Manager, Customer Experience & Growth

National Express•Warrenville, IL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Summit School Services companies share a strong commitment to provide the highest level of transportation safety, quality transportation, outstanding customer service and positive employee relations. Our corporate headquarters, located in Warrenville, Illinois, houses the administrative and corporate support functions for the organization. Our 250+ local customer service centers (CSCs) are supported by regional operations teams located throughout North America. Position Summary The Manager, Customer Experience & Growth, plays a critical role in strengthening, stabilizing, and expanding customer relationships across assigned school districts. This role operates at the intersection of Operations and Business Development, partnering closely with field leadership to enhance service delivery, improve customer satisfaction, and drive retention and growth. This individual will assess the current customer experience, identify service gaps, and implement practical, field-driven solutions that improve operational execution and customer outcomes. Additionally, this role maintains an external-facing presence, actively engaging customers and community stakeholders to build relationships, identify new opportunities, and support revenue growth. This position is highly field-oriented and requires both operational credibility and strong relationship-building capability, with the ability to influence outcomes across multiple CSCs without direct authority.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent experience
5–8+ years of experience in operations, customer experience, business development, or a related field
Proven ability to manage and influence customer relationships in a complex, service-driven environment
Strong understanding of field operations (transportation, logistics, or similar preferred)
Ability to influence, coach, and drive outcomes across teams without direct authority
Experience identifying process improvements, resolving service issues, and driving customer-focused outcomes
Strong communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills
Ability to travel up to 50% within the assigned regions

Nice To Haves

Experience in school transportation, public sector, or contract-based service environments
Background spanning both operations and customer-facing or business development roles
Experience supporting customer growth initiatives
Exposure to union environments and multi-location operations
Familiarity with contract management, customer agreements, and performance-driven service models.

Responsibilities

Assess the current customer experience across assigned locations, identifying service gaps, risks, and opportunities
Partner with GMs and RMs to improve service delivery, customer satisfaction, and overall operational execution
Develop and implement actionable plans to improve communication, responsiveness, and customer engagement across CSCs
Build and maintain relationships with key district stakeholders, community partners, and decision-makers
Serve as a visible external representative of the Company in customer meetings, events, and community engagements
Proactively identify customer concerns, emerging trends, and potential risks, and partner with Operations to resolve them effectively
Drive customer retention efforts, including supporting contract renewals, service reviews, and overall relationship management
Identify and generate new business opportunities, including contract growth, route expansion, and new district partnerships
Support the development of proposals, presentations, and customer-facing materials in coordination with Business Development
Leverage customer relationships and field insights to provide intelligence on competitive positioning and market opportunities
Spend regular time in the field (minimum two days per week) engaging customers, observing operations, and coaching on service delivery
Influence and drive accountability for consistent execution of customer experience standards across locations