Mgr-Customer Operations

Company Summary Statement

Rhode Island Energy provides essential energy services to over 770,000 customers across Rhode Island through the delivery of electricity or natural gas. Our team is dedicated to helping Rhode Island customers and communities thrive while supporting the transition to a cleaner energy future. Rhode Island Energy is part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies addressing energy challenges head-on by building smarter, more resilient, and more dynamic power grids and advancing sustainable energy solutions. PPL is a positive force in the cities and towns where we do business, providing support for programs and organizations that empower the success of future generations by helping to build and maintain strong, diverse communities today.

Overview

This role will report to the Director, Customer Services Operations & Support and is responsible for promoting a customer-focused culture while enhancing experiences for Rhode Island Energy customers. Within the role, the manager is responsible for coordinating and leading a team of union and management employees within call center operations, while also overseeing the efforts of RIE's vendor contact center partners. This role ensures the delivery of efficient, consistent operations aligned with department, company, and regulatory requirements. This role will translate functional policy by executing and delivering procedures that drive greater efficiencies and performance for the end-to-end process within the operations. This role requires strong leadership skills to motivate and manage staff to meet performance goals and work cross functionally with multiple departments across the Rhode Island Energy that results in a positive customer experience. A Manager Customer Operations must have a deep understanding of customer service best practices and be able to implement them in a fast-paced, high transactional environment.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the building of local Call Center operations in RI while working with our labor partners and other key stakeholders. This includes the hiring of customer service representatives.
• Responsible for monitoring and analyzing call center performance metrics to identify areas for improvement.
• Daily execution of call center strategies, policies, and procedures
• Encourage and motivate remote and in-office personnel who work in extremely repetitious, but fast paced contact center environment.
• Oversee a culturally diverse workforce through coaching, counseling, and engagement to ensure tasks are carried in accordance to end to end process
• Oversee performance of allocated staff including issues relating to sickness, discipline and agent performance levels and ensure timely delivery of feedback. Coach and develop staff
• Build an engaging climate to ensure enablement, motivation, participation, and opportunities for sustained and continued employee engagement
• Monitor all Service Level targets, Key Performance Indicators and Risk to ensure compliance. Develop actions plans when targets are not met.
• Build and strengthen team environment, set expectations to improve work performance and ensure representatives are complying with standards set for the by our regulatory bodies
• Promote and implement procedural best practice to ensure all working practices (and where relevant, health and safety standards) are compliant with RIE policies and regulatory requirements.
• Use sound judgment to think and act commercially when making decisions that impact productivity and cost. (Offering overtime, off phone activities, time off requests)
• Conduct regular performance evaluations and provide constructive feedback to call center supervisors to promote professional growth and development.
• Build relationships and effectively collaborate with various operations teams in the development, implementation, and/or changes to business processes. Coordinate with other departments to analyze and resolve difficult problems, inquiries, and complaints. Propose new, novel solutions to prevent problems from recurring, as appropriate.
• Manage continuous improvement to achieve goals for customer service satisfaction. Appropriately balance the needs of the customer with the requirements of the business, building awareness of customer feedback across operations teams to optimize customer satisfaction.
• Manage call center budget and resources to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficient operations.
• Foster a positive work culture and team environment to promote employee engagement and retention.
• Emergency and storm role commitment; this is a special assignment that comes into play during storms and other emergencies when the company needs to restore power or respond to other issues affecting customer service.
• The company reserves the right to determine if this position will be assigned to work on-site, remotely, or a combination of both. Assigned work location may change. In the case of remote work, physical presence in the office/on-site may be required to engage in face-to-face interaction and coordination of work among direct reports and co-workers.

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree plus 6 years of supervisory experience within a customer centric and transactional organization desired or 10 years of direct supervisory experience.
• Experience leading a team of represented personnel involved in providing a transactional support service in support of RIE objectives.
• Proficient in relevant software e.g., Microsoft Office products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and working knowledge of call center process, technology and industry best practices.
• Demonstrated track record of driving high performance through a complex enterprise. Consistency in delivering on commitments, ownership of the results, exhibiting high standards of integrity while engaging, empowering, and driving accountability to effectively deliver results.

Preferred Qualifications

• Possesses knowledge and understanding of Rhode Island Energy's electric or gas policies, processes, systems, tariffs, and general practices and how to apply them effectively
• Experience in Emergency Response Procedures and Business Continuity plans as they relate to the business area.
• Knowledge and understanding of customer systems within a regulated environment
• Exposure to Rhode Island regulatory requirements
• Demonstrated expertise with labor relations and management of union-represented employees
• Proven ability to coordinate and manage vendor partnerships and third-party providers.