Associate Customer Service Manager
Chicago, IL, US, 60601
James Hardie Building Products Inc. is the North American leader in fiber cement home siding and exterior design solutions. Hardie® products offer long lasting beauty and endless design possibilities with trusted protection and low maintenance. The company pioneered modern fiber cement building products and continues to invest in innovation to transform the industry. James Hardie is a high-performance organization, with an unwavering commitment to Zero Harm. The company proudly employs a diverse workforce of over 3,000 employees across operations in North America.
Make your dream career a reality. It’s possible!
Hybrid - 3 days per week in our downtown Chicago offices
The Associate Manager of Customer Service will report directly to the Manager – Customer Operations and will be accountable for the daily operations of their team as well as the performance management and development of individual team members. Customer Operations serves as the Company’s primary point of contact for all internal and external customer inquiries regarding order status, order processing, product availability, shipments, and product knowledge. The Associate Manager leads a team of up to 15 Customer Account Reps within the Customer Operations Department. Additionally, the incumbent must possess the ability to display a high degree of collaboration with Customer Operations, Transportation, Planning, Sales, Accounts Receivable and the Channel functions. The Associate Manager hires the right candidates for the department, manages their performance, and ensures that those individuals keep customer experience as the key objective in all that they do. The Associate Manager looks for projects and process improvements to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction.
The Associate Manager of Customer Service will be required to possess decision making skills in line with the need to address day-to-day operational challenges such as order entry, shortage reporting, and one-on-one coaching within the scope of normal business situations that occasionally deviate from predicable results but remain within normal codes of conduct. The incumbent’s decision-making initiative is expected to be independent in a high-accountability team environment.
The incumbent spends most of their time coaching and developing their employees to achieve the operational tasks of the business as required in the service of our customers. They frequently interface with various internal and external customers to ensure effective communication regarding all issues regarding servicing the customer and oversee the performance of the Customer Operations Team.
What you'll do:
Directly manages the performance, growth, and development of a team of 10-15 employees and mentors others within the department as needed.
- Maintains team of direct reports by hiring the best candidates for the job and successfully onboarding them to James Hardie.
- Monitors individual performance to ensure metrics are maintained to a high standard and additional needs are identified.
- Ensures team is meeting key performance objectives daily and provides coaching as needed.
- Meets with all direct reports on a minimum bi-weekly basis to discuss their performance, growth, and development objectives.
- Develops workforce to enhance skills, ensuring individuals are appropriately leveled based on skills and tenure.
- Creates a succession plan for themselves within team to ensure bench strength is maintained.
- Advocates for additional resourcing or efficiencies as required to manage workflow.
Manages weekly order flow and serves as a key interface between Customer Operations, Planning, Sales, Transportation, and the Channel for all issues.
- Ensures that service targets are met for Customer Operations and corrective actions are in place to reduce the incidence of service failures.
- Minimizes the impact of weekly shortages through proactive communication with channel partners and the Company’s sales teams.
- Identifies and spearhead the correction of core inefficiencies within the execution of the service model.
- Monitors order adherence to sourcing, mixing, and market profile requirements.
- Allocates resources to exceed the customer’s expectations efficiently and effectively on order entry, issue resolution, and inquiries received over the phone and email.
- Utilizes data to create reports and inform decision-making.
- Reviews and approves credits and invoices submitted by Customer Operations employees.
- Manages customer escalations by seeking creative solutions to unique problems.
- Collaborates cross-functionally with other Associate Managers to support the entire Customer Operations department.
Develops and manages projects that improve the efficiency, workflow, or customer experience at James Hardie.
- Support key projects being completed within the department to ensure any new workstreams are launched effectively within the department.
- Develop new projects and initiatives based on customer feedback and efficiency needs.
What you'll bring:
- Bachelor’s Degree preferred and/or related work experience.
- Four or more years of progressive responsibility in a customer-facing environment required.
- Two or more years of experience managing people is required.
- Demonstrated ability to build strategic working relationships while holding parties accountable for deliverables through direct or indirect leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to coach others.
- Demonstrated ability to identify and understand issues or problems using data and metrics.
- Demonstrated ability to use effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing an appropriate solution.
- Demonstrated ability to act independently upon information and make decisions that achieve optimal results.
- Superior interpersonal and written/oral communication skills.
- Demonstrated intermediate skills with the standard features of various personal computer word processing and spreadsheet software (Microsoft Word and Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet, and other proprietary software).
- Ability to successfully manage multiple tasks and prioritize workload while paying attention to detail.
- Demonstrated ability to function as a strong team player.
- Willingness and ability to travel as appropriate, up to 15% of the time.
What You’ll Receive:
At James Hardie, we recognize that our success depends on our people. We've worked hard to build a generous and competitive benefits program that demonstrates our commitment to our employees.
- Comprehensive low-cost co-pay Health Insurance; medical, dental, prescription, and vision insurance benefits for every 30+ hour full-time employee. Insurance starts on day one!
- 401(k) Retirement plan that will match 100% of employees saved dollars up to the first 6% of your salary
- Paid holidays, paid vacation including Jury Duty and bereavement leave
- Wellness Program
- Employee Assistance Program
- Parental Leave
- Community Involvement & Sustainable Solutions - Fire Resistant Siding to Help Rebuild the Grizzly Flats Community | James Hardie
- And more
Apply now and come “home” to Hardie!
#LI-MB22
James Hardie Building Products Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, veteran's status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, or any other basis protected by law.
Nearest Major Market: Chicago
Job Segment:
Supply Chain Manager, Service Manager, Accounts Receivable, Supply Chain, Operations, Customer Service, Finance