Head of Customer Support Job Description and KRAs

A Head of Customer Support owns the support function that resolves customer queries and issues across channels. They set the service levels, staffing, quality standards and tools, lead the support managers, and keep resolution fast and consistent. They balance service quality against cost as volumes grow. A good Head of Customer Support keeps service levels and quality high across calls, chats, email and tickets, controls cost per contact as volume rises, reduces repeat contacts through fixes, and builds support managers who run their teams well.

Detail	For this role
Department	Customer Support
Level	Senior management
Reports to	Chief Operating Officer
Direct reports	Customer Support Manager, Customer Service Manager, Quality Manager (Contact Centre)
Experience	10+ years in customer support with leadership experience

Head of Customer Support job description template

Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.

Job title: Head of Customer Support

Department: Customer Support

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Location: [City], [office, branch or site]

About the role

Key responsibilities

Own service levels, quality and cost per contact for the whole support function.
Set support strategy, channel mix and staffing to match customer contact volume.
Lead support managers and hold them to service, quality and productivity targets.
Choose and own the ticketing, telephony and knowledge base tools for the team.
Drive first-contact resolution and cut repeat contacts through root-cause fixes.
Set quality standards and the coaching approach with the quality team.
Plan capacity and shifts so service levels hold through peaks and around the clock.
Report support performance, cost and customer issues to leadership.
Work with product and operations to remove the causes of contacts.
Build the support leadership team and the hiring and retention plan.

Requirements

Graduate, an MBA an advantage
Experience leading customer support or contact centre teams
An operations or quality certification is an advantage
10+ years in customer support with leadership experience

KRAs and KPIs for a Head of Customer Support

Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.

Key result area	How to measure it
Service level	Service levels met across all channels each month
Quality	Quality scores held above the target across the function
First-contact resolution	First-contact resolution improved against the baseline
Cost per contact	Cost per contact controlled as volume grows
Repeat contacts	Repeat contacts reduced through root-cause fixes
People	Support manager roles filled with attrition below the agreed level

Skills and tools

Support operations leadershipService level managementOmnichannel supportTicketing and telephony toolsQuality managementCapacity planningCost controlPeople leadershipRoot cause analysis

Tools used day to day: Ticketing platforms, Telephony and dialer, Knowledge base tools, WFM tools, BI dashboards.

Reporting line and career path

Moves up from: Customer Support Manager, Contact Centre Manager, Service Delivery Manager
Next roles: Head of Customer Experience, Vice President Customer Experience, Director Operations

Interview questions for a Head of Customer Support

How do you keep service levels high across calls, chat, email and tickets?
How do you improve first-contact resolution across a support team?
How do you control cost per contact as volumes grow?
How do you work with product to reduce the reasons customers contact support?
How do you set quality standards and a coaching approach?
How do you build support managers who run their teams well?

Managing a Head of Customer Support in ZeniaHR

AttendanceSupport runs in rotating shifts across channels, often around the clock, so set shift rosters and let night shifts crossing midnight file to the correct day. Staff punch on the office network or biometric at the entry, with capture controls limiting web punches to the office network. Women on night shifts work with consent and safe transport under the OSH rules.LeavePlan leave against the roster and shrinkage plan so service levels hold, and name a backup approver during long leave. Comp-off for managers covering weekly offs during peaks is credited in the leave ledger and should be cleared before it expires.Performance and KRAsSet the KRAs above as goals in the review cycle and review service level, quality and cost monthly, with a quarterly formal review. Rate managers still in probation on the 1 to 5 probation review with a written comment.

Hire and manage your customer support team in one place

Post the role, onboard the new hire, and track attendance, leave and KRAs in ZeniaHR. Free for your first 50 employees.

Book a free demo See pricing

Frequently asked questions

What does a Head of Customer Support do?

A Head of Customer Support owns the support function that resolves customer queries across channels. They set service levels, staffing, quality standards and tools, lead support managers, and keep resolution fast and consistent. They drive first-contact resolution, control cost per contact, reduce repeat contacts through fixes, and build support managers who run their teams well.

What is the difference between a Head of Customer Support and a Head of Customer Experience?

A Head of Customer Support owns the support function: resolving customer contacts across channels at the right service level and cost. A Head of Customer Experience owns the whole journey and works across all teams to improve how customers feel. Support is one part of experience; the support head runs the desk while the experience head spans the business.

What qualifications does a Head of Customer Support need?

A graduate degree is the usual base and an MBA is an advantage. Employers value experience leading support or contact centre teams, command of service levels, quality and ticketing tools, and a record of improving resolution while controlling cost. An operations or quality certification helps, but proven leadership of a support function matters most.