Director, Customer Experience
Baldor Specialty Food, Bronx, NY, United States
Description
Overview:
The Director of Customer Experience is responsible for designing, launching, and operating Baldor's centralized Customer Service department. This role owns the end-to-end customer issue lifecycle, unifying Customer Service, Dispatch coordination, Inside Sales support, and real-time decision-making into a single, high-performance operation.
This leader will initially focus on building the Command Center capability-processes, workflows, staffing model, technology integration, and operating cadence, and then transition into daily execution leadership, ensuring consistent service delivery, cost control, and continuous improvement.
The role is both strategic and highly operational, requiring comfort leading real-time operations while also driving structural change.
This role is foundational to Baldor's next phase of operational excellence. The Director of Customer Service will: Protect margin by reducing preventable service costs Improve customer retention and trust Enable scalable growth without proportional cost increases Establish a best-in-class service and execution model This is a build-and-run leadership role with direct, measurable impact on Baldor's financial and operational performance.
Responsibilities:
Command Center Design & Build (Initial Phase)
• The Director will lead the end-to-end development of the Customer Service Command Center, including:
• Designing the operating model, scope, and governance for centralized customer service and exception management.
• Defining roles, responsibilities, spans of control, and staffing models aligned to delivery volume and service peaks.
• Leading the co-location and integration of Customer Service, Dispatch coordination, and Inside Sales support.
• Establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs), SLAs, escalation paths, and communication standards.
• Leading change management, training, and readiness planning for all impacted teams.
Daily Command Center Operations (Steady State)
Leading day-to-day Command Center operations with a real-time, exception-driven mindset. Running daily operating rhythms (morning huddles, live escalation management, end-of-day reviews). Serving as the final escalation point for high-impact customer issues, delivery failures, and service disruptions. Ensuring customer issues are resolved quickly, consistently, and cost-effectively. Maintaining tight coordination across: Transportation & Dispatch Warehouse Operations (Quality, Inventory, Fulfillment) Inside Sales Finance (Credits & Claims) IT & Data Analytics
Customer Experience Ownership
Own Baldor's end-to-end customer experience during delivery and post-order execution. Drive improvements in: First Contact Resolution (FCR) On-Time, In-Full (OTIF) performance Customer satisfaction (CSAT / NPS) Response and resolution SLAs
Establish consistent customer communication standards and service recovery playbooks. Partner with Sales leadership to ensure top-tier customers receive proactive, high-touch service. Exception Management & Cost Control
Lead a proactive, prevention-focused approach to: Late deliveries Shortages and substitutions Quality complaints Order changes and re-deliveries
Drive root-cause analysis on credits and service failures. Partner with Finance and Operations to reduce: Preventable credits Re-delivery costs Overtime and inefficiencies
Translate service improvements into measurable cost-to-serve reductions. Technology, Data & Decision Support
Own the functional use of customer service and decision-support systems, including: Zendesk (ticket lifecycle, SLAs, reporting), CRM, Power BI dashboards and alerts, Integration with TMS, WMS, (HighJump), and telematics
Champion a single source of truth for customer issues and operational exceptions. Drive adoption of data-driven decision-making on the Command Center floor. Team Leadership & Talent Development
Build and lead a high-performing team of managers, team leads, and frontline specialists. Design and manage staffing models and shift coverage aligned to delivery peaks. Implement cross-training to create flexible, multi-skilled roles. Develop future leaders capable of managing in a fast-paced, real-time environment. Foster a culture of accountability, urgency, and continuous improvement. Required Qualifications:
10+ years of experience in customer service, operations, logistics, or transportation leadership. 5+ years leading managers in high-volume, time-sensitive environments. Proven experience building and operating centralized service or operations teams. Strong understanding of last-mile delivery and exception management. Demonstrated success leading cross-functional change initiatives. High comfort operating in real time and making decisions under pressure. Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in food distribution, logistics, transportation, or perishable supply chains. Familiarity with Dynamics 365, HighJump WMS, Zendesk, Power BI, TMS, and telematics platforms. Background in command centers, network operations centers (NOC), or large-scale service operations. MBA or advanced degree in Operations, Business, or Supply Chain.
This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities. However, the Company reserves the right to adjust, modify, or reassign work tasks and responsibilities as needed to meet changing business needs, operational requirements, or other factors.
