Customer Service Manager

Customer Service Manager

Job Purpose

The Customer Service Manager is a strategic leadership role responsible for elevating customer operations, ensuring service excellence, and fostering a high-performing, customer-centric team culture.

As the local leader within MS India, you will lead the Customer Operations function, including Operations, Project Managers, and Consultants, to deliver exceptional service quality and operational excellence. The role involves establishing effective governance frameworks, fostering collaboration, managing key stakeholder relationships, and driving continuous improvement.

You will oversee ITIL-aligned processes, including Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management, while ensuring effective stakeholder engagement and crisis management. Building strong relationships with global and regional teams and driving customer satisfaction will be central to the role.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, motivate, and inspire the local team, fostering a collaborative "One Team" culture.
• Act as the primary point of contact for the local Customer Operations function.
• Build a high-performing, engaged, and accountable team environment.
• Drive coaching, leadership development, talent management, and succession planning.

Customer & Stakeholder Management

• Embed a strong customer-first mindset across all operational activities.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with customers, partners, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
• Act as a key liaison between local, regional, and global teams.
• Maintain proactive, transparent, and effective communication with all stakeholders.
• Support customer satisfaction initiatives and address escalations in a timely manner.

Governance & Operational Excellence

• Establish and maintain effective governance frameworks, roles, responsibilities, and operating procedures.
• Ensure timely delivery of operational commitments and agreed service levels.
• Monitor operational performance and drive accountability across the team.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, service quality, efficiency, and organizational capabilities.
• Promote best practices, standardization, and continuous improvement.

ITIL & Service Management

• Provide leadership and oversight across ITIL service management processes, including:
• Incident Management
• Problem Management
• Change Management
• Release Management
• Ensure effective management of major incidents, escalations, and service disruptions.
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions to prevent recurring issues.
• Ensure effective coordination between operations, project teams, and other functions.

Cross-Functional & Global Collaboration

• Partner with Operations, Project Management, Customer Service, HR, Sales, Finance, Business Units, and other functions to deliver seamless customer experiences.
• Collaborate closely with global and regional teams across multiple time zones.
• Facilitate effective coordination between local and international stakeholders.
• Support European office hours with minimal breaks to ensure consistent operational coverage.

Change Management & Resilience

• Lead teams effectively through organizational and operational change.
• Adapt to evolving customer requirements, business priorities, and service expectations.
• Demonstrate resilience and decisive leadership during challenging situations and major incidents.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Foster a culture of innovation, process optimization, and knowledge sharing.
• Identify opportunities to improve customer experience and operational efficiency.
• Promote the adoption of best practices and organizational capabilities.
• Use data, analytics, and operational insights to support informed decision-making.

Stakeholder Engagement

Internal Stakeholders

• Operations
• Project Management
• Customer Service
• Human Resources
• Global & Regional Teams
• Sales
• Business Units
• Finance

External Stakeholders

• Customers
• Partners
• Vendors

About You

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Deep expertise in customer operations, service delivery, and service management.
• Strong strategic and operational leadership capabilities.
• A proactive leadership style with a strong focus on continuous improvement.
• Excellent presentation, communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Proven experience managing diverse and geographically distributed teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building capabilities.
• The ability to operate effectively in a dynamic, customer-focused environment.

Candidate Profile

• Proven leadership and team-building capabilities.
• Strong organizational, governance, and operational management skills.
• Customer-centric mindset with a strong focus on service quality.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Proven experience managing cross-functional teams and complex stakeholder relationships.
• Strong adaptability, resilience, and crisis-management capabilities.
• Ability to work effectively across cultures, functions, and time zones.

Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business Management, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Advanced leadership or management certifications are an advantage.
• 15+ years of experience in customer-facing roles within the IT and communications sectors, with demonstrated experience in customer operations and service management.
• Proven experience leading remote, multicultural, and geographically distributed teams.
• Strong technical understanding of network and cybersecurity technologies, including Cisco and Fortinet .
• In-depth knowledge of ITIL frameworks and service management processes , including Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management.
• Experience managing global customer operations across multiple time zones, including European office hours.
• Project management certifications such as PMP or PRINCE2 are preferred.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, and crisis-management skills.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience in major incident and crisis management.
• Strong ability to manage competing priorities and operate effectively under pressure.

What We Offer

1. Domestic and international travel may be required at short notice.
2. Working at customer premises may be required from time to time.
3. An inclusive and collaborative work environment that values diversity, innovation, and equal opportunity.

Only your skills matter.

Regardless of age, gender identity, race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital status, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status, or appearance, we encourage diversity within our teams because we believe it strengthens our collective capabilities and drives innovation.

Our Group is committed to being a disability-friendly and equal opportunity employer. If you require any specific support or reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please feel free to let us know.