Director of Global Customer Operations

The Director of Customer Operations is responsible for overseeing all aspects of global customer operations across the organization. With a focus on process optimization, operational excellence, and customer experience.  This role ensures that global teams are aligned to deliver seamless customer journeys while driving achievement of business objectives and core promises. 

This role serves as the bridge between strategic vision and day-to-day execution, ensuring customer-facing teams have the systems, structure, training, and resources they need to succeed and drive customer satisfaction. The Director will lead efforts to streamline global processes, strengthen cross-functional collaboration, and implement data-driven improvements across departments that impact the customer lifecycle.  Working closely with business leaders, this position ensures our processes and systems are optimized to provide the best customer experience.  

Although the location of the position is in Newton, NJ, from time to time it may be required to undertake duties at other Thorlabs locations.

Essential Job Functions include the following, but are not limited to:

Customer Operations Leadership

• Oversee and optimize global customer operations to ensure smooth, consistent, and efficient customer experiences.
• Lead, coach, and develop local and global customer operations teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, learning, and innovation and alignment with Thorlabs’ strategy and customer centric viewpoints.

Process Optimization & Standardization

• Streamline procedures and strengthen alignment across global customer facing teams.
• Develop and maintain work instructions, process maps, system documentation, and onboarding programs, and training materials that unify global customer-facing teams.
• Identify inefficiencies and drive improvements through automation, standardization, and data analysis.
• Analyze and optimize the customer journey to redefine workflows, team goals, and support models that drive world-class service.

Systems & Technology Enablement

• Serve as the ERP Business Subject Matter Expert, representing customer operations in system upgrades, process design, and integration.
• Partner with the ERP team and global BPOs to gather requirements, define processes, test changes, and ensure smooth ERP updates.
• Oversee the implementation and management of customer success technologies and tools (ERP sales module, phone, chat, email management systems).

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Define, monitor, and analyze KPIs to assess operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
• Collect and act on customer feedback to improve service delivery, quality, and responsiveness.
• Ensure customer promises are met, sharing best practices globally and driving initiatives in people, process, and technology.
• Proactively identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen the end-to-end customer support experience.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Strategic Alignment

• Partner with other areas of the business-like distribution to ensure alignment and promote synergies in process overlaps and in support of department and company goals.
• Champion the customer voice in strategic decision-making, ensuring processes, systems, and structures support growth and customer experience.
• Work closely with marketing to embed brand understanding into customer operations, training, and communications.

In addition to the essential functions and duties listed above, all positions are also responsible for:

• Meeting company standards pertaining to quantity and quality of work performed on an ongoing basis, performing all work-related tasks in a manner that is in compliance with all Company policies and procedures.
• Adhering to Company policies, procedures, and directives regarding standards of workplace behavior in completing job duties and assignments.

The Company retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position.

Experience:

• Minimum 8 years of experience in a similar and/or progressive position preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of management, supervisory or mentoring experience.

Education:

• A Bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field or equivalent work experience.

Specialized Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience leading customer service teams with a proven track record of delivering business results and customer service excellence.
• Technical proficiency of ERP systems and Excel/Power BI data sources.
• Knowledge of MS Office.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Process improvement expertise.
• Customer-centric focus and commitment.
• Strong proficiency in sales and customer service.
• Strong ability to work under time constraints, to multitask, and solve problems.
• Strong organizational and planning skills.
• Ability to resolve moderately complex inquiries and one-off customer scenarios.
• Excellent communication, leadership, presentation, and interpersonal skills are required to enable an effective interface with customers, potential customers, internal departments, all levels of management, professional and support staff.

Direct Reports:

This position has direct supervisory responsibilities. This position manages all employees of the Customer Operations team in the U.S. and global sites: U.K., China and Japan.

Thorlabs values its diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts.  The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer.  Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.

 The salary for this position is $170,000.00

Thorlabs offers a complete benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision insurance, company paid life insurance, a generous PTO package, a 401(k) plan, and tuition reimbursement just to name a few..