Customer Operations Manager

We are the UK's leading premium publisher, home to iconic and influential media brands including Esquire, Men's & Women's Health, ELLE, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Digital Spy, Cosmopolitan, Red and more. At Hearst UK, we don't just create content – we shape culture.

Our workplace is driven by passion, shaped by authenticity and powered by creativity. We back bold ideas, act with an entrepreneurial mindset and continually evolve to meet the moment - while respecting the legacy that's brought us here. We believe in each other's potential and push boundaries together to create meaningful impact, both across the media landscape and in people's lives.

We're proud of our heritage - but even more excited about making history.

Hearst UK operates an in office policy with flexible Friday's. Our office is based at House of Hearst, 30 Panton Street, St James's, London, SW1Y 4AJ, where teams collaborate in person and connect across brands and functions.

Salary - Circa £50,000 - Salary is dependent on experience and will be assesed in line with the candidate's skills, knowledge & relevant expertise.

About the Role…

As the Customer Operations Manager, you will lead the operational delivery of Hearst UK's customer service and fulfilment function, ensuring every customer interaction reflects the quality of our brands and supports our ambitious membership growth plans.

Reporting into the Head of Operations and Planning, with a strategic dotted-line relationship into the Head of Customer Value, you'll oversee our outsourced customer service operation and fulfilment activities, driving operational excellence across customer service, print fulfilment and customer experience.

You'll be responsible for ensuring our operational partners consistently deliver against service standards while acting as the voice of the customer across the business. Working closely with Customer Value, Memberships & Rewards, Customer Performance & Trading, Editorial and Product teams, you'll ensure operational readiness for campaigns, continuously improve customer journeys and help deliver outstanding experiences that increase loyalty and retention.

Main Duties…

• Lead the day-to-day performance of Hearst UK's customer service and fulfilment operations, ensuring excellent customer experiences across every customer touchpoint.
• Manage the relationship with our outsourced contact centre partner, driving performance against agreed service levels, quality standards, answer rates, email response times, customer satisfaction and contractual SLAs.
• Build strong relationships with frontline customer service teams, creating an engaged, motivated and high-performing culture through regular communication, coaching and operational support.
• Lead the implementation of customer retention initiatives, save strategies and customer offers developed by the Customer Value team, ensuring agents are fully briefed, trained and delivering consistently.
• Oversee the Operations Executive responsible for print fulfilment, warehousing and distribution, ensuring suppliers deliver excellent operational performance and customers receive a seamless fulfilment experience.
• Act as the operational owner for customer escalations, identifying root causes, resolving complex issues and implementing sustainable improvements that reduce repeat contacts and improve customer satisfaction.
• Monitor customer feedback across Feefo, complaints, CSAT and other customer experience measures, identifying trends and working cross-functionally to improve customer journeys.
• Work closely with internal teams to forecast operational demand, preparing customer service teams for launches, campaigns, renewals and anticipated contact spikes.
• Provide regular operational insight and reporting, ensuring customer trends, emerging risks and improvement opportunities are shared across Customer Growth and wider business stakeholders.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement across customer service and fulfilment, identifying efficiencies, improving operational processes and enhancing the overall member experience.

What We Are Looking For…

• Proven experience leading customer service or customer operations within a subscription, membership, retail or service-led business.
• Experience managing outsourced customer service providers or contact centre partners, holding suppliers accountable for performance and service delivery.
• Strong operational management skills with experience delivering against customer service KPIs, SLAs and customer satisfaction measures.
• Excellent relationship-building skills, with the ability to motivate external teams and influence stakeholders across multiple business functions.
• Experience managing customer escalations and using operational insight to identify root causes and implement long-term improvements.
• Strong analytical capability with confidence interpreting operational data, customer feedback and service trends to drive better decision-making.
• Highly organised with excellent planning skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities during periods of changing customer demand.
• Passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences with a proactive, collaborative and customer-first mindset.

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Contact centre SLA performance
• Answer rates and email response times
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Feefo ratings
• Save rate execution
• Customer complaint resolution
• Quality assurance scores
• Fulfilment and delivery performance
• Operational readiness for campaigns and peak trading
• Continuous improvement initiatives delivered
• Stakeholder satisfaction across Customer Growth and Operations

Benefits… 

(Your benefits at Hearst UK are more than just extras—they are tools to help you thrive in every part of life.)

Hearst Exclusives - Only for You! 

• Get adventurous with Good Housekeeping Taste and Beauty Testing Panels - yes, you could be trying the next big thing in beauty, food & drink. 
• Snag luxe beauty steals at our legendary office sample sales - score big on top brands without breaking the bank!  

Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing: Feel Your Best 

• Stay healthy with Specsavers eye care, a company-funded Health Cash Plan, and access to mental health support. 
• Get active and stress-free with discounted gym memberships and the Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Embrace flexibility with a Location Flex and Holiday Exchange to take time when you need it. 
• Take time to give back with a Charity Day and access wellbeing resources whenever you need them. 
• Join one of our Hearst ERG Groups. 

Financial Wellness - Boost Your Budget 

• Plan ahead with a generous Workplace Pension, Income Protection, Life Assurance and Season Ticket Loan for easier commuting. 
• Make smarter money moves using Salary Finance tools, Financial Wellbeing sessions, and Home Tech benefits to spread costs. 
• Treat yourself with major discounts across London plus everyday savings via the HAPI at Hearst app 

Hearst UK is deeply committed to using our influential brands to reflect the world we want to live in – one that respects, protects, represents and uplifts the voices and opinions of all people. As a business, we recognise the significant benefits of creativity, collaboration and innovation that comes with diverse teams. Not only is diversifying the voices in our organization the right thing to do, but it also helps us to make powerful and exciting content that can be enjoyed by many more people. This is why we’re working to build a sense of true belonging within our business and foster a culture in which everyone feels heard.