Dir, Customer Account Mgmt - Quality Management

City of Austin•Austin, TX

4d•$138,700 - $177,500•Onsite

About The Position

This position enhances the customer experience through providing operational oversight and strategic leadership in any of the following areas: Bill Production and Support, Pay Channels, Branch Operations, Credit and Collections and/or Quality, Process Improvement, and Training. The Director, Customer Account Management - Quality Management provides senior-level leadership for staff and programs supporting all Customer Care and City of Austin utility operations. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience leveraging indirect influence to support strategic planning, compliance, and operational execution. This role requires a deep understanding of utility operations, customer experience, organizational training, and data governance, along with strong business and financial acumen necessary to manage and forecast a large departmental budget. The Director oversees and delivers strategic guidance to Managers and Program Managers responsible for utility training and development programs, contract and vendor management, systems training, process improvement support, and data governance across City of Austin utility platforms containing PII/SPI, including billing, financial, metering, and energy efficiency systems. The role is also accountable for ISO and quality certification initiatives, as well as the administration of enterprise quality assurance programs. Additionally, the Director serves in a regulatory and compliance capacity, functioning as both the Data Owner and Privacy Officer. Responsibilities include oversight of data privacy compliance, coordination of Customer Care responses to Public Information Requests, support for legislative and regulatory activities, and management of audits and formal data inquiries. This leader fosters an empowering environment built on trust, transparency, active listening, and shared accountability. The Director builds strong rapport and drives collaboration across departments and citywide stakeholders to support operational consistency and continuous improvement. With stakeholders including all City departments, City Council, Boards and Commissions, and auditing entities, the Director plays a pivotal role in developing and implementing short- and long-term strategies that strengthen customer satisfaction, enhance operational performance, and improve policies and processes with firm fiscal and regulatory oversight. Prior leadership experience in a large, complex city or organization is highly preferred. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.

Requirements

Knowledge of accounting and/or audit practices and reporting concepts.
Knowledge of quality improvement and project management methodologies.
Knowledge of applicable Federal, State, and Local laws and ordinances.
Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies.
Knowledge of applicable policies, practices, procedures, and standards.
Knowledge of supervisory and managerial techniques and principles.
Skill in development and implementation of customer facing programs.
Skill in essential statistical and analytical reporting and problem solving.
Skill in managing the collection and analysis of operational data.
Skill in contract management, negotiation and monitoring.
Skill in utilizing data systems and project management solutions to manage and report on operational activities.
Skill in exercising innovative approaches to improve contact center operations and technology.
Ability to effectively audit and forecast operational patterns.
Ability to develop and lead training programs.
Ability to develop and engage staff and create opportunities for professional growth.
Ability to establish and maintain professional communication and working relationships with City personnel and the public.
Ability to manage financial outcomes and find resolutions to address shortfalls.
Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and written.
Ability to handle hostile conflict and uncertain situations.
Ability to quickly recognize and analyze irregular events.
Graduation with a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in Business or in a field related to the job, plus seven (7) years of related experience, including two (2) years of which were in a managerial/executive capacity.
Graduation with a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university may substitute for two (2) years of the non-managerial/executive experience.

Nice To Haves

Director-level experience managing multiple second-level managers and varied work units in a gas/electric/water environment and customer-facing operations
Experience leading training and development staff supporting programs from entry level training, technical training and support, resource refreshers and compliance training.
Experience overseeing high-level, high-visibility, cross-functional technology driven projects including application of project management principles and methodologies.
Experience with applying data analytics to identify, create and implement programs to improve the customer experience, drive customer self-service, and ensure equity of program offerings
Experience managing multi-million dollar operating budgets and administering expenditures of budgetary funds.
Experience managing contract and vendor relationships with measurable performance metrics and return on investment (ROI).
Experience with multiple commodity (i.e. electric, water, gas) order to cash processes and systems within a utility or energy company
Experience with root cause analysis and application, or other problem-solving methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma.
Experience utilizing employee benchmarking data to support and maintain a strong culture of employee programs
Experience utilizing benchmarking data and VOC sources to support and maintain a strong culture of customer experience
Advanced presentation and business writing skills appropriate to commissions, stakeholders and executive leadership, and the ability to deliver technical information to non-technical audiences.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) proficiency with use case and application experience in a business environment.
Experience with Incident Command structure and ability to support emergency events.
Prior leadership experience in a large, complex city or organization is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Provides strategic management oversight, leadership, and accountability for meter-to-cash assigned departments.
Analyzes, evaluates, and directs implementation activities of the "Best-in-Class" programs and technology applicable to assigned areas.
Oversees operations and program and policy development, including internal and external communication coordination, for assigned areas.
Develops and monitors Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budgets and responds to any deviations from the approved cost/timeline and milestone activities.
Provides audit oversight for the accuracy, effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability of operations.
Bears responsibility for providing operational contract management oversight. Negotiates and manages performance measurements for contracts for services provided by vendors.
Bears responsibility for service level agreements with other City of Austin departments and fosters positive interdepartmental relationships.
Promotes confidence and public trust through education, communication, and working collaboratively to build internal and external relationships.
Ensures compliance with Local, State, and Federal regulations and oversight bodies, processes, and procedures.
Oversees the development, use, and maintenance of data, metrics, and statistics to develop strategies for increasing customer experience and operational efficiency.
Bears responsibility for creating a culture that regards safety and customer service paramount to operations and customer service delivery.
Provides recommendations and guidance in technology requirements gathering, testing, implementation, and maintenance of systems supporting core functions.
Responsible for the full range of supervisory activities including selection, training, evaluation, counseling, and recommendation for dismissal.