Customer Experience Manager

OCS WORLDWIDE — RECRUITMENT SPECIFICATION Customer Experience Manager Cross-Border E-Commerce Logistics & Bespoke Retail Partner Delivery  |  www.ocsworldwide.co.uk

 

Job Title	Customer Experience Manager	Reporting To	Sales and Marketing Director
Location	Global House, Colnbrook, Slough (Head Office)	Team Structure	Direct management of  Customer Service Agents
Core Operational Hours	08:00 – 18:00, Monday to Friday (Rotational shift coverage)	Role Archetype	Hands-On Player-Manager & Primary Escalation Point

 

1. 
   ABOUT OCS WORLDWIDE

At OCS Worldwide, we are more than just a carrier; we are an end-to-end cross-border e-commerce logistics partner invested in the international growth of our retail brands. Operating across more than 200 countries since 1957, we combine bespoke global fulfilment, intelligent customs compliance (including HMRC NES declarations and EU Duty Drawback schemes), and final-mile delivery. Our service is highly collaborative: we build long-standing relationships with retail partners to support their international growth and navigate the shifting landscape of global compliance and consumer expectations. For us, international delivery is not a simple transaction. it is an intrinsic part of the online retail journey that protects our partners’ brand reputation at every touchpoint.

2. THE PURPOSE AND GRAVITY OF THE ROLE

At the heart of every retail partnership sits our small, dedicated UK Customer Experience team. As Customer Experience Manager, you are the linchpin of our day-to-day, ‘on the ground’ relationships with our retail partners and their international customers.

A Realistic View of the Role: Make no mistake—this is a demanding, high-accountability position that requires keeping multiple plates spinning simultaneously. We are not looking for an arms-length administrator who delegates from the sidelines. You will lead from the front as a hands-on player-manager: coaching agents across a ten-hour operational window (08:00 to 18:00) whilst personally owning complex escalations, managing live system updates, and coordinating across internal departments.

Reporting directly to the Sales and Marketing Director, you will champion the customer’s voice inside the business. Your daily challenge is to keep our retail partners’ needs first and foremost in everyone’s mind, whilst pragmatically balancing those demands against the real-world operational capabilities of our warehouse, customs, and transport networks. Acting as both a skilled negotiator and a level-headed peacemaker, you will unite differing internal viewpoints and influence external airlines and international final-mile carriers to deliver the fastest, most commercially sensible resolution every time.

3. KEY DAY-TO-DAY RESPONSIBILITIES

Retail Partner Management & Escalations

• First Escalation Point: Act as the initial and primary point of escalation for complex parcel exceptions, customs holds, and service failures raised by retail partners.
• Expectation Management: Provide honest, proactive, and regular updates to retail partners so they are never left chasing information or managing blind spots with their end consumers.
• End-to-End Ownership: Track every escalated query rigorously from initial contact through to final conclusion, ensuring no job is left half-finished or closed prematurely.
• Partner Growth & Onboarding: Collaborate with the Sales and Marketing Director and commercial team during new retail partner onboarding and peak trading periods to align service workflows.
• Site visits: Meet the people you talk to on a day to day basis and build commercially strong expectations and relationships.

Cross-Functional Operations, Customs & Systems

• Internal Bridge: Work daily across Operations, Customs, and Logistics teams to investigate transit delays, misroutes, International hub backlogs, and compliance queries.
• System Updates: Manage manual and automated tracking and system updates, ensuring exception statuses reflect accurate on-the-ground realities for retail partners.
• Customs Troubleshooting: Liaise closely with internal compliance specialists to resolve missing commercial invoice data, HS tariff queries, and EU Duty Drawback returns.
• Internal Advocacy: Bring together differing operational viewpoints constructively, influencing the wider business to treat the customer as our number one priority while respecting operational constraints.

External Airline & Final-Mile Carrier Liaison

• Third-Party Influence: Build strong, collaborative working relationships with airline cargo handlers and international final-mile delivery partners across key global trade lanes.
• Service Recovery & Negotiation: Act as a persuasive negotiator when linehaul uplift or final-mile delays occur, influencing third parties to prioritise OCS freight and deliver the best possible service.
• Peacemaking & Claims Resolution: Mediate calmly between third-party carriers, internal operations, and retail clients to settle disputes, lost-in-transit investigations, and claims fairly and swiftly.

