Role Purpose
Cpl are seeking a Temporary Assistant Principal - Head of UX Service Operations for our client Coimisiún na Meán. The successful candidate will be employed by Cpl on a 12 month temporary assignment working in Coimisiún na Meán. The Assistant Director / Head of Service Operations role is required to provide leadership and oversight of a significant operational workload that is critical to the organisation's customer service delivery model. The role is responsible for managing the operational relationship with outsourced contact centre providers, overseeing performance against agreed SLAs and KPIs, leading service governance forums, managing operational escalations, and ensuring compliance with regulatory and policy requirements. The position also has responsibility for service continuity, operational risk management, quality assurance, and the development of operational frameworks and procedures that underpin customer service delivery.
In addition to the ongoing operational responsibilities, the role is expected to lead a number of strategic and business-critical initiatives, including supplier management and tender activities, continuous service improvement programmes, workforce and capacity planning, enhancement of service governance processes, and the implementation of operational standards across customer service functions. The role works closely with senior leadership, ICT teams, regulatory specialists, and external service providers to ensure services remain customer-focused, efficient, resilient, and compliant.
About the Team
The Communications and User Support team at Coimisiún na Meán plays a vital role in shaping and maintaining the organisation's reputation and relationships with key stakeholders, internally and externally. We are responsible for developing and implementing communications approaches that promote awareness and understanding of Coimisiún na Meán's remit and activities. This includes engaging with the media, and elected representatives, managing our online presence, and overseeing events, as well as internal communications. Through our work, we aim to foster a positive and informed public discourse on media development and regulation in Ireland and beyond, and provide clarity on our organisations role, responsibilities and activities.
Key Responsibilities
Contact Centre Governance
- Lead the operational relationship with the outsourced contact centre provider.
- Chair weekly, monthly and quarterly operational review meetings.
- Monitor and govern delivery against agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Ensure contractual obligations and service commitments are achieved.
- Drive continuous performance improvement initiatives with providers.
- Ensure operational alignment with ICT teams regarding CRM systems and supporting technologies.
- Prepare governance reports and recommendations for senior leadership.
Operational Oversight
- Manage Priority (P1) operational escalations received from outsourced service teams.
- Review quality assurance results and identify improvement requirements.
- Monitor service demand, workforce capacity and operational performance trends.
- Lead planning activities to support service resilience and continuity.
- Manage operational risks and implement mitigation actions where required.
- Oversee incident management and escalation processes.
- Ensure timely resolution of service issues affecting customers.
Regulatory Accuracy
- Ensure customer responses remain within the organisation's regulatory remit
- Review and approve operational scripts, knowledge articles and service guidance.
- Ensure regulatory and policy requirements are accurately reflected in customer interactions.
- Escalate complex regulatory interpretation issues to appropriate decision-making forums.
- Support audit and compliance activities relating to operational delivery
Process Ownership
Develop, maintain and continuously improve operational frameworks including:
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Create and maintain operational procedures.
- Ensure consistent application across teams and providers.
Escalation Procedures
- Define escalation pathways and governance controls.
- Ensure rapid resolution of critical incidents.
Contact Handling Frameworks
- Establish standards for customer engagement and case handling.
- Ensure consistency and quality of customer interactions.
Service Standards
- Define operational performance expectations.
- Monitor adherence and drive continuous improvement.
The above is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive and is subject to review.
About You
Essential Skills, Experience and Expertise
- Have significant experience managing operational service delivery functions.
- Demonstrate strong supplier and contract management capabilities.
- Have experience governing outsourced service providers.
- Possess excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Are highly organised and comfortable managing multiple priorities.
- Have experience working within regulated or public-sector environments.
- Can effectively manage risks, escalations and service continuity challenges.
- Are committed to providing excellent customer and stakeholder experiences.
- Demonstrate strong analytical and decision-making skills.
Have a track record of leading teams through change and transformation.
Applicants should demonstrate substantial experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Contact centre management.
- Operational service delivery management.
- Outsourced provider governance.
- Supplier and contract management.
- Service performance monitoring and reporting.
- Quality assurance and continuous improvement.
- Incident, escalation and risk management.
- Customer operations within a regulated environment.
Essential Skills & Qualifications
- Proven leadership and people management experience.
- Strong operational management capability.
- Experience managing SLAs, KPIs and service performance frameworks.
- Excellent analytical, reporting and decision-making skills.
- Experience preparing governance reports and executive briefings.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
- Excellent organisational and planning abilities.
- Strong Microsoft Office and reporting tool proficiency.
Desirable skills
- Experience within a regulator, public body or regulated industry.
- CRM platform governance and operational oversight.
- Service design and process improvement experience.
- Business continuity and resilience planning.
- Quality assurance framework development.
- Project or programme management qualifications.
- Professional certification in operational management, service management or governance disciplines.
