Director Customer Experience & Strategy in Richmond, Virginia at Diesel Direct Inc

The Director, Customer Experience & Strategy is responsible for leading and evolving the end-to-end customer experience strategy across fuel and lubricants businesses. This role oversees a cross-functional organization focused on delivering consistent, high-quality customer interactions while ensuring efficient, scalable operational execution.

The position has direct accountability for core operational processes supporting Customer, Vendor and Sales functions—including onboarding, data management, payment processing, and process governance—while serving as the “Voice of the Customer” across the organization. This leader drives continuous improvement, strengthens customer satisfaction and retention, and ensures operational excellence through standardized processes, strong controls, and cross-functional collaboration.

Success Metrics & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Operations, Process Management & Customer Support

• Oversee recurring operational processes critical to business execution across Customer, Vendor, and Sales Support functions.
• Manage core activities including data management, drafting, and credit card processing, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timeliness.
• Define and oversee performance metrics and reporting to drive accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Resolve escalated issues and exceptions of moderate complexity and risk.

Process Governance & Continuous Improvement

• Design, document, and maintain standardized processes across Customer Experience.
• Establish and lead recurring audit programs to ensure processes remain current and effective.
• Maintain a centralized process and training repository, ensuring accessibility and version control.
• Identify and implement procedural improvements to enhance efficiency, quality, and scalability.
• Partner with leadership to recommend and deploy process enhancements and best practices.

Project Management & Technology Enablement

• Serve as SME and functional representative for Customer Experience in regional and corporate initiatives.
• Coordinate project planning, tracking, scheduling, and execution to ensure timely delivery.
• Lead implementation and testing activities for system and software initiatives.
• Evaluate new tools and technologies, providing recommendations to improve operations and customer experience.
• Identify risks, drive resolution, and coordinate cross-functional resources.

Customer Engagement & Issue Management

• Establish and lead a structured framework for tracking, escalating, and resolving customer issues across all channels.
• Ensure timely resolution of customer concerns, including ownership of complex, high-impact escalations.
• Analyze issue trends and root causes to drive systemic improvements, prevent recurrence and ultimately improve the customer’s experience.
• Reinforce accountability for resolution quality and communication across all customer-facing teams.

Team Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness

• Directly oversee the Manager of Lubes Customer Experience and the Manager of Fuel Customer Experience, along with additional roles as required.
• Lead an organization of approximately 17 team members, ensuring accountability, performance, and development.
• Recruit, develop, and retain top talent while fostering a culture of collaboration and customer focus.
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and leadership to managers and team members.
• Set vision and operating model for the Customer Experience organization, aligning team structure with business priorities.
• Drive a culture of accountability, responsiveness, and customer-centric decision-making across all levels of the team.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner cross-functionally with sales, commercial, operational, and corporate teams to resolve issues and improve customer outcomes.
• Build strong internal relationships to ensure alignment and effective execution.
• Communicate performance metrics, insights, and action plans to senior leadership.

Essential Functions

• Ensure completion of operational processes accurately, on time, and in compliance with policies and regulations.
• Track, monitor, and report on departmental activities, quality, and performance metrics.
• Implement process changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Coordinate software implementation and testing activities to support business operations.
• Maintain training materials and documentation supporting customer and vendor onboarding, data management, and transaction processing.
• Perform additional duties as required.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in customer experience, operations, or service delivery leadership roles.
• Proven experience leading teams and managing managers in a multi-functional environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and process improvement skills.
• Preferred experience in pricing strategy and margin management.
• Experience leading projects, system implementations, and change initiatives.
• Industry experience in fuel, energy, lubricants, or a related field preferred

Core Competencies

• Project Management – Ability to lead initiatives from concept through execution.
• Process Improvement & Change Management – Drives efficiency and operational excellence.
• Time Management – Effectively prioritizes and meets deadlines.
• Problem Solving – Proactively identifies and resolves issues.
• Communication (Written & Verbal) – Clear, concise, and effective across all levels.
• Organizational Skills – Structured, detail-oriented, and disciplined in execution.
• Resilience Under Pressure – Performs effectively in fast-paced, high-demand environments.
• Tenacity & Accountability – Drives results and follows through on commitments.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.