Director of Operations & Customer Experience

Description:

Black Rabbit is looking for an experienced Director of Operations & Customer Experience to join our management team and lead two core departments: Customer Service and Travel Agents / Operations. In these departments, booking and customer service are tightly integrated across the entire customer journey.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will take full ownership of both departments' excellence, treat the customer as the company's most important asset, and personally drive the technological and AI vision that will take the teams forward, combining strategic thinking with practical, implemented change.

Reporting to the CEO, you will directly manage the Customer Service Manager and the Travel & Operations Manager, and lead a team of about 25 people (15 customer service representatives and 10 travel agents).

What you'll do:



Leadership & Team Management

• Own the day-to-day management of the Customer Service and Travel Agents / Operations departments. This includes directly managing both department managers and indirectly leading about 25 team members.
• Recruit, develop, and lead mid-level management as a hands-on member of the management team.

Customer-Centric Excellence

• Own customer satisfaction, response times, and service quality, with the customer experience as the top priority across both departments.
• Drive measurable growth in repeat and returning customers.

AI, Technology & Innovation

• Define the AI and technology vision for both departments, and own the strategy, tool selection, and hands-on implementation.
• Lead the adoption of AI tools and process innovation to drive efficiency, service quality, and profitable growth.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and implement solutions that improve efficiency.

Airline & Distribution Partner Relations

• Build and manage strategic relationships with airline suppliers and GDS providers such as Sabre and Amadeus. This covers resolving issues, improving commercial terms, and ensuring product and system availability.
• Oversee back-office operations with airline suppliers, including reconciliations and settlements.

Operational Excellence & Budget

• Develop work processes, procedures, SLAs, and KPIs, and lead both teams to excellence against them.
• Manage the departments' budget and work with company leadership on operational and workforce planning.

• Proven experience in a senior management role, such as VP Operations, Head of Operations, Head of Customer Success, or Head of Customer Service. Must.
• Experience managing large teams and multiple departments at the same time. Must.
• A track record of defining and implementing an AI / technology roadmap, beyond familiarity with AI tools. Must.
• Experience in the travel tech or travel industry, including familiarity with GDS systems. Significant advantage.
• Strong customer-centric orientation.
• A hands-on "player-coach" leadership style that combines strategic business thinking with execution on the ground.
• Strong leadership, decision-making, and crisis-management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and the ability to manage multiple stakeholders.
• A natural culture-builder who turns excellence, quality, and commitment to customers into everyday team habits.
• Familiarity with Zendesk. Advantage.