Customer Service Manager

A bit about us Established in 1994, The Fragrance Shop is the UK's leading independent fragrance retailer. Our aim is to make mainstream and luxury fragrance affordable and accessible to everyone — showcasing over 700 brands across 216 stores and online, with a mission to Spray a Little Happiness. A bit about the company Established in 1994, The Fragrance Shop is the UK's leading independent fragrance retailer. Our aim is to make mainstream and luxury fragrances affordable and accessible to all. We showcase over 130 fragrance brands across more than 220 stores nationwide, online, via our app and mobile site, and over the phone. As we continue our growth journey, we are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Customer Service Manager to join our Customer Operations team. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a high-performing customer service function, shape the customer experience, and support the adoption of AI, automation and self-service solutions that deliver measurable value for both customers and the business. Role Overview Reporting to the Head of Customer Operations, the Customer Service Manager will take ownership of the day-to-day performance of our multi-channel Customer Service operation. This role is responsible for service delivery, customer satisfaction, people leadership, quality, workforce planning, operational reporting and continuous improvement. The successful candidate will be a strong leader who can develop Team Leaders, drive accountability, turn insight into action and deliver exceptional customer outcomes while balancing service quality, efficiency and commercial performance. The role will also play an important part in supporting the practical and responsible use of AI, automation and self-service technologies, working closely with technical and specialist teams to improve customer journeys, reduce avoidable demand and enhance colleague productivity. Key Responsibilities Operational Leadership & Service Delivery

• Lead the day-to-day Customer Service operation across all customer contact channels.
• Take overall accountability for service levels, response times, productivity, quality and customer satisfaction.
• Monitor queues, backlogs, workloads, resource allocation and operational risks, implementing recovery plans where required.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex service issues and retain ownership through resolution.
• Ensure operational readiness for peak trading periods, promotions, incidents and changing customer demand. People Leadership & Performance
• Lead, coach and develop Team Leaders and specialist team members.
• Create a high-performance culture built on accountability, continuous improvement and customer focus.
• Drive strong performance management, coaching, quality standards and attendance management.
• Develop leadership capability through performance reviews, development plans and succession planning.
• Foster an inclusive and engaging environment where colleagues understand their contribution to business success. Customer Experience & Service Recovery
• Own customer satisfaction and customer experience performance across all channels.
• Analyse customer feedback, complaints and contact trends to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Lead the resolution of complex or high-risk complaints, ensuring fair and customer-focused outcomes.
• Deliver initiatives that improve customer loyalty, retention and overall customer experience.
• Balance customer outcomes, service quality, efficiency and cost when making operational decisions. AI, Automation & Self-Service Improvement
• Support the implementation and continuous improvement of AI, automation and self-service solutions.
• Work with technical and specialist teams to identify opportunities to streamline customer journeys and improve operational efficiency.
• Monitor key performance measures including containment, escalation rates, customer satisfaction and repeat contacts.
• Provide operational requirements and customer insights to support solution design and development.
• Support testing, colleague readiness and post-implementation validation of new technologies and processes. Quality, Compliance & Governance
• Own the departmental quality framework and customer communication standards.
• Ensure quality reviews, coaching activity and calibration sessions drive measurable improvement.
• Maintain compliance with customer service policies, data protection requirements and regulatory obligations.
• Identify and address root causes of complaints, dissatisfaction and repeat contact.
• Ensure customer communications remain accurate, compliant, empathetic and brand aligned. Workforce Planning & Resource Management
• Oversee workforce planning, scheduling, productivity and capacity management.
• Ensure resources are aligned to changing customer demand and business priorities.
• Use operational data to support recruitment, onboarding and resource planning decisions.
• Proactively identify capacity risks and recommend practical solutions. Reporting, Insight & Continuous Improvement
• Produce and communicate meaningful performance reporting and operational insights.
• Translate data into actionable recommendations that improve customer and business outcomes.
• Measure the impact of service, process, AI and automation improvements.
• Contribute operational expertise to cross-functional improvement initiatives and business change programmes.
• Build strong relationships with Retail, Ecommerce, Logistics, Finance, IT and Commercial teams to support shared objectives. Essential Experience & Skills
• Proven experience managing a large Customer Service or Customer Operations function.
• Experience leading Team Leaders and/or large customer-facing teams.
• Strong track record of improving customer satisfaction, service performance and operational effectiveness.
• Experience managing KPIs, workforce planning, capacity management and performance reporting.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data into action.
• Experience improving customer journeys, processes, digital self-service or automation solutions.
• Experience implementing quality frameworks, coaching programmes and operational standards.
• Proven ability to lead teams through change and successfully embed new ways of working.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with experience working across operational, commercial and technical functions.
• Experience using customer service platforms such as Zendesk or similar systems.
• Ability to translate operational requirements into practical business solutions. Desirable Experience
• Experience within retail, ecommerce, contact centre or other fast-paced customer-focused environments.
• Practical experience with AI-enabled customer service technologies, chatbots and automation solutions.
• Experience supporting user acceptance testing and implementation activities.
• Experience measuring operational, customer and financial benefits from service improvements.
• Experience building business cases and supporting continuous improvement initiatives. Join us and help shape the future of customer service at The Fragrance Shop! Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are regrettably unable to respond to every applicant. If you have not heard from us within four weeks of your application, please assume that on this occasion your application has not been successful.