Chief Service Officer

Chief Service Officer

A unique opportunity to take another step in your executive career

Join a highly successful technology company delivering financial services software across an international footprint and play a critical role in further elevating the delivery of exceptional service to our clients. Capitalise upon senior executive experience which may have spanned general management, management consulting, client service management or process improvement, ideally in professional services, financial services or technology environments.

• Report directly to the Managing Director
• Establish a new function within a mature and highly successful enterprise
• A predominantly internal role charged with ensuring that internal priorities, actions and initiatives are all focused on ensuring superior outcomes for clients.

About Us

Ultradata Australia Pty. Ltd., headquartered in Melbourne, is a trusted technology business partner to significant financial institutions across the Australian and Asia Pacific financial services market (B2B). An established business with deep experience and expertise, Ultradata has successfully completed thousands of technology projects across a portfolio spanning core banking, funds management, consumer finance, lending and an array of digital and online services. Ultradata's vision is to be the premier provider of innovative software technology solutions and professional services, unrivalled in the finance industry.

The role

As a member of the Leadership Team you will have responsibility for ensuring that Ultradata:

• Creates an overarching operating model that places clients at the centre of its business activity
• Consistently meets the commitments it makes to clients (both external, and internal) so as to nurture the highest levels of trust, satisfaction and appetite in and for the products and services we deliver
• Aligns its internal priorities and objectives to meet the highest levels of client expectation
• Consistently measures levels of client satisfaction with the objective of incrementally lifting this to superior levels.

In summary, the Chief Service Officer should ensure that all of the 'internal facing' activity is strictly prioritised according to what will achieve the best outcomes for clients.

The accountabilities of the Chief Service Officer will initially include the following, though the role will evolve as the incumbent becomes more and more familiar with the organisation:

• Build close relationships across the whole of the Leadership Team, and with relevant staff - as well as consistent, transparent communication channels that enable the recording and registration of all significant commitments (to both external and internal clients) in a format that can be tracked regularly, with efficient real-time reporting to the Board and Managing Director.
• Work closely with the Client Engagement and Innovation/ Design Teams, to establish a comprehensive view of all commitments to clients and related delivery dates; and to track performance against these dates, from the perspective of quality, timeliness, and compliance with regulatory deadlines and related timeframes
• Ensure that all work activity undertaken in meeting our commitments to clients is conducted with Passion, Integrity and Dedication – exemplifying and elevating the Ultradata Values. This should include liaison with the Marketing and People and Culture functions to ensure that outstanding client service is recognised and rewarded internally and highlighted through external channels to reinforce the wider Ultradata value proposition.

The successful candidate will also be required to establish internal processes and procedures that ensure the efficient delivery of all actions and initiatives impacting clients, including:

• Creating a comprehensive Performance Dashboard that enables meaningful reporting of progress and a clear view of the issues that require higher priority, extra focus or resources
• Working with the Client Engagement function to better understand opportunities to improve our business processes, diagnose root causes and elevate our reputation with clients
• Working in accordance with the Product Management Life Cycle (internal governance framework) understanding its mechanics and key processes, and providing independent 'voice of the client' input to inform its activities, priorities and action plans
• Creating a clear framework by which critical internal activities supporting external clients are thoroughly documented and evaluated, with a particular emphasis on those activities where there could be a risk of negatively impacting clients, product rollout or revenue if they fall off the rails. In this area, the incumbent may take an internal audit approach, keeping across all cyclical activities to ensure they are completed in a timely manner with an appropriate emphasis on quality.

All in all, the Chief Service Officer should be taking a 'side by side' approach, collaborating with people across the business to ensure superior levels of client satisfaction.

Other Activities:

• Establish clear processes with the Client Engagement team that formalise responsibilities for the measurement of service to clients according to an agreed set of key performance dimensions
• Implement clear Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the delivery of quotes to clients
• Develop robust reporting processes (including automated processes where appropriate) that provide broad spectrum insight for the Board, Managing Director and Leadership Team.

Are you the very first Chief Service Officer at Ultradata?

Ideally you will bring to your candidacy:

• Relevant degree in business, technology, or related discipline
• Post-graduate qualification in a relevant discipline.

Profile:

• An accomplished senior executive with extensive experience managing deep client relationships in professional services, financial services or technology environments
• Highly skilled (at least five years in depth experience in) process design and improvement (at a very senior and strategic level) and the development of frameworks to measure and lift customer satisfaction
• Without necessarily being a highly technical specialist, possesses a strong understanding of the software product development process
• It will also be an asset if you can demonstrate a high level of affinity with the mutual banking sector, gained by working in the sector itself, or from having managed the provisions of products or services into that sector
• Experience in a management consulting environment may be advantageous – particularly if it has involved the construction of models or frameworks to measure, optimise and lift client satisfaction, or the creation of dashboards or other reporting tools that enable senior teams to focus in on client satisfaction measures and activities.

Other

• Must be commercially astute; with strong analytical, research and negotiating skills and the ability to navigate through complex commercial and legal issues if required
• The ability to gain the cooperation of internal resources and to influence them effectively to 'lift their game' where necessary
• Exceptional interpersonal skills that foster the development of stakeholder relationships, in good times and bad
• An experienced team player, capable of winning the confidence of Leadership Team peers and garnering their support and feedback on new projects or initiatives
• A personal exemplar of the Ultradata Values, with demonstrated Passion, Integrity and Dedication.
• Solutions focused, with the ability to successfully manage competing priorities, maintain attention to detail and meet deadlines.
• "Can do" attitude, results oriented and strong executive level problem-solving skills.