return on operational investments.
• Demonstrated executive communication skills, including the ability to present operational performance, risks, recommendations, and strategic initiatives to senior leadership.
• Working knowledge of IT infrastructure, networking concepts, gaming hardware, field service operations, and enterprise support environments sufficient to effectively lead technical operations teams.
• Thorough understanding of customer support methodologies including incident management, escalation management, service level agreements (SLAs), root cause analysis, and continuous service improvement.
• Comprehensive understanding of regulatory compliance requirements applicable to gaming operations, including licensing, jurisdictional reporting, change management, and audit readiness.
• Ability to build strong cross-functional partnerships across Product Management, Engineering, Technical Operations, Sales, Finance, Compliance, Legal, and Executive Leadership.
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and psychologically safe workplace that encourages innovation, ownership, and continuous learning.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and operational reporting platforms. Experience with CRM, ticketing systems, ERP platforms, and business intelligence tools is strongly preferred.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Engineering, Information Technology, Hospitality Management, or a related field. Master's degree (MBA or related discipline) is preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in customer operations, field services, technical operations, gaming operations, hospitality operations, or a comparable customer-focused environment.
• Demonstrated experience building, scaling, and leading customer-facing operational organizations with responsibility for service delivery, field operations, customer support, and operational excellence.
• Experience developing and monitoring operational KPIs including customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), service level attainment, first-time fix rate, mean time to resolution (MTTR), and workforce productivity metrics.
• Experience managing customer escalations, executive-level relationships, and high-impact operational incidents while balancing customer satisfaction with business priorities.
• Strong understanding of regulated industries, preferably casino gaming, historical horse racing (HHR), distributed gaming, lottery, hospitality technology, or similarly regulated environments.
• Experience leading operational change initiatives, process improvement programs, and cross-functional business transformation efforts.
• Demonstrated success managing departmental operating budgets, capital planning, forecasting, vendor relationships, and resource allocation.
• Experience collaborating with Product, Engineering, Sales, Compliance, and Executive Leadership to support product launches, customer implementations, and long-term business growth.
• Knowledge of casino gaming operations, gaming floor optimization, regulatory compliance, gaming system deployments, and technical support methodologies is strongly preferred.
• Ability to obtain and maintain all gaming licenses required within jurisdictions where Exacta conducts business.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORKING CONDITIONS
