Head of Department; Customer Service

Unifi is a fast-growing finance and technology company operating in Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Unifi delivers personal lending products through online, mobile phone, and branch channels. The company is well supported by strong shareholders and a board of directors with vast experience in entrepreneurship and lending.

The SA business operates exclusively online and handles high volumes of loan applications and collections operations through a contact centre and supporting services operation in Tyger Valley, Bellville
. The team works closely with a centralised group services office providing credit, data, systems and IT, HR, and finance shared services from Stellenbosch to client-facing operations in-country.

Customer Service Head Of Department is responsible for leading and optimising the 24/7 call centre’s customer experience function to deliver exceptional customer experience, efficient query resolution, and high service standards in a regulated microfinance environment. This role ensures the call centre supports business growth, compliance, arrears performance, customer retention, and brand reputation, while driving continuous improvement across processes, people, and technology.

• Lead, coach and develop Team Leaders and Customer Service Agents.
• Ensure staffing levels meet operational needs.
• Conduct performance reviews, set KPIs and manage performance improvement.
• Drive a culture of accountability and customer-centric behaviour.
• Oversee daily call centre operations, ensuring service levels, turnaround times and call quality targets are met.
• Implement and maintain processes for inbound enquiries, complaints handling, loan queries, collections support, account updates, and after-sales support.
• Ensure escalated customer issues are resolved timeously and professionally.
• Monitor call volumes and agent productivity.
• Manage operational risks related to customer service and call handling.
• Analyse call centre data to identify trends, root causes, and opportunities for improvement.
• Implement process enhancements to reduce repeat calls, improve First Call Resolution, and strengthen customer experience.
• Produce daily, weekly, and monthly performance reports, including SLA performance, customer satisfaction, QA scores, workforce metrics, and operational challenges.
• Track compliance breaches, complaints categories, and unresolved cases.
• Work closely with Marketing to ensure consistent customer messaging.
• Escalate system issues and drive resolution with technical teams.

• Grade 12 essential;
• Diploma or degree in related field advantageous;
• Minimum 5 - 7 years’ experience in a call centre environment with at least 3 years in leadership / HOD / Senior Manager role;
• Experience in microfinance, banking, lending or financial services advantageous;
• Experience in 24/7 operations advantageous;
• Strong people management and coaching ability;
• Conflict resolution and employee relations;
• Analytical and detail oriented;
• Strong communicator, written and verbal;
• Organised;
• Energetic;
• Resilient;
• If you are hands-on, present, humble and adventurous - this is for you!