At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the charge in enhancing customer experiences through innovative service excellence strategies.
- Company: Join Tripadvisor, a global leader in travel and experiences.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible work options, competitive pay, and generous perks like tuition assistance and travel discounts.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team that values collaboration, innovation, and personal growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on customer satisfaction while working with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: 10+ years in customer operations with a focus on service excellence and process improvement.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.
About Tripadvisor
The Tripadvisor Group connects people to experiences worth sharing, and aims to be the world’s most trusted source for travel and experiences. We leverage our brands, technology, and capabilities to connect our global audience with partners through rich content, travel guidance, and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and other travel categories. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), include a portfolio of travel brands and businesses, including Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork.
Who are we looking for?
As the Service Excellence Director you will champion our operational excellence culture across our operations. You are accountable for defining service excellence strategy with a customer centric focus in all decision making. This role will enable our next-generation customer experience of removing customer friction, embedding AI-Tooling, developing customer self-solve solutions and ensuring fast, effortless processes. Partnering with R&D, and Policy teams you have the opportunity to make a significant impact in creating an effortless experience for our customers, developing best practice standards and technologies.
Job Location Hybrid. This role is a hybrid position that requires 2-3 days per week in our London/Oxford office.
Key Responsibilities
- AI-Tooling
- Strategic investment plan over 2-4 years building best in class technology that replaces legacy tooling
- Continuously identify opportunities to leverage AI-tooling to enhance the customer experience
- Define new AI-Assistance success metrics, putting customer resolution before cost-to-serve strategies
- Process Improvement & Innovation
- Leverage customer insights and data analytics to identify process gaps and friction points.
- Lead re-engineering and standardization initiatives using Lean / Six Sigma methodologies.
- Partner cross-functionally to simplify workflows, reduce cost-to-serve, and improve resolution speed.
- Knowledge & Training Excellence
- Build and evolve global training programs to enhance product knowledge and service capability.
- Partner with Learning teams to implement scalable onboarding and continuous learning models.
- Quality Assurance
- Define and oversee AI and Human-agent quality assurance frameworks.
- Drive measurable improvements in Customer-Sentiment, Resolution Rate, and reduce Contact-Propensity.
- BPO Go-to-Market Project Management
- Lead cross-functional initiatives that align service excellence with business OKRs.
- Drive automation, AI adoption, and self-service enablement to enhance efficiency.
- Stakeholder Management
- Working with Service Delivery leaders to define future success metrics.
- Build trusted relationships with internal business units (Product, Engineering, Commercial, Legal) and external vendors.
- Act as a thought partner to C-level leaders, influencing decisions.
- Leadership & People Development
- Manage, coach, mentor and inspire a global team of service professionals.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and innovation across geographies.
- Empower your people to execute at speed with an open mindset to elevate operations in a trusted environment.
Minimum Qualifications & Experience
- Director+ level with 10+ years experience in Customer Operations, Service Excellence or CX Transformation
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent related experience
- Managed both Global Vendor BPO Operations and In-house escalation or resolution teams.
- Proven track record in process improvement and optimisation and automation aligned with Six Sigma Methodology
- Strong commercial awareness, with the ability to balance resolution experience with efficiency
- Relentless collaboration building strong stakeholder relationships to influence and execute
- Close-Loop resolution for product or process blockers causing customer friction with measured impact
- Customer first mindset, advocating for simplicity and putting yourself in the shoes of the customer
Skills you should bring to the role
- Traveler first: drive exceptional value and effortless resolution service-support (essential)
- Execution at speed: Challenge legacy processes, experiment, seeks to always improve (essential)
- Communication: strong influencing skills with ability to articulate issues to C-Level leadership (required)
- Strategic thinker: with strong influence skills and ability to leveraging data (required)
- Data Driven: Leverage data to identify improvement opportunities, A/B test mindset (required)
- Industry: Experience in a similar role within the Travel Industry (Preferred)
What We Offer
- Competitive compensation packages (routinely benchmarked against the latest industry data), including base salary and annual bonuses
- “Work your way” with flexibility to suit your lifestyle. Tripadvisor Group takes a remote-friendly approach to collaboration across a worldwide team, with the option to join on-site as often as you’d like or as required by your team.
- Flexible schedule. Work-life balance is ingrained in our culture by design. Trust and accountability make it work.
- Donation matching. Give back? Give more! We match qualifying charitable donations annually.
- Tuition assistance. Want to level up your career? We love to hear it! Receive annual support for qualified programs.
- Lifestyle benefit. An annual benefit to spend on yourself. Use it on travel, wellness, or whatever suits you.
- Travel perks. We believe that travel is employee development, so we provide discounts and more.
