Are you a customer service professional with a solid background in tourism and reservations? We are looking for a Customer Service Team Leader to guide our front desk team, ensuring an efficient, smooth, and friendly experience for our customers from their first interaction with us.

About You: Enthusiastic about the tourism industry and facilitating great customer experience, you are a team orientated natural communicator. You have a depth of experience in reservations and booking management, which gives you the confidence and composure to handle any challenges with a clear and positive mindset.

About Us: Kaikōura is one of the best places in the world to encounter wild dolphins and albatross in their natural environment. Operating ethically and sustainably for over 35 years; we have had the privilege of introducing people from all over the world to bucket list experiences. As the initial point of contact and communication hub of our business, our customer service team sets the tone and is committed to delivering friendly, professional service that makes every guest feel welcome.

The role:

• Guest experience: manage, deliver, and maintain stand out service levels with warmth and professionalism.
• Booking guru: use your confidence with databases and your experience in booking management to monitor our reservations and forward bookings, manage wait lists, and work with our industry partners to optimise our availability and inventory.
• Team support: be the “go to” person for our front desk team, resolving queries and guiding the best solutions. Facilitate team member selection and support ongoing performance and development.
• Keep things running smoothly: organise daily workflow; product sales, tour check-ins, boat manifests and all communications, ensuring everything operates seamlessly and is fully compliant with our SOPs and H&S requirements.
• Respond to the unexpected: stay ready for the unplanned; keep up-to-date with our emergency response procedures and train the team accordingly. Flexibly adapt to daily changes and challenges; solving problems creatively and effectively in real-time, whilst ensuring our scheduling and service levels remain consistent.
• Continuous improvement: regularly review policies, systems, and processes to keep them current, simple and efficient. Track and report on sales patterns, customer demographics and customer satisfaction. Respond to reporting outcomes, making changes as necessary. When gears shift in the low season, contribute to broader business and systems development, working on improvement projects to continually evolve our service provision and maximise productivity.
  

What we are looking for:

• Tourism experience: a solid knowledge base of and experience in the tourism industry and customer service, ideally in another activity provider or similar environment.
• Reservations savvy: proven expertise in booking and inventory management, with an aptitude for managing schedules and maximizing capacity.
• Systems smart: comfortable with databases, reporting and Microsoft Office. Able to independently resolve small glitches and work with our IT Support on the bigger ones. Our reservations system is IBIS; so, if you are familiar with it that already, that is a big plus!
• Customer service star: you have a knack for tailoring experiences to make people smile.
• Team orientated: you enjoy supporting others to mirror your strong work ethic and give their best and you are adept at maintaining a positive work environment.
• Organizational whizz: highly organized with a keen eye for detail, skilled at planning schedules and setting and adapting priorities effectively.
• Fit and ready: on the go and on your feet all day at our standing desk, you are resilient and love the mental challenge and buzz of a busy tourist operation. You appreciate the gear change in the low season and can switch to a more project-based focus with ease.
• Great communicator: a talent for connecting with others, showing empathy and adaptability in all levels of communication. Clear and succinct, whether engaging with the team, with industry partners or assisting customers who speak English as a second language.
• Composed & kind: clear thinker and problem solver who remains calm under pressure and can flexibly adapt and respond. Personable, with a warm and considerate approach to team and guest interactions.

Schedule Details:
Hours are flexible to meet business and customer demand, with a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 40 hours per week. We are a 7 day a week business and working on public holidays and at weekends will be required. Shifts are typically 8 hours in duration and fall between the hours of 5am and 7pm daily. We roster a 5 day week, with 2 fixed days off, which are likely to fall mid-week.

Why Join Us?

• Great team: work with a likeminded, friendly team who love what they do!
• Be part of a world class experience: delighting customers from all over the world.
• Benefits: a genuine interest in and support for your ongoing development. Staff discounts across the wider business and the opportunity to swim with dolphins on your days off!
• Lifestyle: enjoy the village community and outdoor lifestyle of Kaikōura.

Applicants should be fluent in English, able to legally work in New Zealand and ideally hold a degree or higher qualification.

If you are excited about this opportunity and meet all the applicant requirements, we would love to hear from you!
Please complete our application form below, attaching your CV and a cover letter explaining why you are the perfect fit for this role.

Closing Date: Friday 4th October 2024.

***We respectfully request no agencies please***