Lead Operations Associate, Customer Experience

Upstart•Columbus, OH

7h•$29 - $40•Hybrid

About The Position

Upstart's Customer Experience team helps applicants navigate the borrowing process across phone, email, and chat. The team combines customer support, operational expertise, and collaboration across departments to resolve issues accurately and improve the applicant experience. As the Lead Operations Associate, Customer Experience, you will support daily team health by building practical AI tools, analyzing workforce needs, investigating recurring issues, and providing peer guidance. In this individual contributor role, you will partner with Operations Managers and cross-functional teams to improve quality, productivity, and service levels while communicating risks early and following improvements through to results.

Requirements

Experience resolving complex customer or operational issues across systems and customer support channels.
Experience analyzing operational or workforce data, including demand, handle time, service levels, backlog, and coverage, to recommend staffing or scheduling responses.
Experience supporting peer development through training, process guidance, or routine feedback.
Experience investigating root causes and coordinating operational improvements across teams, from gathering evidence through testing solutions and documenting outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Consumer lending or fintech experience, including familiarity with verification, policy, or compliance workflows.
Experience with workforce management platforms, routing systems, operational dashboards, or spreadsheet analysis.
Experience building or improving AI tools, reusable prompt workflows, or operational automations, including testing outputs, evaluating results, and supporting adoption; experience with customer-facing AI or chatbot quality.
Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain operational findings, influence without direct authority, and exercise judgment on sensitive escalations.
Ability to manage competing priorities, adapt to feedback, and communicate risks with evidence and a recommended next step.

Responsibilities

Improve performance across phone, email, and chat by monitoring queue health, service levels, backlog, and operational trends, and recommending timely responses to staffing gaps and bottlenecks.
Investigate complex applicant issues and performance gaps across systems, policies, staffing, and team handoffs; identify root causes, recommend fixes, and verify whether changes resolve the issue.
Partner with workforce management and Operations Managers to interpret demand, capacity, coverage, occupancy, adherence, and shrinkage data and recommend staffing or scheduling adjustments.
Provide peer training, process guidance, and routine feedback, maintain team resources, and complete spot checks; escalate formal coaching and performance concerns to Operations Managers.
Coordinate improvements with internal and vendor partners, help define requirements and test rollouts, and escalate automation exceptions or system failures with clear documentation during incidents and high-volume events.

Benefits

Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.
Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security
Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements
Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)
Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)
Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City