Customer Experience Manager

SouthWest Transit is a renowned transit agency serving the SouthWest Twin Cities area in Minnesota, providing a variety of transportation options including bus services, on-demand rideshare, and shuttle services. The agency prides itself on delivering innovative and diverse transit solutions aimed at connecting communities and enhancing the mobility of its customers. As an award-winning public transportation provider, SouthWest Transit upholds a strong commitment to quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction, emphasizing safety and cost-effectiveness across all its services. The agency's mission focuses on offering a premium transit experience that effectively connects people to their destinations while fostering community engagement and economic growth. Their vision positions SouthWest Transit as a leader in innovative transportation solutions that improve livability and create economic opportunities within the communities they serve.

The Customer Experience Manager role at SouthWest Transit is a vital leadership position dedicated to elevating and shaping the rider experience at every stage of their journey. This in-person role, based out of Eden Prairie, MN, requires a manager to seamlessly connect customer insights with operational performance, ensuring that the transit system meets and exceeds customer expectations. This position is responsible for comprehensively understanding each phase of the passenger's transit experience — from planning and boarding to post-ride feedback — and using these insights to refine and optimize every touchpoint.

As Customer Experience Manager, you will lead the development and execution of strategies designed to enhance service quality and rider satisfaction. This includes collaborating with diverse teams to map customer journeys, identify pain points, and implement improvements. You will work closely with transit planners to synchronize daily operations with the broader system transit plan. Your role also involves serving as the link between the customer's voice and the operational teams, ensuring that changes in service, technology, or processes always consider the effect on the rider experience. Additionally, you will oversee the collection and analysis of customer feedback from multiple channels such as social media, surveys, and focus groups to identify areas for enhancement and to promote loyalty.

Operational integration is a large part of this position, where you will assist in budget development, KPI monitoring, and lead or support special projects focused on customer experience improvements like loyalty programs and new technology rollouts. Ensuring that standard operating procedures are developed, streamlined, and adopted universally across Transit Operations and Customer Experience departments is essential to achieving consistent service quality.

You will also play a supervisory role managing a team including dispatchers, customer experience representatives, and driver contractors. Facilitating staff training, ensuring compliance with federal and state transit regulations, scheduling and performance evaluations, and fostering professional development are critical responsibilities within your team leadership role.

The position requires a proactive and creative individual capable of problem solving in high-pressure scenarios while maintaining meticulous attention to detail. Proficiency in data analysis and the ability to draw actionable insights to support service improvements are key skills. Strong communication abilities, both verbal and written, will enable you to effectively engage customers, internal departments, and leadership. With a comprehensive understanding of the transit environment, you will be instrumental in advancing customer satisfaction and operational excellence at SouthWest Transit.