Head of Customer Service

Head of Customer Service – Contact Center (Americas)

Location: CHSI, Bengaluru, India
Reporting to: Head of Operations
Leadership Level: Band 4
Experience Required: ~20 years (US Healthcare & International Customer Service Operations)

Role Purpose

As Head of Customer Service – Contact Center, you will hold end‑to‑end accountability for large‑scale member and provider contact center operations supporting US and international healthcare markets. You will lead and scale a multidisciplinary organisation (typically 100+ FTE, supported by Managers and Supervisors), ensuring world‑class customer experience, operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and strong financial stewardship.

This is a senior leadership role requiring deep expertise in healthcare contact center operations, strong strategic vision, and the ability to transform and modernise customer service delivery through digital enablement, automation, AI, and continuous improvement, while maintaining high quality, empathy, accuracy, and customer trust in a regulated environment.

Key Accountabilities

1. Strategic Leadership

• Define, own, and execute the multi‑year Customer Service & Contact Center Strategy and Roadmap, aligned to CHSI and enterprise priorities.
• Translate enterprise strategy into clear operational objectives, KPIs, and customer experience outcomes.
• Communicate strategic priorities effectively across leadership, partners, and delivery teams.
• Lead digital transformation initiatives including omni‑channel support (voice, chat, email, self‑service), AI‑assisted servicing, IVR optimisation, and workflow automation.
• Build and sustain a high‑performance, customer‑first culture focused on service excellence, innovation, and accountability.

2. Operational Leadership

• Provide end‑to‑end leadership for day‑to‑day contact center operations across multiple products, lines of business, and geographies.
• Ensure delivery against SLAs, service levels, productivity, quality, NPS/CSAT, FCR, AHT, and financial targets.
• Own capacity planning, workforce management, demand forecasting, and seasonality planning.
• Drive operational discipline through standard operating models, governance forums, and performance management routines.
• Implement and continuously improve global SOPs, KPIs, QA frameworks, and escalation models for scalable and predictable delivery.
• Optimise resource utilisation, throughput, and customer experience using data‑driven insights.

3. People & Culture Leadership

• Lead, inspire, and develop a strong leadership bench across Managers, Team Leads, and Supervisors.
• Coach leaders to build capability in people leadership, service excellence, and execution rigor.
• Own succession planning, leadership development, and talent readiness for critical roles.
• Foster a culture of engagement, inclusion, accountability, and customer empathy.
• Ensure strong recruitment, onboarding, training, certification, and retention practices, aligned to growth and quality goals.
• Partner closely with global, onshore, and cross‑functional stakeholders to deliver integrated outcomes.

4. Change, Transformation & Innovation

• Lead and embed enterprise and departmental transformation initiatives within customer service.
• Identify and execute opportunities to enhance customer experience, service efficiency, digital adoption, and quality outcomes.
• Champion continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, automation, analytics).
• Embed a mindset of innovation, ownership, and proactive problem solving across teams.

5. Stakeholder & Partner Management

• Act as a trusted partner to Operations, Technology, Digital, Finance, Compliance, Risk, and Global Business Leaders.
• Maintain strong communication and governance with onshore, offshore, and vendor partners.
• Use data, insights, and benchmarks to challenge performance and influence strategic decisions.
• Represent Customer Service leadership in executive reviews, operational councils, and transformation forums.

6. Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, audit standards, HIPAA, SOX, and internal controls.
• Establish strong operational governance, risk mitigation, and escalation mechanisms.
• Produce accurate management information, dashboards, trend analysis, and executive reporting.
• Quantify and communicate customer, operational, and financial impacts of risks, issues, and improvements.
• Maintain a robust control environment to mitigate operational, regulatory, reputational, and financial risks.

Your Profile

Experience

• 20+ years of progressive leadership experience in US healthcare contact center / customer service operations, with exposure to international delivery models.
• Proven track record of leading large‑scale, complex customer service organisations in regulated environments.
• Demonstrated success in service transformation, CX improvement, scaling, and operational stabilisation.
• Strong background in people leadership, organisational design, and capability building.
• Experience managing end‑to‑end service cost structures, budgets, and financial performance.

Skills & Capabilities

• Executive‑level communicator with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Strong stakeholder management across global, cross‑functional teams.
• Highly data‑driven, with strong analytical capability (Excel, BI tools, contact center dashboards).
• Deep understanding of contact center metrics (SLAs, NPS/CSAT, FCR, AHT, QA, shrinkage, occupancy).
• Proven ability to drive cost efficiency, productivity improvement, and service effectiveness.
• Strong planning, prioritisation, and execution skills in high‑volume environments.
• Comfortable leading through ambiguity, change, and transformation.
• Strong problem‑solving, negotiation, and continuous improvement mindset.
• Tech‑savvy leader with experience leveraging automation, AI, analytics, and digital CX platforms.

Leadership Behaviours

• Results‑oriented with strong ownership and accountability.
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable operating at scale.
• Builds trust through transparency, integrity, and collaboration.
• Forward‑thinking, curious, and committed to continuous improvement.
• Balances strategic thinking with hands‑on execution.

Key Competencies (Band 4 – Leadership)

• Leading leaders at scale
• Strategic thinking & roadmap execution
• Managing ambiguity and complexity
• Stakeholder balancing & enterprise mindset
• Organisational savvy and influence
• Driving engagement and performance culture
• Building and sustaining high‑performing teams
• Technology‑enabled leadership
• Global perspective
• Data‑driven decision making

About The Cigna Group

Cigna Healthcare, a division of The Cigna Group, is an advocate for better health through every stage of life. We guide our customers through the health care system, empowering them with the information and insight they need to make the best choices for improving their health and vitality. Join us in driving growth and improving lives.