Virtual Contact Centre Manager

Role Purpose

The Virtual Contact Centre Manager is accountable for the successful daily operation, performance, and strategic development of the Hays Travel Virtual Contact Centre. This role ensures that sales are maximised, bookings are processed efficiently, and all departmental KPIs are consistently achieved. Through exceptional leadership, collaboration, and innovation, the post holder will drive a high-performing culture that delivers outstanding customer experiences and expert sales performance.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Excellence

• Manage the day-to-day operation of the Virtual Contact Centre, ensuring service levels, sales targets, and operational KPIs are met or exceeded.
• Achieve and consistently exceed personal sales targets, demonstrating expert sales capability and setting a strong performance example for the wider team.
• Oversee the performance of Team Leaders, ensuring they effectively manage, coach, and support their teams.
• Liaise closely with Commercial and Social teams to ensure alignment, optimise customer engagement, and support business priorities.
• Ensure bookings and customer enquiries are handled efficiently, accurately, and in line with company standards.
• Maintain a consistent, high-quality customer experience across all channels.

Leadership & People Development

• Provide strong, inspirational leadership that motivates, engages, and develops Team Leaders and their teams.
• Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and high performance.
• Conduct regular coaching, performance reviews, and development planning for Team Leaders.
• Role model resilience, adaptability, and a positive leadership style at all times.
• Support Team Leaders in enabling advisors to meet individual sales targets and deliver expert customer relationship management.

Strategic Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with managers across the business to ensure a consistent, aligned approach to customer service and sales delivery.

• Represent the Virtual Contact Centre as a senior operational leader and subject-matter expert.

• Build strong cross-functional relationships to support business initiatives, commercial goals, and customer experience improvements.

Change, Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Lead and support project implementation to drive operational improvements, ensuring a positive and engaging change environment.

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry trends, best practice, and emerging technologies.

• Recommend and implement changes through effective business planning and influential business cases.

• Identify opportunities to enhance efficiency, performance, and customer experience through new technologies and process improvements.

• Challenge the status quo with innovative, solution-focused thinking.

Governance & Compliance

• Ensure adherence to all corporate policies, procedures, and audit requirements.

• Maintain responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of financial and operational data within the team’s control.

• Ensure compliance with regulatory standards and internal quality frameworks.

• Undertake ad hoc duties as required to support the wider business.

Skills, Experience & Attributes

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience managing a contact centre operation, ideally within a virtual or multi-site environment.
• Experience managing complex customer complaints and delivering fair, customer-centric resolutions.
• Experience in recruitment, including interviewing, selection, and onboarding
• Strong leadership capability with experience managing through managers (Team Leaders or equivalent).
• Demonstrated success in driving sales performance and achieving operational KPIs.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to think independently, creatively, and strategically.
• Significant experience in travel sales, with a strong understanding of travel products, booking systems, and customer sales journeys.
• Proven ability to meet and exceed personal sales targets in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
• Strong communication and influencing skills across all levels and channels.
• Experience leading teams through change and delivering successful project outcomes.
• Ability to prioritise, delegate, and manage multiple demands effectively.

Desirable

• Experience within the travel, retail, or sales-driven customer service sector.
• Knowledge of contact centre technologies, digital tools, and workforce management systems.

Personal Attributes

• Self-driven, results-oriented, and proactive.
• Resilient, adaptable, and calm under pressure.
• Motivational and engaging leadership style.
• Strong intuition and ability to use initiative.
• Holistic thinker with the ability to see the bigger picture.
• Confident in challenging constructively and influencing outcomes.
• Passionate about people development and customer excellence.

About Us

As the UK’s largest independent travel agency, Hays Travel specialises in providing good value, quality holidays, alongside excellent customer service. We work with all leading suppliers and can package holidays that include hotels, flights, cruises, tours, attraction tickets, and more. We have over 470 Branches throughout the UK and our Head Office based in Sunderland, is home to tour operator teams, finance, marketing, people/HR and IT, plus many more. We have been operating for over 40 years, and continue to grow each year.

Our values

Our SMILE values are embedded in to our company and ensure our teams work strongly together. You and all of our colleagues will ensure that the Hays Travel values are demonstrated at all times.

• Supportive
• Motivational
• Innovative
• Loyal
• Excellent

What it’s like to work for us?

Whichever location or department you work in, our people are always at the heart of everything we do. We offer a range of training programmes to help you progress personally and professionally, as we know the benefits of promoting and rewarding our hardworking colleagues are extremely important.

Of course, it's not all about work. We're very sociable and there are always lots of team nights-out and company parties. Plus, there are opportunities to travel abroad on educational trips, and you can also take advantage of our colleague discount when booking your own holidays.

Hays Travel is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all colleagues. As an accredited employer provider of apprenticeships, we undertake basic checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to ensure the safety of our apprentices for relevant roles.