Customer Support Operations Manager

Kaizen Labs•New York, NY

2d•$120,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services. Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we're building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service. Our platform already reaches 40 million residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states. Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn’t be a luxury in government. It’s how you earn trust back. As Kaizen's platform expands across more agencies and more use cases, the volume and complexity of support is outgrowing the tactical, reactive way most teams handle it. This role exists to change that: to build Kaizen's customer support operations function from the ground up and move it from firefighting to system design. You'll own the whole operational picture: the escalation paths, the workflows, the support metrics, the onboarding playbooks, and the training that keeps the team sharp, along with the tooling that powers it (including our Intercom and Fin AI stack). The work compounds leverage across the entire support organization, all across state, local, and federal customers. It's an essential role with the mandate to define what great looks like rather than inherit it.

Requirements

Deep customer support operations experience: you've run support, designed the workflows and escalation paths, and owned how a team actually delivers
A track record of owning support metrics (CSAT, deflection, FRT, time to close) and actually moving them, with the specifics to prove it
Familiarity with modern support tooling and AI-powered automation (Intercom/Fin or comparable): you don't need to have built it from scratch, but you know how to configure and optimize it to do real work
Experience turning messy, ad-hoc support processes into scalable, system-driven workflows
Comfort building 0→1 with no playbook. You've stood something up from nothing before and can speak to how
A strong cross-functional operator who's credible with engineers and non-technical stakeholders alike, and can translate between them

Nice To Haves

Have worked in govtech, the public sector, or another regulated, high-stakes environment where getting support right actually matters
Have managed external tools and influenced their product direction, rather than just consuming what they were handed
Use generative-AI tools as genuine leverage for response quality and operational efficiency, not as a novelty

Responsibilities

Design escalation paths from first principles: separate reactive work from scalable work, route escalation-ready tickets automatically, and specialize the high-skill motions
Own the support metrics that matter: First Response Time, Time to Close, CSAT, CX Score, NPS, and AI deflection. Move them, not just monitor them
Build the playbook for standing up support on new products and customer we onboard, so growth doesn't mean chaos
Own and optimize the support tooling stack, including Intercom and Fin: tune automation and retrieval so routine tickets resolve themselves and agents get smarter context on the ones that don't
Own help center and training content, and lead training sessions that get the team fluent on new product features fast
Build feedback loops across product, engineering, and deployment so support insight improves the platform, not just the queue
Work directly with customers, designing the systems that serve them and personally resolving the escalations that test those systems

Benefits

Comprehensive medical through Oxford/United — Gold and Platinum PPO plans, with 85% of premiums covered on the Platinum plan and a $0 employee premium option.
Dental through Guardian PPO and vision through Beam, with 99% of employee premiums covered and 50% for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance.
FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
401(k) access through Guideline.
16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents.
10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, closed for all federal holidays, and company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees.
$500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch 3x a week while in the office.
Company-provided laptop.
Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us.
For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.
$300/quarter pet care stipend.
$100/month utility stipend.
$500/year professional development.
$250/year recreation.