Head of Customer Operations

Maintel; Blackburn; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Maintel in Blackburn is seeking an exceptional Head of Customer Operations to lead and evolve a large-scale customer support organisation. This high-impact role is responsible for ensuring customers receive outstanding support and service outcomes across all operations.

The ideal candidate will drive accountability and customer success, overseeing a multi-disciplinary team and shaping the future of customer operations with a focus on continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience in customer operations.
• Proven success in leading large operational teams in technology environments.
• Strong experience managing service excellence through governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multi-disciplinary customer operations function.
• Own the end-to-end customer operational experience.
• Monitor SLA and performance indicators.

Skills

Leadership experience within Customer Operations

Experience managing Service Desk

Understanding of SLA and incident management

Operational data analysis

ITIL or equivalent certification

Education

ITIL, Six Sigma, Lean, PMP or equivalent certification

Tools

AIOps or modern operational tooling

Job description

Lead the transformation of a modern customer operations function

We are seeking an exceptional Head of Customer Operations to lead and evolve a large-scale customer support organisation within a growing technology and managed services environment.

This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for delivering a predictable, proactive and customer-centric operational experience across our entire live services portfolio. Leading a multi-disciplinary team of approximately 60 professionals, you will own the customer-facing service lifecycle from the moment services go live, ensuring customers receive outstanding support, clear communication and consistently excellent service outcomes.

You’ll be responsible for shaping the future of Customer Operations, driving service excellence, modernising processes and tooling, and creating an operational culture focused on accountability, continuous improvement and customer success.

The Opportunity

As Head of Customer Operations, you will lead a broad operational function encompassing Service Desk, Mobile Support, Incident Management, First Line Operations, Customer Success, Monitoring Services, Security Operations and Operational Reporting & Insights.

Working closely with Engineering, Service Management, Delivery, Transition and Leadership teams, you will ensure operational performance remains aligned to customer expectations while driving improvements that enhance efficiency, reduce customer effort and increase service predictability.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced operational leader who thrives in complex technology environments and has a proven track record of leading large-scale service organisations through transformation and growth.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Strategic Leadership & Operational Excellence

• Lead and develop a multi-disciplinary customer operations function of approximately 60 employees through a team of experienced functional leaders.
• Set the vision, strategy and performance standards for all customer-facing operational teams.
• Drive accountability, collaboration and operational excellence across the organisation.
• Build a culture focused on customer outcomes, continuous improvement and service quality.

Customer Operations & Service Delivery

• Own the end-to-end customer operational experience once services are live.
• Ensure incidents, service requests and escalations are managed effectively and communicated clearly.
• Maintain accountability for customer outcomes throughout the service life cycle.
• Oversee effective handover and collaboration with Second and Third Line Support teams while retaining ownership of the customer experience.

Customer Experience & Customer Success

• Champion a proactive and customer‑first operating model.
• Lead Customer Success teams to strengthen customer engagement, retention and satisfaction.
• Ensure customers are informed, supported and confident throughout their service journey.
• Embed the voice of the customer into operational decision‑making and continuous improvement initiatives.

Monitoring, Incident & Operational Control

• Provide leadership across NOC, Security Operations and Unified Communications support functions.
• Ensure robust monitoring, early detection and rapid response to service‑impacting events.
• Establish effective escalation paths, operational controls and governance frameworks.
• Minimise service disruption through proactive management and cross‑functional coordination.

Performance, Reporting and Insight

Drive operational performance through data‑led decisions

• Oversee reporting, service insights and operational analytics
• Monitor SLA, OLA, CSAT, NPS and operational performance indicators
• Identify trends, risks and opportunities to improve customer experience and service delivery outcomes.
• Lead the modernisation of customer operations through automation, standardisation and process optimisation.
• Drive improvements in first‑contact resolution, service efficiency and operational scalability.
• Implement best practices, tooling enhancements and automation initiatives, including emerging technologies and AI‑driven operational improvements.
• Ensure root cause analysis and corrective actions deliver measurable and sustainable outcomes.

About You

You are a strategic and commercially aware operational leader who combines strong customer focus with the ability to drive performance, transformation and organisational change.

You have a proven track record of leading complex customer operations environments and understand how to build scalable, high‑performing teams that consistently deliver exceptional customer outcomes.

• Significant leadership experience within Customer Operations, Service Management or Managed Services
• Proven experience leading large, multi‑functional operational teams in technology, telecommunications or managed services organisations.
• Demonstrated success leading operational transformation and organisational change programmes.
• Strong experience managing Service Desk, NOC, SOC, Customer Success or First Line Operations functions.
• Experience delivering service excellence through clear governance, operational interfaces and performance management.
• Strong understanding of SLA, OLA, incident management and service operations frameworks.
• Experience leveraging operational data, reporting and automation to drive performance improvement.
• Proven ability to improve customer satisfaction, retention and service outcomes through proactive operational leadership.
• ITIL, Six Sigma, Lean, PMP or equivalent professional certifications
• Experience implementing automation, AIOps or modern operational tooling
• Understanding of cloud, network, communications and security technologies
• Experience with customer experience frameworks and metrics including NPS and CSAT

What Success looks like in this role. You will:

• Build a highly effective, customer‑focused operations function
• Improve service predictability, responsiveness and customer satisfaction
• Increase operational efficiency through automation and simplification
• Strengthen customer retention and confidence through proactive engagement
• Drive measurable improvements in service performance and operational maturity
• Create a scalable operating model capable of supporting future growth

Why Join Us?

This is a rare opportunity to lead a critical operational function and shape the future of customer experience within a fast‑growing technology services organisation.

You’ll have the autonomy to influence strategy, modernise operations and deliver meaningful improvements that directly impact customers, employees and business performance.

If you’re an ambitious operational leader who thrives on building high‑performing teams, driving transformation and delivering exceptional customer outcomes, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today and help us redefine what great customer operations looks like.