Baldor Specialty Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, or any other legally protected status.
Overview:
The Director of Customer Experience is responsible for designing, launching, and operating Baldor's centralized Customer Service department. This role owns the end-to-end customer issue lifecycle, unifying Customer Service, Dispatch coordination, Inside Sales support, and real-time decision-making into a single, high-performance operation.
This leader will initially focus on building the Command Center capability-processes, workflows, staffing model, technology integration, and operating cadence, and then transition into daily execution leadership, ensuring consistent service delivery, cost control, and continuous improvement.
The role is both strategic and highly operational, requiring comfort leading real-time operations while also driving structural change.
This role is foundational to Baldor's next phase of operational excellence. The Director of Customer Service will: Protect margin by reducing preventable service costs Improve customer retention and trust Enable scalable growth without proportional cost increases Establish a best-in-class service and execution model This is a build-and-run leadership role with direct, measurable impact on Baldor's financial and operational performance.
Responsibilities:
Command Center Design & Build (Initial Phase)
• The Director will lead the end-to-end development of the Customer Service Command Center, including:
• Designing the operating model, scope, and governance for centralized customer service and exception management.
• Defining roles, responsibilities, spans of control, and staffing models aligned to delivery volume and service peaks.
• Leading the co-location and integration of Customer Service, Dispatch coordination, and Inside Sales support.
• Establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs), SLAs, escalation paths, and communication standards.
• Leading change management, training, and readiness planning for all impacted teams.
Daily Command Center Operations (Steady State)
Leading day-to-day Command Center operations with a real-time, exception-driven mindset. Running daily operating rhythms (morning huddles, live escalation management, end-of-day reviews). Serving as the final escalation point for high-impact customer issues, delivery failures, and service disruptions. Ensuring customer issues are resolved quickly, consistently, and cost-effectively. Maintaining tight coordination across: Transportation & Dispatch Warehouse Operations (Quality, Inventory, Fulfillment) Inside Sales Finance (Credits & Claims) IT & Data Analytics
Customer Experience Ownership
Own Baldor's end-to-end customer experience during delivery and post-order execution. Drive improvements in: First Contact Resolution (FCR) On-Time, In-Full (OTIF) performance Customer satisfaction (CSAT / NPS) Response and resolution SLAs
Establish consistent customer communication standards and service recovery playbooks. Partner with Sales leadership to ensure top-tier customers receive proactive, high-touch service. Exception Management & Cost Control
Lead a proactive, prevention-focused approach to: Late deliveries Shortages and substitutions Quality complaints Order changes and re-deliveries
Drive root-cause analysis on credits and service failures. Partner with Finance and Operations to reduce: Preventable credits Re-delivery costs Overtime and inefficiencies
Translate service improvements into measurable cost-to-serve reductions. Technology, Data & Decision Support
Own the functional use of customer service and decision-support systems, including: Zendesk (ticket lifecycle, SLAs, reporting), CRM, Power BI dashboards and alerts, Integration with TMS, WMS, (HighJump), and telematics
Champion a single source of truth for customer issues and operational exceptions. Drive adoption of data-driven decision-making on the Command Center floor. Team Leadership & Talent Development
Build and lead a high-performing team of managers, team leads, and frontline specialists. Design and manage staffing models and shift coverage aligned to delivery peaks. Implement cross-training to create flexible, multi-skilled roles. Develop future leaders capable of managing in a fast-paced, real-time environment. Foster a culture of accountability, urgency, and continuous improvement. Required Qualifications:
10+ years of experience in customer service, operations, logistics, or transportation leadership. 5+ years leading managers in high-volume, time-sensitive environments. Proven experience building and operating centralized service or operations teams. Strong understanding of last-mile delivery and exception management. Demonstrated success leading cross-functional change initiatives. High comfort operating in real time and making decisions under pressure. Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in food distribution, logistics, transportation, or perishable supply chains. Familiarity with Dynamics 365, HighJump WMS, Zendesk, Power BI, TMS, and telematics platforms. Background in command centers, network operations centers (NOC), or large-scale service operations. MBA or advanced degree in Operations, Business, or Supply Chain.
This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities. However, the Company reserves the right to adjust, modify, or reassign work tasks and responsibilities as needed to meet changing business needs, operational requirements, or other factors.
Baldor Specialty Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, or any other legally protected status.