Head of Inbound Operations Centre

Network Recruitment; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Network Recruitment is partnering with a major client in Johannesburg to appoint an experienced operational leader to establish and run a centralised Inbound Operations Centre. You will design, implement and govern multi-channel inbound operations, delivering service excellence, workforce planning and strong performance metrics.

The role requires a strategic, hands-on leader who can build the function from the ground up, drive transformation, engage executive stakeholders and deliver measurable

Qualifications

• 8+ years of contact centre operations experience.
• 3+ years in senior management or equivalent leadership.
• Proven record leading large multi-channel inbound operations.
• Experience in regulated environments (e.g. financial services).
• Track record of transformation projects and building functions from ground up.

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead a centralised Inbound Operations Centre from inception.
• Create and embed operating procedures, governance, and performance standards.
• Drive service delivery, customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Lead a large-scale inbound operation with accountability for service levels, abandonment rates, quality and outcomes.
• Develop and mentor a high-performing management team.

Skills

Operations leadership

Multi-channel ops

Workforce planning

Analytics

Stakeholder management

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Admin/Operations/Engineering

Job description

An exciting opportunity exists for an experienced operational leader to establish and lead a newly centralised Inbound Operations Centre within a large-scale, customer-focused environment. This is a strategic leadership role for someone who thrives on building functions from the ground up, driving operational excellence, and delivering measurable commercial outcomes.

As the successful candidate, you will take ownership of the entire inbound operation, transforming it from a fragmented support function into a deliberate, data-driven business channel. You will lead the design, implementation, optimisation and governance of a multi-channel inbound environment, ensuring consistent service delivery, workforce planning, quality management and performance measurement across the operation.

What You'll Be Responsible For:

• Establish and lead a centralised Inbound Operations Centre from inception.
• Create and embed operating procedures, governance frameworks and performance standards.
• Drive service delivery, customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Lead a large-scale inbound operation with accountability for service levels, abandonment rates, quality and customer outcomes.
• Develop and mentor a high-performing management team.

Inbound Strategy & Transformation

• Design and implement a single, streamlined entry point for inbound interactions.
• Drive optimisation of customer journeys and routing strategies.
• Lead the evolution of self-service, digital and voice-based channels.
• Partner with technical teams to enhance routing, telephony and customer interaction processes.
• Identify and recover lost customer engagement opportunities across the inbound channel.
• Oversee forecasting, scheduling and workforce management practices.
• Ensure optimal resource allocation across inbound and outbound operations.
• Develop evidence-based capacity plans and operating models.
• Drive productivity, efficiency and cost optimisation initiatives.

Customer Experience, Compliance & Quality

• Establish and maintain a robust quality assurance framework.
• Ensure regulatory and operational compliance across all customer contact channels.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on operational insights and performance trends.
• Utilise analytics and customer feedback to improve service delivery and customer outcomes.

Executive Stakeholder Engagement

• Present operational performance, risks, opportunities and business cases to executive leadership.
• Engage confidently with senior internal stakeholders and external clients.
• Build strong relationships across Operations, Technology, Finance, Human Resources, Compliance and Customer Services.
• Act as the executive voice of inbound performance and operational excellence.

What We're Looking For:

Experience

• 8+ years of contact centre operations experience.
• Minimum 3 years' experience at Senior Management, Head of Department or equivalent leadership level.
• Proven experience managing large-scale multi-channel inbound operations.
• Experience within collections, financial services or a highly regulated environment.
• Track record of leading large operational transformation projects and building functions or capabilities from the ground up.
• Exposure to workforce management, capacity planning and operational governance.
• Experience engaging with executive and client stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Information Systems or a related field.
• Certifications in workforce management, Lean Six Sigma, customer experience, project management or change management would be highly beneficial.

Technical Expertise

• Workforce planning and forecasting.
• Routing, telephony and contact centre technologies.
• Operational analytics and performance management.
• Quality assurance frameworks.
• Process improvement and operational transformation.
• Regulatory compliance within customer operations environments.

The Ideal Candidate:

We are seeking a strategic and commercially minded leader who can see the bigger picture while remaining deeply connected to operational detail. You will be someone who naturally drives execution, challenges the status quo, builds strong relationships and inspires teams to achieve exceptional results.

You'll Bring:

• High energy and a bias for action.
• A collaborative leadership style.
• Outstanding communication and influencing ability.
• The capability to translate strategy into operational delivery

Why This Opportunity?

This role offers the rare chance to build and shape a critical business function from the ground up, creating a lasting impact on customer experience, operational performance and commercial outcomes. It is ideally suited to a hands‑on operational leader who enjoys driving transformation, building high-performing teams and delivering measurable business value.