Head of Operations & AI Optimisation

The Head of Operations & AI Optimisation leads the strategic and day-to-day performance of the contact centre, ensuring exceptional service delivery, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement across all customer touchpoints. This role combines traditional operations leadership with advanced responsibility for AI strategy, automation, and digital transformation, integrating AI models, conversational automation, data-driven decision-making, and workforce augmentation tools to create scalable, high-performance operations.

Leadership and Team Management

• Lead end-to-end contact centre operations, ensuring delivery of SLAs, customer satisfaction, and commercial targets.

• Oversee team performance and KPI adherence, providing coaching, feedback, and professional development.

• Oversee resource planning, workforce management, and operational forecasting, partnering with cross-functional teams to align improvements with business goals.

AI & Automation Strategy

• Own the AI transformation roadmap for the contact centre, including conversational AI, agent assist, predictive insights, and automation.

• Evaluate emerging AI technologies that enhance agent productivity, reduce cost-to-serve, and elevate customer experience.

• Lead deployment, testing, optimisation, and scaling of solutions such as voice and chat bots, AI-powered routing engines, agent assist / knowledge AI, workforce AI forecasting and scheduling, and customer intent prediction models.

• Establish governance around AI usage, data handling, and model explainability, ensuring implementations meet regulatory, ethical, and privacy guidelines.

People & Customer Experience

• Lead, mentor, and develop teams across operations, quality, training, AI operations, and digital optimisation, and create AI literacy and upskilling programmes.

• Ensure a seamless omnichannel experience across voice, chat, email, messaging apps, and social channels, reducing customer effort through automation.

• Drive performance across key CX KPIs with a focus on CSAT, and lead a proactive close-the-loop complaint management process.

• Generate and present executive-level operational and client reports, using data to drive decision-making and strategic planning.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree and COPC CX Standard Certification or similar.

• 5+ years of experience in contact centre operations leadership, with demonstrated experience leading large-scale operations (in-house or BPO).

• Strong understanding of AI/ML applications in customer service and a proven track record in automation, digital transformation, or AI-led operations.

• Excellent stakeholder management, cross-functional leadership, and a strong analytical, data-driven mindset.

• Experience with AI platforms (e.g. Microsoft Copilot, Google Dialogflow, AWS Connect, Genesys AI, LivePerson) and involvement in agent-assist tools, NLP/NLU optimisation, conversational design, or automation squads.