Team Manager: Member Services

Job Advert Summary

Overall Job Purpose

A management role, reporting to the Head: Client Services. Accountable for the inbound contact centre’s day-to-day operations in a hybrid work environment. Conducting effective resource planning (utilising Workforce Management tools) to maximise the productivity of resources (people, processes, technology). Collecting and analysing call and email centre statistics to guide data-driven decisions and continuous improvements. Enabling the Member Services team to deliver the best possible experience to members across all service channels. Focusing on transformation, innovation, and change management in service delivery. Leveraging modern contact centre technologies (such as AI support tools like Microsoft Copilot, sentiment analysis, advanced analytics, chatbots, and omnichannel platforms) to drive operational excellence, high performance, and greater digital self-service adoption.

Minimum Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration or a related field

Experience:

• Minimum 2–3 years of management experience, including at least 2 years in a call centre/contact centre leadership role (preferably in an inbound service environment)
• Proven experience in member service operations, preferably within the insurance or financial services sector.
• Track record of driving performance improvements and effectively implementing process changes or innovations in a service team
• Familiarity with contact centre technologies such as CRM systems, telephony/IVR platforms, Workforce Management (WFM) software, and member analytics tools
• Experience managing service delivery across multiple channels (phone, email, chat, social media) or implementing self-service solutions (e.g., online portals, chatbots) is an advantage

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Effective networking and relationship-building abilities (internal and external).
• Service-driven, with a focus on accuracy, quality, and exceeding member expectations within agreed service levels.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organisational skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable interpreting data and contact centre reports to make informed decisions.
• Proficiency in relevant contact centre technology (e.g., CRM platforms, telephony/IVR systems, WFM and scheduling tools, analytics dashboards); familiarity with AI-driven support tools (such as Microsoft Copilot and chatbots) is a plus.
• Adaptability and openness to change, with the ability to quickly learn and champion new processes, technologies, and digital channels.

Competencies:

• People Management
• Adapting and Responding to Change
• Commercial Acumen
• Persuading and Influencing
• Deciding and Initiating Action
• Collaboration

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Accountabilities

People Management

• Provide team leadership (setting individual objectives, managing performance, developing and motivating staff, providing formal and informal feedback and appraisal) to ensure the highest level of performance is achieved.
• Create a healthy and enabling organisational culture and climate, so that all employees perform to their full potential and overall business performance is maximised.
• Create an environment where team members are encouraged to take ownership and use their initiative to implement plans in the best way.
• Conduct effective resource planning (using Workforce Management tools and data) to maximise the productivity of resources (people, process, technology), ensuring optimal staffing across on-site and remote teams.
• Hire, coach, and provide training to personnel to maintain high member service standards, including upskilling team members in the use of new digital tools and AI-driven support systems.

Process optimization and efficiencies (Client Experience)

• Design, manage, and track member experience metrics and service performance indicators.
• Ensure elevated levels of member experience throughout the member journey.
• Manage member interactions across all channels (calls, emails, chat, WhatsApp), proactively influencing member perception and ensuring a consistent, positive omnichannel service delivery.
• Commit to continuous improvement of service level agreements (SLAs) and quality of service delivery across all member-facing interfaces.
• Oversee quality assurance activities and promote first-contact resolution across all member service interfaces, leveraging call/email monitoring and sentiment analysis to identify and address improvement areas.
• Drive projects to improve data quality and champion digital self-service initiatives (e.g., enhancing online portal features, expanding chatbot/virtual assistant capabilities, promoting WhatsApp channel usage) to increase channel adoption and reduce manual contact volume.
• Manage the contact centre budget, focusing on optimising total cost of ownership and operational efficiency without compromising service levels or quality.
• Develop clear objectives for the contact centre’s daily activities in line with business goals and member needs.
• Monitor and refine contact handling procedures (call management, email workflows, chat support, etc.) to ensure efficient processes and adherence to best practices.
• Evaluate performance using key metrics (e.g., accuracy, call-waiting time, first-contact resolution rate, member satisfaction scores) and initiate actions to continuously improve these results.

Stakeholder Management

• Cultivate a performance-driven team that collaborates closely with support teams and other operational departments to achieve shared business goals.
• Oversee all member communications for relevance, accuracy, and completeness, ensuring consistency in messaging and service quality.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners, ensuring alignment and support for service enhancements and transformation initiatives.
• Take ownership of and resolve any escalated service or administrative issues that hinder good member relationships or business processes

Risk and Compliance (Reporting)

• Ensure all activities and processes are compliant with regulatory requirements (e.g., TCF, POPIA) and internal policies, maintaining high ethical and service standards.
• Compile monthly departmental reports highlighting operational performance, trends, and risk areas, and provide insights to senior management.
• Identify trends in member requests and complaints (using voice and email analytics and other feedback data) and translate these insights into team training, process improvements, or product enhancements in collaboration with the broader Life Operations team.
• Collect and analyse contact centre statistics (e.g., interaction volumes, productivity, costs, service metrics) to inform decision-making and optimise resource allocation.
• Prepare and present reports for different departments or senior management to communicate achievements, challenges, and recommendations.
• Automate and streamline reporting processes by maintaining a dynamic operational dashboard and developing real-time reports for easy access to key metrics.
• Utilise advanced contact centre analytics (e.g., speech and text analysis, sentiment tracking) to monitor service quality and member sentiment, driving data-driven improvements in member experience.