Job description

Overview Of The Role:

• The Customer Experience Manager at Dubai Festival City Mall is responsible for redefining and elevating the mall's end-to-end customer experience. This role manages key customer-facing functions such as Customer Service, Concierge, and Valet, ensuring that all interactions reflect the mall's high standards of hospitality and service excellence. The manager leads efforts to go beyond traditional customer service operations by embedding a proactive, hospitality-driven mindset across the customer journey. Success in this role is measured by improved customer satisfaction, seamless service across touchpoints, and elevated staff engagement.

What You Will Do:

Customer Experience Strategy & Ownership

• Own and continuously enhance the end-to-end customer journey at Dubai Festival City Mall.
• Develop and implement the Mall's customer experience strategy, ensuring alignment with brand positioning and business objectives.
• Champion a hospitality-first service culture focused on proactive, personalised engagement.
• Regularly review and improve the entire customer journey from pre-arrival to departure.
• Identify service gaps and opportunities to improve customer satisfaction.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Operations, Security, and other teams to ensure customer experience consistency.
• Develop initiatives that differentiate DFCM through service and create memorable customer moments.

Customer Service Operations

• Lead the Customer Service function across all information desks and public areas.
• Establish and maintain clear service standards and operating procedures.
• Ensure team members have comprehensive knowledge of Mall services, tenants, promotions, and events.
• Oversee customer enquiries, complaints, and feedback, ensuring timely and thoughtful response.
• Implement escalation procedures for complex or sensitive cases.
• Regularly review customer feedback to identify trends and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain premium presentation standards for Customer Service desks and programs.

Concierge Services

• Lead the development of a premium concierge service offering for the Mall.
• Ensure Concierge services deliver proactive, personalised assistance beyond traditional information.
• Develop concierge service standards, SOPs, and SLAs.
• Benchmark concierge standards against leading hospitality and retail environments.
• Train Concierge teams to cater to diverse customer profiles, including VIPs and families.

Valet & Arrival Experience

• Oversee Valet operations to ensure a premium first and last impression.
• Monitor greeting standards, vehicle handover times, customer communication, and professionalism.
• Manage valet capacity during peak periods, holidays, and events.
• Ensure third-party operator alignment with DFCM's standards.
• Drive improvements to arrival and departure experiences, including signage and queuing.

Team Leadership & Service Culture

• Lead, motivate, and develop the Customer Service, Concierge, and Valet teams.
• Build a strong hospitality culture promoting proactive customer engagement.
• Establish roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations among teams.
• Conduct training programs covering hospitality, communication, and service recovery.
• Identify high-performers for development opportunities and strengthen succession planning.
• Ensure consistent grooming, uniform standards, and professional behavior.

Customer Feedback, Complaints & Service Recovery

• Own customer feedback and complaint management framework.
• Ensure complaints are logged, investigated, and resolved promptly.
• Personally oversee escalated cases and analyze complaint trends.
• Work with departments to develop corrective action plans and empowerment recovery mechanisms.
• Use survey and direct feedback for continuous service improvement.

Performance Management & KPIs

• Develop and monitor Customer Experience performance frameworks including CSAT and NPS.
• Track metrics like complaint resolution, service response times, and mystery shopping scores.
• Use performance data to set improvement targets and hold teams accountable.
• Conduct internal service audits and create action plans from findings.

Skills

Required Skills To Be Successful:

• Strong leadership and people-management skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal abilities.
• Proficient in handling customer complaints and service recovery.
• Strong operational and organizational skills with attention to detail.

What Qualifies You For The Role:

• Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Retail Management, or related field.
• Extensive experience in hospitality, luxury retail, shopping malls, or destination management.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing customer-facing teams and multiple service functions.
• Experience managing outsourced service providers and ensuring compliance with SLAs.
• Skilled in customer journey mapping, service standards, and complaints management.
• Proficiency in English required; Arabic or additional languages advantageous for diverse customer interactions.