Team Leadership & Shift Management

• Hands-On Player-Management: Lead, coach, and work directly alongside our Customer Service Agents, stepping straight into the ticket and telephone queue to share the workload.
• Rota & Desk Coverage: Organise shift patterns between 08:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday, ensuring seamless, responsive desk coverage across the entire ten-hour operational window.
• Service Standards & Agility: Monitor response quality, tone of voice, and resolution speed, coaching the team to adapt quickly to shifting consumer expectations and customs regulations.

4. SKILLS, COMPETENCIES & CHARACTER REQUIRED

Core Competency	Behavioural & Operational Standard at OCS Worldwide
Calm Plate-Spinner	Thrives under the pressure of competing operational and customer priorities without dropping details, losing composure, or offering vague promises.
Negotiator & Peacemaker	Possesses the emotional intelligence, diplomacy, and commercial backbone to de-escalate frustrated retail partners, unite internal teams, and extract priority service from airlines and final-mile carriers.
Commercial Pragmatism	Knows how to champion the customer fiercely inside the organisation whilst balancing requests realistically against the physical and financial capabilities of the business.
Completer-Finisher Mentality	Refuses to pass the buck; takes personal accountability for seeing messy, multi-party international delivery issues through to their final conclusion.
Cross-Border & Carrier Literacy	Demonstrated hands-on experience in international courier operations, cross-border e-commerce 3PL, freight forwarding, or air cargo customer service.
Clear UK Communicator	Articulate in written and spoken UK English, capable of translating complex customs, airline, or system statuses into clear, reassuring commercial updates.

5. COMPARABLE PUBLIC DOMAIN JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Market benchmarks from air cargo, cross-border parcel brokerage, and final-mile e-commerce delivery

To benchmark the OCS Worldwide Customer Service Manager specification against the wider UK logistics sector, below are three comparable public-domain job descriptions covering the core pillars of the OCS role: airfreight and customs escalation (IAG Cargo), third-party carrier relationship management (ParcelHero), and frontline parcel team leadership (Evri).

Benchmark 1: Air Freight & Customs Focus — Cargo Customer Service Manager (IAG Cargo)

Public-domain specification emphasising single-point accountability across the end-to-end airfreight journey, airline and ground-handler liaison, and customs compliance.

• End-to-End Freight Ownership: Own and be accountable for the end-to-end freight journey jointly with commercial teams to ensure customer service standards are met.
• Airline & Ground Handler Liaison: Interface closely with partner airlines, warehouse operators, and ground handling agents to optimise capacity and drive operational efficiencies.
• Supplier Governance: Manage supplier performance and Service Level Agreement (SLA) reviews to highlight bottlenecks, reduce costs, and improve transit reliability.
• Regulatory & Customs Action: Act promptly on notices issued by government and customs agencies, balancing legal constraints against conflicting commercial priorities.
• Escalations & Claims Review: Review pending claims and act as the primary escalation point for complex queries from commercial customers and the claims unit.

Benchmark 2: Carrier & Cross-Department Focus — Customer Service Manager (ParcelHero)

Public-domain specification from international parcel broker ParcelHero focusing on third-party carrier management and cross-departmental collaboration.

• Third-Party Carrier Management: Liaise directly with global courier partners (such as DHL, FedEx, and UPS) to ensure service delivery meets client and consumer expectations.
• Cross-Department Alignment: Drive collaboration between customer service, customer experience, quality assurance, commercial marketing, and technology teams.
• Proactive Communication Strategy: Develop customer communication workflows for live tracking updates and systematic exception resolution.
• Performance & Quality Metrics: Track and improve core service KPIs including Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSat), and Customer Effort Score.
• Candidate Profile: Proven resilience in a fast-paced, high-pressure parcel delivery environment paired with high levels of diplomacy when resolving complaints.

Benchmark 3: Final-Mile & Team Coaching Focus — Customer Service Team Manager (Evri)

Public-domain role profile from e-commerce parcel carrier Evri highlighting frontline agent coaching, speed to resolution, and root-cause improvement.

• Frontline Coaching & Huddles: Lead, coach, and develop customer service agents through regular 1:1s and daily huddles to maintain a supportive, high-performing culture.
• Speed to Resolution: Drive strong performance across operational KPIs, focusing on first-contact resolution and effective escalated complaint handling.
• Root-Cause Reduction: Identify recurring enquiry trends and collaborate across Customer Service, IT, and Process Improvement to reduce repeat customer contact.
• Autonomous Decision-Making: Monitor team availability across shift windows to maximise productivity and make confident commercial decisions in the absence of senior leaders.