Director, Customer and Agent Services

Americo is seeking a strategic, operationally focused, and people-centered leader to serve as Director, Customer and Agent Services. This role is responsible for leading Americo’s Customer Experience Center (CXC) and Agent Services (AGS) operations across two locations while driving operational excellence, workforce engagement, service modernization, and exceptional customer and agent experiences.

The Director will oversee customer and agent contact center operations, workforce planning, operational performance, quality assurance, hiring, onboarding, leadership development, training effectiveness, and continuous improvement initiatives. This leader will play a critical role in shaping the future of Americo’s customer and agent service operations through operational leadership, workforce development, process improvement, and the thoughtful adoption of modern service technologies.

In addition to enterprise operational leadership responsibilities, the Director will serve as the senior-most operational leader for Americo’s STJ Office Campus in St. Joseph, Missouri, helping foster a strong culture of engagement, accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence. This role requires a highly visible and engaged leader who can balance strategic thinking with operational execution while building high-performing teams, fostering a strong in-office culture, and modernizing service operations for the future.

Operational Leadership

• Lead Customer Experience Center (CXC) and Agent Services (AGS) contact center operations across two locations.
• Ensure operational performance goals related to service levels, quality, productivity, workforce utilization, and customer experience are consistently achieved or exceeded.
• Drive operational consistency, accountability, and service excellence across CXC and AGS operations.
• Partner with Operations, Sales, and Marketing leadership to support long-term workforce scalability and operational growth initiatives.
• Develop, manage, and oversee operational budgets, staffing plans, technology investments, and resource allocation strategies to support service performance, workforce scalability, and operational objectives.
• Lead operational readiness, service continuity, and workforce resiliency planning efforts for CXC and AGS operations.

Customer & Agent Experience

• Develop and execute strategies to improve customer experience, agent experience, and overall service delivery.
• Promote a customer-centric and agent-focused culture throughout all service operations.
• Lead initiatives focused on improving call quality, operational responsiveness, associate effectiveness, and service outcomes.
• Utilize customer feedback, operational analytics, and quality insights to continuously improve the service experience.

Contact Center Performance Management

• Oversee contact center operational metrics including service levels, average speed of answer (ASA), average handle time (AHT), occupancy, schedule adherence, abandonment rates, productivity, quality assurance scores, customer satisfaction metrics, and workforce utilization.
• Leverage operational dashboards, analytics, reporting, and workforce management tools to improve performance and decision-making.
• Ensure operational processes support both efficiency and exceptional service experiences.

Hiring, Training & Workforce Development

• Lead workforce planning strategies to support policyholder and distributor growth and staffing stability.
• Partner with Recruiting, Human Resources, and Training to attract, hire, onboard, and retain high-performing talent.
• Oversee onboarding and training effectiveness for CXC and AGS operations.
• Build leadership development and succession planning strategies across CXC and AGS teams.
• Foster a culture focused on coaching, continuous learning, accountability, and professional growth.

Technology, AI & Operational Modernization

• Lead operational modernization initiatives across customer and agent service operations.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies that improve operational performance and service experiences.
• Partner with technology and operational teams to leverage AI-enabled service solutions, workforce optimization tools, speech and interaction analytics, automation technologies, contact center performance platforms, and customer engagement technologies.
• Support continuous improvement efforts focused on efficiency, service quality, workforce effectiveness, and operational scalability.

Regional Site Leadership

• Serve as the senior operational leader for Americo’s STJ Office Campus in St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Foster a strong culture of employee engagement, teamwork, accountability, and operational excellence across the site.
• Maintain a visible and accessible leadership presence within the office campus and operational teams.
• Reinforce Americo’s culture, values, leadership expectations, and service standards across all operational locations.
• Partner with Human Resources, Facilities, IT, Security, and enterprise support teams to ensure operational readiness and associate support.
• Support business continuity planning, operational resiliency, emergency preparedness, and service continuity efforts.
• Help create a positive and engaging workplace environment that supports associate retention, development, collaboration, and performance.
• Support future operational growth and scalability initiatives for the STJ Office Campus.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent operational leadership experience.
• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in contact center, customer service, service operations, or related operational environments.
• Strong understanding of contact center performance metrics, workforce management, and operational analytics.
• Experience leading hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, and workforce development initiatives.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to lead organizational change and operational transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to improve operational performance, workforce engagement, and customer experience outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of leadership experience managing managers, supervisors, and operational teams of 50+ total associates.
• Experience leading multi-site customer service or contact center operations.
• Experience within insurance, financial services, or other regulated industries.
• Experience with Cisco Webex Contact Center or similar cloud contact center platforms.
• Experience with workforce optimization platforms, contact center analytics, and operational reporting tools.
• Experience implementing AI-enabled customer service or operational automation solutions.
• Experience with speech analytics, quality assurance platforms, and interaction analytics technologies.
• Experience supporting operational startup, expansion, or multi-site service operations environments.