Who are we?
We’re here to help people live well and create a better and more sustainable future. We support healthy and liveable communities by delivering water, sewerage and recycled water services to 1.77 million people who rely on us every day and every night. At South East Water, we innovate with purpose and act with care to deliver healthy water for life. Fresh thinking and collaboration are at the heart of our organisation. We are constantly learning, embracing the challenges of today and excited by the opportunities that tomorrow will bring.
The role
The Customer Operations Manager oversees daily operations for customer-facing and administrative contact centre teams within the Customer & Enablement branch of the Customer Experience group. Through dynamic and progressive leadership, they drive performance across operational, customer, and people metrics, ensuring delivery of high performance through a highly engaged workforce who support the Customer strategy. As part of the Customer Experience senior leadership team, they lead continuous improvement, support cross-functional initiatives, and contribute to strategic planning and execution.
Key responsibilities:
- Lead a high-performing operation, optimising resourcing and outlier management to achieve customer, operational, employee, and financial outcomes
- Leverage operational data to generate insights that shape strategy, continuous improvement, and action plans to enhance performance and ways of working
- Lead, coach and develop frontline leaders through communication of a compelling vision and with clear accountability, fostering a performance culture through strong leadership bench strength
- Create and sustain an engaged workforce aligned with South East Water’s vision, driving a customer-first culture where ownership and agility supports the delivery of low effort resolution of customer enquiries through effective interactions
- Partner with internal and external stakeholders to deliver service excellence and balanced performance outcomes, including relationship management of the outsourced contact centre
Who are you?
- 8+ years experience in a contact centre or equivalent senior leadership role, including in depth and demonstrated understanding of contact centre operations
- Extensive contract management experience including management of suppliers (e.g., Business Process Outsourcing)
- Proven ability to lead, inspire and motivate leaders
- Advanced interpersonal and stakeholder management skills with the ability to orchestrate outcomes, influence and challenge the status quo and take well-calculated risks to achieve goals
- Advanced communication skills able to effectively engage diverse audiences and build sustainable relationships
- Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field is desirable
What's in it for you?
Working at South East Water means you can enjoy a wealth of benefits, starting with the chance to be part of an organisation deeply committed to environmental initiatives and sustainability; one who has been recognised as one of the top 101 Workplaces for Women in Australia by Work180 for the past two consecutive years.
South East Water cultivates a dynamic culture that emphasises collaboration and strong work ethics, supported by career-focused learning and development opportunities.
As a SEW employee, you can enjoy the following offerings from our benefits package:
- Access to My Fitness Passport, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), annual flu shots, and health checks.
- Work-life balance with flexible working arrangements, including hybrid work options and leave purchasing.
- Life insurance and salary continuance.
- 15 weeks paid parental leave and paid superannuation on eligible portions of unpaid parental leave.
- Additional leave offerings, such as cultural and ceremonial leave and study leave.
- Head office with modern facilities and panoramic beachfront views, a separate parents' room, a prayer and meditation room, an onsite cafe, and free parking.
- Opportunity to be part of great initiatives involving the local community.
We're for everyone
Our people are as diverse as the communities we serve. It makes us better learners, thinkers and collaborators, helping create better outcomes for our customers.
We are deeply committed to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQ+ individuals, people with disability and jobseekers of all ages and cultures. We aim to provide an inclusive, accessible workplace where everyone is welcome, safe, and celebrated. If you need any help with the application process or would like to discuss your reasonable adjustments during interviews, please reach out to our Talent team at careers@southeastwater.com.au.
Keen to make an impact?
We're accepting applications for this exciting opportunity until Tuesday 26th August 2025!
To be considered for this opportunity, you must hold unrestricted working rights for the period of employment at the time of application. Successful candidates will also be required to undergo a number of pre-employment checks, including a police records check.
South East Water operates a 24/7 service environment. Whilst this role does not involve after-hours rostered duty, all employees may be required to provide out of hours support from time to time as required.
Visit southeastwater.com.au to learn more about us and how we serve our customers.