Manager, Customer Support Unit

City of New York•New York City, NY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The NYC Department of Finance (DOF) is responsible for administering the city's tax revenue laws efficiently and transparently, aiming to foster public confidence and encourage compliance while delivering exceptional customer service. The Customer Operations Division oversees various departments including Business Centers, the City Register’s Office, and divisions for Land Records, Adjudication, and Collections. This division handles the processing of tax payments, parking violations, and other charges collected by DOF. It also manages property transfer recordings, adjudication of parking and camera violations, and the entire enforcement process for unpaid business and excise taxes, parking fines, and Environmental Control Board summonses. The Collections Division specifically manages the full lifecycle of enforcement activities for these unpaid debts, employing professional collectors skilled in negotiation to offer debtors options and encourage full payment. The division uses various collection tools such as notices, telephone dunning, outside collection agencies, and special projects to locate assets and enforce compliance. The Customer Support Unit is seeking an experienced and results-driven professional with expertise in debt collection and supervision to lead the unit. This leadership role demands strong management capabilities, excellent communication skills, and a demonstrated history of fostering collaboration among staff, internal departments, and external partners to achieve successful debt resolution. The Manager will direct the front-office operations and customer support functions of the Collections Division, focusing on improving revenue collection, customer satisfaction, and reducing response times for inquiries and issue resolution. The ideal candidate will be tasked with strengthening, stabilizing, and guiding the unit, while promoting operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement. Reporting to the Assistant Commissioner of Collections, the selected candidate will be responsible for strategic leadership, day-to-day management of the unit, managing customer communications, overseeing training programs, investigating and resolving account discrepancies, ensuring exceptional customer service during debt collection, preparing performance reports, and working with debtors to secure payments or payment agreements.

Requirements

Permanent in the Administrative Manager Civil Service Title or reachable on the current promotional exam NO. 1552.
Include Employee Identification Number (EIN) when applying.
Indicate permanent civil service title or list number for exam no. 1552 in cover letter.
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory, full-time progressively responsible clerical/administrative experience requiring independent decision-making concerning program management or planning, allocation for resources and the scheduling and assignment of work, 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory capacity. The supervisory work must have been in the supervision of staff performing clerical/administrative work of more than moderate difficulty.
An associate degree or 60 semester credits from an accredited college and five years of satisfactory, full-time progressively responsible experience as described in "1" above, 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory capacity. The supervisory work must have been in the supervision of staff performing clerical/administrative work of more than moderate difficulty.
A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and six years of satisfactory, full-time progressively responsible experience as described in "1" above, 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory capacity. The supervisory work must have been in the supervision of staff performing clerical/administrative work of more than moderate difficulty.
Education and/or experience equivalent to "1", "2" or "3" above. However, all candidates must possess the 18 months of administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory experience as described in "1", "2" or "3" above.
Education above the high school level may be substituted for the general clerical/administrative experience (but not for the administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory experience described in "1", "2" or "3" above) at a rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college for 6 months of experience up to a maximum of 3½ years.

Nice To Haves

Debt collection experience
Supervisory experience
Strong management skills
Exceptional communication abilities
Proven track record of fostering collaboration
Experience with Business Tax Collections System (BTCS)

Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership and day-to-day management of the Customer Support Unit, ensuring efficient operations and achievement of performance objectives.
Manage the resolution of a high volume of inbound and outbound customer communications, ensuring timely and effective responses that support revenue collection goals.
Create, enhance, and oversee the Business Tax Collections System (BTCS) training programs specifically tied to the unit's function.
Oversee the investigation and resolution of account discrepancies and debt-related issues, ensuring compliance with applicable policies, procedures, and regulations in reference to parking, Environmental Control Board (ECB), and business tax judgment debt.
Ensure the delivery of exceptional customer service while conducting debt collection activities in a professional, respectful, and compliant manner.
Prepare and present reports on unit performance, collections activity, customer service trends, and operational initiatives for management.
Work with debtors to secure full payment, new payment agreement streams and/or the best step in collecting the past due amount.