Contact Centre Team Leader at South African National Blood Service (SANBS)

Introduction

• The incumbent will manage the Contact Centre business unit to ensure effective donor recruitment and customer service delivery through a variety of in and outbound customer contact channels.
• Responsible for staffing, budget management, implementing strategy and maintaining quality standards. In addition, ensures optimal structuring of contact centre support nationally for blood collections and stakeholder management.

Job description

Key Performance Areas.

KPA 1:Strategic planning and objective setting through establishing, developing and Managing the business plan for the business unit.

KPI

• Work closely with Donor Services, Donor Relations, Marketing and Communications, and zone management to ensure alignment on long-term strategic plans.
• Provide valuable input to inform the Contact Centre's business plan.
• Develop and communicate the business plan to team members and facilitate their buy-in to ensure alignment and commitment.
• Oversee team activities to ensure an excellent customer experience while delivering efficient service. Drive the team to achieve high-quality customer service by providing prompt, detailed, and customer-oriented support.
• Propose initiatives to enhance customer engagement.
• Liaises with different departments to support specific recruitment programmes such as group O, whole blood, apheresis platelets, source plasma, hyperimmune plasma etc.
• Assess current workflow and apply best practices in creating multi-criteria and assigning service queues to deliver continuous improvement strategies identified through both internal and external stakeholder feedback.
• Provide an analysis of current operational workflows, identifying bottlenecks and recommend process improvements to enhance efficiency.
• Submit reports and provide regular feedback to internal stakeholders on team performance in line with agreed SLA’s.
• Represent the department/team at stakeholder meetings.
• Evaluate the overall performance of the department in terms of customer engagement, regularly.

KPA 2:Drive Business Performance – Manages the operational objectives to ensure collections to target, donor retention and good customer service.
KPI

• Drive proactive quality assurance by ensuring compliance and implementation of policies, procedures and standards within the department.
• Plan and direct all aspects of operations and initiatives and ensure strategic focus and alignment throughout the business unit.
• Continuous monitoring of team performance metric to measure success, such as customer satisfaction scores, average response times, and employee engagement levels.
• Implement protocols to ensure customer service is reliably delivered.
• Custodians of the customer experience developed within the department,working to ensure that the vision is consistently embodied in every customer interaction.
• Propose initiatives to enhance customer engagement by providing ongoing guidance and direction to the operational environments managed by this role in terms of the areas of focus, opportunities, key targets and relevant policies, legislative and regulatory environments.
• Collate, analyse, and interpret monthly inbound and outbound performance statistics
• Analyse social media trends to inform strategies.
• Evaluate trends and demands and take appropriate and timely action to minimise impact.
• Ensure alignment with the Stakeholder Management and Communication strategies.

KPA 3:People management to achieve operational objectives.
KPI

• Conduct performance management and monitor performance on an ongoing basis throughmentoring, coaching, and performance reviews and take appropriate steps to correct problems.
• Track and encourage individual development by identifying learning and development needs & facilitating the attendance of relevant programs.
• Deal with grievances, conflict, and disciplinary issues and take appropriate actions per SANBS Policy.
• Ensure regular two-way communication with staff matters such as strategy, values, team building, SOPs, policy changes, etc. to ensure understanding.
• Monitor and coordinate shift exchanges by scheduling team members to daily and monthly tasks, ensuring the Contact Centre delivers excellent service.
• Monitor and track staff time-keeping, absenteeism trends, overtime worked, and leave to ensure adherence to HR policies/ procedures/ employee wellness and cost-effective running of the department.
• Provide guidance and support to team members to ensure effective engagement with stakeholders.
• Recruitment and selection of suitable candidates according to manpower plan, recruitment and selection procedures, and EE targets.
• Attend meetings and training sessions as required, to remain informed of current field-relateddevelopments, to promote knowledge sharing
• Conduct regular scheduled meetings with direct reports.
• Lead, coach, and motivate the team. Mentor all Contact Centre Agents on the company values and expected behaviours promoting team development.

KPA 4:Maintain a healthy risk profile within area managed.
KPI

• Cultivate a culture of proactive compliance and risk management within the team. 
• Ensure that the team is aware of their responsibilities in terms of managing risks and taking ownership of them.
• Manage and oversee the implementation of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) programs, policies, and legislation.
• Ensure that necessary accreditation standards are upheld.
• Manage non-conformances, major deficiencies, errors, deviation from SOPs, and compliance with quality control programmes and standards of practice to ensure compliance with scorecard measures.
• Develop and test business continuity plans, and identify and mitigate risks to business continuity to ensure the sustainability of the donor panel and overall customer satisfaction.

Competencies

Cognitive 

• Analytical Thinking and Attention to Detail
• Holistic / Big Picture Thinking 
• Judgement and Decision Making
• Problem Solving 
• Innovation and Creativity
• Innovation and Creativity

Personal 

• Ethical behaviour
• Excellence 
  Orientation
• Flexibility /Adaptability
• Personal Development
• Drive andBelief in the Cause
• Resilience and Stress Management
• Professional Image and Visibility

Interpersonal

• Customer Service Orientation
• Conflict Management
• Knowledge Sharing
• Teamwork
• Communication

Prof technical

• Business and Financial Acumen
• Process Engineering / Systems Competence
•  Computer Literacy
• Best Practice Thinking

 Leadership 

• Motivating People
• Participative Leadership 
• People Development 
• Strategic Leadership

Minimum requirements

Education

• Call Centre Qualification/ Certificate/ Diploma NQF 5

Experience and knowledge requirements

• 3 years call centre or tele-recruiting experience
• 2 years Supervisory experience in managing a Donor Relations or Contact Centre team
• Quality Assurance experience and training is an advantage
• Verbal and written proficiency in English

Other (knowledge and skills),

• Computer literacy: MS Office
• Social media: Community management 
• Multi-Channel Communication system

Special Circumstances

• Code EB or B Drivers’ license. (Manual)
• National travel and overnight stays
• Overtime as and when required

Apply by: 15 July 2026