VP, Customer Service / Contact Center Operations

About Fortis

Fortis operates in next-generation payment technology and solutions, helping businesses turn payments into a strategic advantage. Its proprietary platform is designed to bring payments closer to being invisible while strengthening the payment capabilities of merchants and software partners. The company combines award-winning software integrations, strong data, and deep expertise in commerce and industry verticals to deliver smoother customer experiences. Fortis is growing quickly and is looking for collaborative, innovative problem solvers who want to help shape the future of payments and grow in the fintech space.

About the Role

The VP of Customer Service / Contact Center Operations is responsible for Fortis’ end-to-end customer service and contact center function across phone, chat, and email for both partners and the businesses they support. This leader owns accessibility, operational efficiency, first-contact resolution, and the service outcomes that influence retention.

The role is central to scaling service operations as the business grows. It involves building and running the operating model behind agents, workforce management, quality, and supporting systems so that customers can reach the business easily, get issues resolved quickly, and remain loyal. The function must be managed through a small set of reliable, balanced metrics, where efficiency is always measured alongside quality.

The position works closely with Technology, Product, Process Excellence, Finance, and outsourcing partners to align staffing, systems, and service levels with customer expectations in a complex payments environment. This is a high-visibility leadership role that requires both strategic thinking and hands-on execution.

Key Performance Metrics

• Operational efficiency: Total Cost of Operations as a percentage of Revenue, and Total Customer Touches as a percentage of Total Active Customers.
• Accessibility and service: Service Level, Average Speed of Answer (ASA), and Abandon Rate.
• Customer experience and quality: First Contact Resolution (FCR), CSAT, and Average Handle Time (AHT), managed as paired KPIs so that speed never undermines quality.

Example Priorities and Ongoing Work

Over the first several months, the role is expected to focus on identifying and scaling operational improvements, including automation opportunities and AI-enabled process changes. The leader will be expected to align stakeholders around a plan for improvement and then deliver against it.

The company also expects a shift of more operational work to an offshore partner in the Philippines, with accountability held to the same balanced scorecard used internally. In addition, the role includes reducing abandon rates across web and phone channels by working with telephony, workflow, and technology teams to identify root causes and implement fixes, including interval-level staffing and workforce management models.

Other priorities include improving interactive voice response (IVR) flows, adding new call path levels, integrating the knowledge base into IVR for automation, and strengthening workforce management discipline around schedule adherence, shrinkage, and attrition so forecasts translate into actual coverage.

On the retention side, the role involves building programs to retain top contact center performers, creating a dedicated retention or save desk with supporting scripts and authority limits, and developing playbooks that convert at-risk interactions into saved relationships. The role also requires using customer feedback and contact-driver analysis to inform Product and Engineering so the underlying causes of contacts are reduced.

The leader will establish a clear KPI and dashboard framework built on trusted, balanced metrics such as AHT, productive-to-paid ratios, FCR, CSAT, and save rate. As new feedback tools are introduced, the role is expected to improve how CSAT is measured and monitored through weekly trends rather than isolated daily snapshots.

Retention and Business Impact

A key objective is to reduce merchant and partner attrition by addressing service-related causes such as long wait times, unresolved cases, and repeat contacts, with the goal of improving retention and net revenue retention.

Leadership Mindsets and Behaviors

• Own the outcome: approach the business with a strong sense of personal accountability and initiative.
• Move with purpose: balance speed with sound judgment and act quickly once the right path is clear.
• Think strategically: build the systems, processes, and structures needed to support aggressive growth while staying hands-on.

Core Values

• Team First: work collaboratively, respectfully, and in support of shared goals.
• Positive Attitude: bring energy, optimism, and enthusiasm to the workplace and to customer interactions.
• Get it Done: stay focused on responsibilities, prioritize effectively, and complete work thoroughly.
• Adapt & Innovate: stay flexible, embrace change, and keep learning as the environment evolves.

Minimum Experience Requirements

• Background in card processing, merchant acquiring, or issuing, with a solid understanding of the credit card processing environment.
• Experience leading a contact center of at least 100 people across phone, chat, email, or similar channels, while managing to a balanced scorecard that includes Service Level, ASA, Abandon Rate, AHT, FCR, and CSAT.
• Proven track record of driving automation and transformation within a contact center.
• Experience supporting and retaining both enterprise and SMB customers.
• Experience managing offshore or outsourced BPO partners and holding them to the same service and quality standards as internal teams.
• Strong analytical orientation and active use of AI in professional and personal contexts.

Operating Environment

Success in this role requires urgency in creating value for customers, employees, and stakeholders, along with strong financial judgment and a clear understanding of the drivers of business value. The role is heavily metrics-driven and expects disciplined management of a few trusted numbers rather than an overly large dashboard.

This is an in-person leadership position and requires full-time presence in the Plano office.