Head of Customer Service

Role overview

This senior leadership role sits at the center of how Lotto New Zealand supports retailers and players. You will own the full customer service function and make sure every interaction is smooth, high quality, and consistent with the organisation’s brand and values.

What you will do

• Lead a high-performing customer service team working across voice and digital channels, and ensure service, productivity, and resourcing goals are met.
• Deliver a reliable omni-channel customer experience that reflects a strong commitment to both customers and communities.
• Define and implement the customer service strategy while balancing customer experience, cost, risk, and overall business performance.
• Continuously improve the contact centre operating model to strengthen efficiency, scalability, and customer outcomes.
• Use customer insights, feedback, and performance data to enhance service delivery and address emerging issues.
• Guide the team through busy demand periods and complex incidents with steady, decisive leadership and clear ownership of critical situations.
• Drive transformation work, including new technology adoption, automation, and self-service capabilities.
• Contribute to major enterprise initiatives by ensuring the customer and retailer perspective is built into change programs as the business evolves.

Your team

You will lead a large, multi-skilled customer service function made up of in-house specialists and external partners. The team supports frontline contact centre activity and broader continuous improvement efforts, helping Lotto New Zealand deliver safe play and positive community impact.

Leadership focus

• Build the culture and environment that helps the team perform strongly and grow with confidence.
• Develop other leaders and strengthen capability across the function.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders and external suppliers to align priorities and deliver results.

About you

You are an experienced customer service leader who is motivated by excellent customer experiences and high-performing teams. You are comfortable in complex, fast-moving settings and can balance customer needs with commercial and operational goals. You can work at strategy level, but also get close to the detail when needed, and you remain calm and considered under pressure.

You should be confident handling sensitive or difficult customer situations, with strong listening skills and the ability to de-escalate while representing the organisation with credibility and authority. You will also bring a strong improvement mindset and the ability to lead people through change effectively.

Key strengths and experience

• Extensive senior leadership experience in customer service, contact centre, or customer operations settings.
• Proven success leading large multi-channel teams and delivering results across customer, people, and commercial measures.
• Deep knowledge of contact centre operations, including service levels, workforce planning, quality assurance, and customer satisfaction metrics.
• Experience shaping strategy and driving transformation, including technology-enabled improvements such as automation, self-service, and digital channels.
• A continuous improvement mindset and a strong history of leading change successfully.
• Strong commercial and analytical capability, with the ability to use data and insight to guide better decisions.
• The ability to influence at a senior level and build trusted relationships across the business and with external partners.

Leadership style

The right person will be a people-first leader who develops others, creates clarity and accountability, and builds a culture where strong performance and great customer outcomes are delivered together.