Manager - Operational Excellence

Astra Tech Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Astra Tech Group is seeking an experienced Manager - Operational Excellence to build and lead the function within Customer Service and beyond. You will establish frameworks, standards and governance to drive quality, customer experience and continuous improvement.

You will lead a small specialist team across Quality, Business Analysis, SOP/Knowledge Management and Training, partnering with Operations, Product, Technology, Risk and Compliance to identify problems and translate insights into

Qualifications

• 7–10 years in Operational Excellence or related fields.
• 3+ years in leadership/management role within related function.
• Experience building or managing end-to-end Quality Management Framework.
• Strong experience in root cause analysis and process improvement.
• Experience using data to drive measurable improvements.
• Experience with SOPs, knowledge management and training governance.
• Experience with cross-functional teams including Product, Technology, Risk and Compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead a specialist Operational Excellence team (4–5) across multiple disciplines.
• Develop and govern Quality Management Framework across Customer Service and wider Operations.
• Establish quality standards, scorecards, sampling, and governance across internal and outsourced ops.
• Drive CSAT improvement through structured analysis of drivers.
• Translate insights into improvement opportunities for Ops, Product and Tech.
• Lead data-driven problem solving and root-cause analysis.
• Collaborate with Product, Technology, Risk and Compliance to implement changes.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Change management

Quality management

Root Cause Analysis

Data analysis

Process improvement

Training governance

Operational Excellence

Customer Experience

Tools

CRM systems

Automation platforms

AI tools

Job description

Role Summary

We are looking for an experienced Manager - Operational Excellence to build and lead the Operational Excellence function, initially within Customer Service and progressively across the wider Operations organisation.

This is a broad, hands-on leadership role responsible for establishing the frameworks, standards and governance that drive quality, customer experience, operational insights, process excellence, knowledge management, learning effectiveness and continuous improvement.

The role will lead a small specialist team across Quality, Business Analysis, SOP/Knowledge Management and Training, while working closely with Operations, Product, Technology, Risk and Compliance to identify operational problems, understand root causes and translate insights into measurable improvements.

As a tech-first organisation, we are looking for someone who is comfortable operating in a technology-led environment and understands how data, automation, AI and operational tools can enable better quality, efficiency and customer outcomes.

The longer-term objective is for Operational Excellence to become a central capability across Operations, providing consistent quality, process, knowledge and improvement standards across both customer-facing and back-end operations.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously develop the end-to-end Quality Management Framework across Customer Service and, progressively, wider Operations.
• Establish consistent quality standards, scorecards, sampling methodologies, calibration processes and governance. This is also to be done across internal and outsourced/BPO Operations.
• Own the CSAT improvement framework and provide structured analysis of the drivers impacting customer satisfaction.
• Analyse customer feedback, contact drivers, QA findings and operational data to identify recurring customer pain points.
• Translate customer insights into clear improvement opportunities for Operations, Product and Technology.
• Conduct structured analysis to determine root causes rather than treating individual symptoms.
• Map customer and operational journeys to identify failure points, unnecessary steps and opportunities for simplification.
• Support requirements gathering, process design, testing/UAT and operational readiness where required.
• Create clear ownership and review cycles for operational knowledge.
• Provide direction to the Trainer, who will design and deliver training programmes in line with the agreed framework.
• Support adoption of capabilities such as automated QA, speech/text analytics, AI-supported knowledge management, workflow automation and operational analytics where appropriate.
• Maintain a prioritised pipeline of operational improvement opportunities.
• Use QA, CSAT, complaints, operational data, employee feedback and customer insights to identify opportunities.
• Lead and develop a specialist Operational Excellence team of approximately 4-5 employees across Business Analysis, Quality, SOP/Knowledge Management and Training.
• Set clear objectives, priorities and performance expectations for the team.
• Build strong working relationships across Customer Service, Back-End Operations, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance and other business functions.

Requirements

• 7-10 years of experience across Operational Excellence, Customer Experience, Quality, Business Analysis, Continuous Improvement or related operational disciplines.
• At least 3 years in a leadership or management role within Operational Excellence, Quality, Transformation or a comparable function.
• Demonstrated experience building or managing an end-to-end Quality Management Framework.
• Strong experience in Root Cause Analysis, process improvement and operational problem solving.
• Experience using data and operational insights to identify problems and drive measurable improvements.
• Good understanding of Business Analysis, including requirements gathering, process mapping and translating operational needs into business/technology requirements.
• Experience establishing or managing SOP, knowledge management and training governance frameworks.
• Strong understanding of customer experience and CSAT improvement methodologies.
• Comfortable working with technology, automation, AI, CRM and operational platforms in a technology-first environment.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams including Product, Technology, Risk and Compliance.
• Experience managing specialist teams across multiple Operational Excellence disciplines.
• Experience within fintech, financial services, payments, lending, telecom, e-commerce or other technology-led service environments is preferred.
• Banking experience is advantageous but not mandatory.
• Excellent analytical, stakeholder management, communication and leadership skills.