Strategic Accounts Customer Service Manager

Main Purpose of the Role:

The Customer Service Control Tower Manager leads a specialized team responsible for managing high-value customers, critical shipments, and complex service escalations within a freight shipping environment. This role serves as the central point of coordination for urgent issues, ensuring rapid resolution, proactive communication, and exceptional service for VIP and Strategic Accounts.

The Manager oversees day-to-day escalation handling, cross-functional coordination, performance management, and continuous improvement of processes that protect service quality, customer satisfaction, and revenue.

Main Tasks:

• Serves as the first point of contact to all VIPz Team members.
• Drives accountability in other departments which interface with VIPz team.
• Provide technical guidance and assistance to all VIPz Team members.
• Monitoring and measuring through metrics of our daily performance versus our commitment to the customers.
• Setting a clear governance around system and process adherence
• Review the customer’s SOP with the customer and local CS nominee to make sure that agreed by ZIM issues will be followed.
• Monitor implementation of the agreed customers’ SOP
• Regular (Monthly/Quarterly) proactive meetings with SA customers with/without local CS manager to review customer’s activities, feedback and SOPs implementation.
• Monitor the customer’s KPI reports and attend customer’s operation KPI review meetings.
• Regular meeting with SA handling countries to review the processes, challenges, and customer’s KPI’s.
• Produce team KPI reports and other reports, as needed
• Acts as a first level of escalation/ point of contact for VIPz team members
• Support and Supervise efforts in Tracking and Tracing cargo and provide updates to the customer as required.
• Maintains constant line of communication with customers.
• Receive daily calls to assist customers.
• Resolves all customers complaints and problems
• Creates excel spreadsheets for import/export containers for accounts with current tracing information.
• Downloads excel spreadsheet for accounts and applies the information to existing spreadsheets according to the vessel schedule.
• Create excel spreadsheets for manual billing process and send daily updates customers for their approval and coordinate payments on ocean freight.
• Maintains constant line of communication with customers.
• Works with demurrage team for all demurrage issues for all customers.
• Works with Logistics team /third party vendor (IMS) to help coordinate inland moves.
• Coordinates with other domestic and international Zim offices and agents for manifest correctors.
• Sends out arrival notices and bill of ladings upon request, pull reports to confirm that all containers for the customers are accounted for, and coordinates with customers for delivery instructions.
• Evaluates and Communicates with Finical department to help reconcile all payment discrepancies (Short Pay or Over Pay).
• Performs various miscellaneous customer requests.

REQUIREMENTS

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university, or equivalent

4+ years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Previous relevant industry or leadership experience preferred

Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and PowerPoint software

Leadership Experience