Front Office Global Operations Manager

Collinson; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A global insurance solutions provider is seeking a Front Office Global Operations Manager in Cape Town to lead multi-channel contact centre operations. The role focuses on driving performance, ensuring service excellence, and building stakeholder partnerships. Ideal candidates are experienced leaders with a track record in managing complex operations, proficient in performance metrics, and capable of implementing process improvements. This position offers the opportunity to shape efficiency and enhance customer experiences.

Qualifications

• Experienced operational leader with a strong commercial mindset.
• Proven track record of managing large, complex contact centres.
• Experience within insurance or regulated environments is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Drive performance across multiple teams and geographies.
• Lead and coach Team Managers to build high-performing teams.
• Identify operational challenges and implement process improvements.

Skills

Operational leadership

Performance metrics

Stakeholder relationships

Commercial awareness

Demand forecasting

Job description

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence.

The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over million consumers.

Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world's original and leading airport experiences programme.

Travellers can access a network of 1,000+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over airports in countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special.

We work with the world's leading payment networks, over 1,000 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP.

Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.

Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 1,000 global colleagues.

Collinson Insurance Division Strategic acquisitions, brand rationalisations and complete re-launches in the last 18 months have marked the start of an incredibly exciting period of growth and further investment within the Insurance capability for the group.

A forward-thinking, customer-centric approach, coupled with innovative insurance and assistance solutions will deliver significant growth over the coming three years.

Today, we have retail, wholesale, underwriting and operational interests in the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA.

We deliver white-label or co-branded solutions for Travel, International Health and Personal Accident as well as Ancillary Motor, Home Emergency and Dental cover.

Our flexible approach means that we can provide solutions from capacity only to fully-supported and fulfilled partnerships.

We work with the travel trade, financial services companies, affinity groups and internet businesses across the world and we believe our innovative approach helps businesses grow.

Front Office Global Operations Manager

We are entering an exciting phase of growth within our Insurance Division and are looking for a Front Office Global Operations Manager to lead our multi-channel contact centre operations across voice, digital and chatbot platforms. This is a senior leadership role responsible for driving performance across multiple teams and geographies, ensuring service excellence, commercial efficiency and strong stakeholder partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

• Own overall contract and operational performance, including SLA delivery, productivity, forecasting, resourcing and cost management
• Lead, coach and develop Team Managers to build high-performing, engaged teams
• Drive outcome-focused performance management through clear objectives, MI, 1:1s and development planning
• Oversee forecasting and capacity planning to ensure the right resources are in place to meet demand
• Partner closely with stakeholders across Compliance, Underwriting, Account Management and P L ownership to balance service delivery with commercial outcomes
• Identify operational challenges, conduct root cause analysis and implement process improvements that enhance efficiency, quality and customer experience
• Lead change initiatives, new projects and best-practice adoption across the Front Office function
• Champion a customer‑centric, data-driven and values‑led leadership approach

Key Qualifications

• You will be an experienced operational leader with a strong commercial mindset and a proven track record of managing large, complex contact centre or service operations
• You’re confident using performance metrics, forecasting and MI to drive results, and you excel at developing leaders and building trusted stakeholder relationships
• Experience within insurance or regulated environments is advantageous
• Demonstrated ability to use a balanced set of performance measures to manage workloads, stakeholders and drive sustained high performance
• Strong commercial awareness, with the ability to understand financial targets and the impact of staffing costs, waste and efficiency on overall profitability
• Proven experience in demand forecasting and resource planning to ensure appropriate staffing levels and consistent SLA delivery
• Ability to produce accurate monthly and quarterly operational plans using MI, forecasting and capacity data to achieve business objectives
• Experience overseeing the implementation of new projects, process improvements or organisational changes within an operational environment
• Effective communicator who can engage, coach and develop Team Managers and their teams through clear objectives, 1:1s and performance management routines
• Skilled at building collaborative, trust-based relationships with key stakeholders, sharing concise insights to support fact‑based decision-making
• Strong capability in active performance monitoring, providing regular feedback and ensuring quality, compliance and regulatory standards are consistently met
• Proven track record of developing high-performing teams through goal setting, reviews, development planning and talent progression
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret management information, identify performance issues and implement data‑led improvement actions
• Experience calculating resource requirements based on actual and forecast volumes, applying continuous improvement to optimise cost and efficiency
• Change‑oriented leader who identifies end‑to‑end process improvements, enhances service delivery, reduces risk and continually develops both self and others