- Employee assistance program. We’re here for you with resources and programs to help you through life’s challenges.
- Health benefits. We offer great coverage and competitive premiums.
- Generous referral scheme. Help us grow and be rewarded with generous awards for referring successful candidates.
Our Cultural Pillars
- Traveler first: We exist to create value for our customer, the traveler. We enable our suppliers and partners to unlock this value. Their collective behaviors and insights are what drives us.
- Execution is our edge: We act fast, experiment, learn from failure, iterate, and improve the solutions of tomorrow across every aspect of our business. Our execution is agile, data-driven, prioritised, and built to scale. We assume no problem is someone else’s problem and finish what can be done today, knowing tomorrow will bring fresh challenges.
- We succeed together: The best outcomes are driven by empathic, humble, and diverse subject matter experts working toward shared goals. We collaborate relentlessly, challenge assumptions, give actionable feedback, and set each other up for success through empowered teams with a clear charter. We transparently take ownership of our growth, individually and as a team. We celebrate the quality of our effort, our learnings, and our collective achievements.
We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please make sure to reach out to your individual recruiter or our team at AccessibleRecruiting@tripadvisor.com. If you have any additional questions about careers at Tripadvisor you can email us at recruitment@tripadvisor.com. We have all the answers!
Director, Service Excellence employer: Tripadvisor
At TheFork, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that champions a vibrant work culture and prioritises employee growth. Our fully remote position allows you to thrive in a flexible environment while connecting with a diverse team across Europe, all dedicated to enhancing the dining experience. With strong core values guiding our operations, we offer unique opportunities for personal and professional development, making us an ideal choice for those seeking meaningful and rewarding employment.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Director, Service Excellence
✨Get to Know the Company Culture
Before jumping into applications, it’s super helpful to understand the vibe at Tripadvisor. Check out their social media, read reviews on sites like Glassdoor, and see how they engage with customers. It'll give you clues on their values and help tailor your conversation during interviews.
✨Join Customer Support Communities
Dive into online communities like those on Reddit or LinkedIn where customer support pros hang out. Participating in discussions or asking questions can make you more visible to potential recruiters and help you learn about job openings at companies like Tripadvisor before they even post them.
✨Attend Job Fairs or Networking Events
Look out for local job fairs or events specifically for customer support roles. This is your chance to meet hiring managers face-to-face, and you might even get the opportunity to interview on the spot!
✨Show Off Your Skills with Customer Interactions
In the customer support world, showcasing your communication skills is key. Consider creating a short video introducing yourself or even doing a mock call to showcase your abilities. It's a memorable way to stand out, especially if you can share this during your interview process!
We think you need these skills to ace Director, Service Excellence
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Communication Skills:In customer support, clear communication is key. Make sure your CV highlights any experience you've had in customer-facing roles and your ability to resolve issues. Don't shy away from including specific examples of how you've gone above and beyond to help customers – this really shows your potential in the role.
Tailor Your Cover Letter to Tripadvisor:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Tell us why you want to work at Tripadvisor specifically. Mention any unique aspects of our company that resonate with you and how your skills can enhance our customer support. This personal touch will set your application apart from the rest!
Highlight Any Relevant Tools or Tech Skills:If you've used customer support software like Zendesk or Freshdesk or have experience with CRM systems, make sure to mention these in your application. Being familiar with industry-standard tools can be a big plus for us when we’re reviewing applications, as it shows you can hit the ground running!
Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills:Customer support roles often require a knack for problem-solving. In your application, share examples of past experiences where you've tackled tough situations or resolved conflicts effectively. This will give us a good sense of how you handle challenges—an essential skill for success at Tripadvisor!
How to prepare for a job interview at Tripadvisor
✨Show Off Your People Skills
In customer support, it's all about communicating effectively. Prepare to share instances from your past experiences where you handled difficult customers or resolved conflicts. We want to hear how you empathised and found the best solutions, so think of specific examples to back up your stories!
✨Know the Tools of the Trade
Familiarise yourself with common customer support tools like Zendesk or Freshdesk, and make sure to review how you’ve used any similar systems in the past. During the interview, being able to discuss your hands-on experience with software or ticketing systems can really set you apart from the competition, so don’t skip this prep!
✨Show Genuine Enthusiasm
As this is a full-time role, employers want someone who isn’t just looking for any job, but wants to grow within customer support. Make sure to express your enthusiasm for helping customers and your desire to develop your skills. Show them why you're passionate about this field!
✨Practice Common Scenarios
Be prepared for role-playing scenarios where you might have to reassess a solution with a frustrated customer or explain a complex process in simple terms. Practising these common scenarios can help us feel more confident and demonstrate our practical skills effectively during the interview.
