Call Center Director

Ascensus is the largest independent retirement and college savings services provider in the United States, helping over 10 million Americans save for the future.  Our Government Savings division has an exceptional opportunity for a seasoned call center leader and strategist to develop, own, and oversee all aspects of productivity and efficiency initiatives within a large call center supporting over 6 million retirement and college saving participants.  Main responsibilities would be creating efficiency enhancements, advancing productivity goals, implementing process improvement initiatives, and developing staffing optimization plans for a team of 250+ full time associates which increases to 350-400 associates during peak seasons.

Successful candidates should have demonstrated experience overseeing large call centers or workforce management teams and a proven track record of creating significant efficiencies through improvements in call rates, average handle times, associate productivity, and staffing methods. In addition, having a solid understanding of software applications used to support a call center is critical to participating in the strategic direction of these teams and collaboration with peers.  Demonstrated technical aptitude is critical in this role as the leader must be able to understand staffing models and optimizing resources during peak volume seasons and unexpected changes. Finally, the ability to be flexible and agile in thinking and acting is critical in maintaining quality and timeliness service levels mandated by partners and clients while moving forward with efficiency initiatives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Report directly to VP of Client Services supporting all aspects of call center efficiency, staffing plans, technology enhancements, and service level strategy
• Individual contributor to start with opportunities to expand into leading dedicated teams
• Focused on delivering solutions in the following areas:
  • Improvements in AHT
  • Develop meaningful call type analysis to recommend platform changes to support more participant self-service
  • Create better segmentation between call center groups to increase quality while maximizing scale
  • Optimization of staffing models and schedules
  • Best practices in developing agility teams supporting multiple product lines
  • Peak season strategy
• Use data analytics to study performance and define state-of-the-industry metrics while driving teams to meet those goals

• Ensure the appropriate Key Performance Indicators exist at all levels and that the supporting processes are in place to ensure best-in-class results are achieved on a consistent basis.
• Develop productivity goals and benchmarks for individuals and leaders to better manage to while maintaining and improving quality standards
• Develop and oversee financial models that show meaningful changes on a cost per account basis

• Have a keen aptitude for technology, and work with our technology teams to evolve our road maps and adopt new tools for improving efficiency and quality. 

• Create monthly and annual call center staffing models maximizing scale and efficiencies while hitting client mandated service level requirements

• Partner with VP of Client Services and peers in creating and managing a strategic plan for all areas of the operation; recommend proactive improvements with a budget-conscious viewpoint

• Develop and own call center technology road map focused on delivering new solutions supporting efficiency goals and enhancing the participant experience:
  • Chat/chatbot functionality
  • Email support
  • IVR strategy
  • Platform enhancements supporting self-service
  • Improvements in existing processes

• The I-Client philosophy and the Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always® should be visible in your actions on a day to day basis showing your support of our organizational culture.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree with 10 years professional experience working within call centers
• Minimum 7 years experience in the financial services industry
• 5+ years of supervisory experience managing large call centers or running workforce management teams within call centers
• Experience working with remote call centers and work from home models
• InContact platform experience preferred
• Knowledge of workforce management software
• Flexibility throughout the year with a focus on peak seasons
• Prior project management and/or process improvement experience
• Demonstrated technical expertise
• Strong analytical skills are critical for success in this role
• Detail oriented, self-motivated, ability to multitask and work well under pressure
• Knowledge of 529 savings plans preferred but not required
• Some travel required

• We are proud to be an EEO employer M/F/D/V.

Salary : $0