Johannesburg-Based | Scale-Up | Full-time Role | Operations Machine | Hiring Manager: Nonsuku Mthimkhulu
Jem is hiring a Head of Customer Support in Johannesburg to take over the management of our high-performing 9-person support team.
Jem is a fast-growing HR tech scale-up building tools for frontline teams, now supporting just under 200,000 frontline employees across South Africa.
This is a brand-new management role at Jem and a key hire for our next stage of growth. Until now, our Head of Customer, Nonsuku, has led both Customer Success and Support. As she steps into a more strategic role, we’re looking for a strong people leader to own support end-to-end, raise the bar on performance, and design the systems, workflows and operating model that will allow the team to scale.
This is not a corporate or call-centre role. It’s a rare opportunity to lead an already excellent support team, bring structure where it matters, and build a modern, high-impact support function inside an ambitious, AI-native company.
⭐️ Your Mission
- Own end-to-end support across calls, WhatsApp, and email using a single omnichannel.
- Reduce manual workload, build strong systems and lead a team that delivers high-quality support at scale.
⭐️ What Success Looks Like
- 20 - 35% reduction in inbound tickets via automation and self-service
- 95% or higher SLA adherence across all channels
- CSAT of 4.5 or higher and clear NPS improvement
- Top contact drivers identified and materially reduced
- Support runs day to day without constant escalation
⭐️ What You’ll Do
- Lead and coach a growing support team with high standards
- Design and implement workflows, automation, and deflection strategies
- Own support quality, SLAs, and escalations
- Partner closely with Customer, Product and Engineering to reduce avoidable support
- Use data to continuously improve performance
⭐️ You’ll Thrive Here If You
- Have 5 or more years in support or service operations with team leadership experience
- Have scaled a support function in a startup or scale-up environment
- Are comfortable with ambiguity, speed, and accountability
- Prefer fixing systems over managing noise
- Deeply enjoy managing employees and support them in their growth
- You deal well with change and creating structure where this isn't currently
⭐️ Requirements
- 3 to 5 years of experience in customer support, with at least 1 to 2 years managing or leading a team.
- Experience supporting customers across calls, WhatsApp, and email, ideally using Freshworks or similar ticketing systems.
- Strong understanding of support SLAs, performance tracking, and escalation management.
- Forward-thinking approach to automation, templating, and contact deflection.
- Excellent coaching, communication, and feedback skills.
- Comfortable using data and reporting tools to drive improvement.
⭐️ What You Can Expect from Us
- Hybrid work environment with a 3-day office policy in our newly renovated Johannesburg office.
- Competitive salary (R45,000 - R55,000 monthly base salary depending on experience and fit)
- Great Benefits (lunch 4 times a week, medical aid contribution, retirement annuity contribution, etc.) & 22 Days of annual Leave
- We respond to all applications. You can expect feedback on your application, even if we decide not to move forward.
