Team Lead Customer Support (m/f/d)

Pliant; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Pliant is seeking a Customer Support Lead for the US region. You will oversee a team of specialists, handle escalated cases, and partner with Risk, Fraud, Payments and Compliance. The role supports a remote model with potential base in NYC, Berlin, or London.

Responsibilities include team leadership, staffing decisions, performance reporting, and improving support processes. You will help shape a fast-growing fintech culture with a focus on customer trust and quality service.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years in customer service or customer ops, with at least 2 years of team leadership experience.
• Experience in fintech, payments or financial services is a plus.
• Able to coach, develop and manage a team and own escalations.

Responsibilities

• Represent customer support and own team priorities.
• Lead and develop your team through regular coaching and training.
• Plan schedules and coverage across chat, phone, email and in-app.
• Monitor KPIs (CSAT, response/resolution times) and address issues.
• Own escalations and ensure regulatory and card scheme requirements are met.
• Drive process improvements and contribute to automation and AI initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Customer service

Communication

Data-driven

Operational planning

KPI reporting

Collaboration

Tools

Zendesk

Intercom

Hubspot

Job description

ABOUT US

Pliant is a modular B2B payments platform combining commercial card issuing, payment accounts, FX and spend management for businesses and AI agents.

Businesses across travel, e-commerce, insurance and AI-native technology use Pliant to manage complex payment workflows, while fintechs, software platforms and banks use its infrastructure to build and operate their own commercial payment offerings.

Pliant's API-first platform also enables AI agents and applications to access regulated payment infrastructure with permissions, controls and auditability built in.

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Berlin, Pliant serves businesses and partners across Europe and North America. A principal member of Visa and Mastercard, Pliant issues commercial cards in 13 currencies across 32 countries under its European e-money license and through regulated partners in the UK and US.

Learn more at www.getpliant.com.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As Customer Support Lead US (m/f/d), you’ll lead our team of customer support specialists and take real ownership of how customer support runs at Pliant. You’ll stay close to the work: you’ll handle escalated cases yourself, coach your team and make sure every customer gets fast, accurate and friendly support. You’ll also act as deputy to our Head of Customer Support, so you’ll step into wider responsibilities, make decisions independently and represent the team across the business. This is a great opportunity for someone ready to take the next step in their leadership career at a fast-growing fintech.

This role can be based in either Berlin, London or New York.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Represent customer support

• Act as deputy to the Head of Customer Support taking full ownership of the team and its priorities when needed.
• Be the main point of contact for customer support with leadership and other departments, including reporting on performance and raising risks early.
• Make day-to-day decisions on staffing, processes and priorities without waiting for sign-off.
• Keep ongoing projects and improvements moving so the team keeps progressing, not just running.

Lead and develop your team

• Manage, coach and motivate a team of customer support specialists through regular 1:1s, feedback and development plans.
• Onboard and train new team members so they’re confident and effective quickly.
• Build a team culture of empathy, ownership and continuous improvement.

Run day-to-day operations

• Plan schedules, coverage and workload across our support channels (chat, phone, email, in-app) so we meet our service levels.
• Monitor team KPIs such as CSAT, first response and resolution times, and escalation rates, and act quickly when things slip.
• Run quality checks on tickets and calls, and turn what you find into coaching and better processes.

Own escalations and customer trust

• Act as the first escalation point for complex or sensitive customer issues, making sure they’re resolved quickly and communicated clearly.
• Make sure your team follows regulatory and card scheme service requirements and our internal controls.
• Work closely with Risk, Fraud, Payments and Compliance to handle sensitive cases with care and accuracy.

Improve how we work

• Spot recurring issues and root causes, and share customer insights with Product and Engineering.
• Keep our help centre content, macros and internal documentation up to date.
• Contribute to automation, tooling and AI initiatives that make the team more efficient.
• Help prepare the team for new feature launches so customers have a smooth experience.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• Experience: 5 to 7 years in customer service or customer operations, including at least 2 years leading a team, ideally in fintech, payments or financial services.
• Ownership: You’re comfortable running a team independently, making calls with limited guidance and representing your area to senior stakeholders.
• People Leadership: You coach and develop people, give honest feedback and enjoy seeing others grow.
• Customer-Centric Mindset: You care about getting things right for customers and stay calm and solution focused under pressure.
• Operational Strength: You’re confident planning workloads, managing queues and keeping service levels on track.
• Data Driven: You use KPIs and customer feedback to spot problems and improve performance.
• Collaboration: You build good relationships with teams across the business, from Product to Compliance.
• Communication: You write and speak clearly with customers and colleagues alike.
• Adaptability: You’re comfortable in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where things change quickly.

Nice to have

• Experience with customer service tools such as Zendesk, Intercom or Hubspot, and with automation or AI tools.
• Other European languages.
• Familiarity with process improvement or quality frameworks.

WHAT WE OFFER

• The opportunity to work in a growing team with big responsibilities that thrives on a strong exchange of knowledge and excellence
• Attractive remuneration
• Flat hierarchy and transparent communication in a relaxed, professional atmosphere
• Opportunity to develop your talent in a dynamic team with ambitious goals
• Flexibility and possibility to work remotely
• Monthly mobility benefit
• Wellhub Membership
• Company card with a monthly allowance for lunches, coffee, etc. with co-workers

At Pliant, we believe diversity and inclusion are essential to building not only an innovative product but also an exceptional experience for both our customers and our team. This commitment begins with our hiring process—we welcome individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, religions, national origins, gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, ages, marital statuses, and abilities. If you require accommodations or accessibility support during the interview process, please let us know in your application so we can make sure your experience is seamless.

At Pliant we use the Ashby AI Criteria to assist with looking over resumes against our job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by our Talent Team and Hiring Team.

A human is behind these processes. Ashby does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our teams review all results and make the final hiring decision with every candidate that applies.