Senior Director of Strategic Customer Relations & Escalations – Driving Customer Experience Excellence at brighthush

About brighthush

brighthush is a trailblazing fintech company redefining how brands and consumers connect through modern credit solutions. By combining advanced payments infrastructure, intelligent underwriting, and deep customer data, we empower brands to launch credit programs that deepen loyalty, unlock savings, and drive sustainable growth. Our technology stack is built for today’s payment habits—flexible, embeddable, and designed to scale without the constraints of legacy banking systems. Backed by leading venture capital firms, brighthush is on a mission to transform the customer experience landscape and create lasting value for both partners and consumers.

Why This Role Matters

As the Senior Director of Strategic Customer Relations & Escalations, you will be the architect and champion of brighthush’s customer experience engine. You will own the strategy, operations, and outcomes of our escalations, back‑office functions, credit reporting, and social media support. Your leadership will turn reactive, ad‑hoc processes into a structured, metrics‑driven function that delivers measurable impact across the organization.

What Success Looks Like in the First 90 Days

• Established operating structure, clear metrics, and backlog visibility across all four core function areas.
• Defined a 1–2 year vision for the escalations function and a concrete work‑back plan to achieve it.
• Replaced the current escalation process with a scalable, agent‑facing solution.
• Built productive working relationships with key cross‑functional stakeholders: Risk, General Managers, Compliance, Legal, and Tech.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and leverage the outsourced escalations team effectively to scale capacity.

Key Responsibilities

• Own strategy, operations, and outcomes across escalations (organic, executive, and partner), back‑office functions, credit reporting, and social media support.
• Build the operating infrastructure for the escalations function: processes, metrics, tooling, and backlog management—from the ground up.
• Define and articulate a clear vision for what “great” looks like in 1–2 years, and drive stakeholder alignment and buy‑in on the path to get there.
• Lead and scale a hybrid team model, including internal staff and an outsourced partner, to meet growing demand without proportional headcount growth.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement technology solutions—including AI‑powered tools—to improve agent support, reduce escalation volume, and increase resolution quality.
• Partner with Risk, Compliance, Legal, Tech, and General Managers to resolve complex escalations and ensure regulatory adherence.
• Feed escalation themes back to Product and Engineering with actionable recommendations to address root causes and prevent recurrence.
• Establish data infrastructure that connects ticketing systems (e.g., brighthush) with broader analytics platforms (e.g., brighthush) for unified reporting and insight.
• Oversee back‑office operations including trailing statements, SCRA, bankruptcy notices, and deceased notices.
• Provide strategic oversight of social media support channels with a plan to expand coverage.

Essential Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience building and scaling customer escalations, back‑office, or customer relations functions from an early, unstructured state—not just running a mature operation.
• Strong analytical mindset with a track record of implementing metrics, operational structure, and process discipline in ambiguous environments.
• Experience managing outsourced or BPO teams as a core part of the delivery model.
• Practical experience leveraging AI in operations—e.g., agent assist tools, Slack bots, or automated resolution workflows.
• Proficiency with ticketing systems and experience integrating them with data and analytics platforms for unified reporting.
• Ability to set a clear vision, communicate it compellingly, and drive alignment across senior stakeholders.
• Deep ownership mentality—identifies problems, drives solutions, and holds outcomes without being directed.

Nice to Have

• Background in fintech, payments, or regulated financial services.
• Experience at a high‑growth startup navigating rapid scaling and operational volatility.
• Exposure to a mature, well‑run escalations or customer operations function, providing a clear benchmark for “what great looks like.”
• Familiarity with social media support operations and community management at scale.

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic Thinking & Visionary Leadership
• Operational Excellence & Process Engineering
• Data‑Driven Decision Making & KPI Management
• Technology Integration & AI Implementation
• Stakeholder Management & Cross‑Functional Collaboration
• Team Building & Talent Development
• Regulatory & Compliance Acumen
• Customer‑Centric Mindset & Empathy

Career Growth & Learning Opportunities

At brighthush, you’ll be part of a high‑velocity environment where your ideas shape the future of payments and rewards. You’ll have the chance to:

• Lead cross‑functional initiatives that influence product strategy and go‑to‑market plans.
• Mentor and develop a hybrid team of internal staff and outsourced partners.
• Drive innovation through experimentation with AI, automation, and data analytics.
• Collaborate with senior leaders across Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Tech to navigate complex regulatory landscapes.
• Participate in executive‑level strategy sessions and contribute to the company’s long‑term vision.

Work Environment & Culture

brighthush fosters a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement. We value:

• Bold experimentation and rapid iteration.
• Transparent communication and open feedback loops.
• Diversity of thought and inclusive decision making.
• Work‑life balance with flexible schedules and remote‑first policies.
• Commitment to professional development through training, conferences, and mentorship.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive base salary and performance‑based bonuses.
• Equity package that aligns your success with the company’s growth.
• Fully covered, high‑quality healthcare—including dependent coverage.
• Access to brighthush’s health network and optional FSA.
• 20 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers and 8 weeks for all new parents.
• Generous paid time off and flexible vacation policy.
• State‑of‑the‑art technology and tools to empower your work.
• Regular team events, wellness programs, and community outreach initiatives.

Diversity & Inclusion

brighthush is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome talented individuals from all backgrounds who are passionate about fintech and eager to shape the future of payments and rewards. We are an equal‑opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or any other legally protected status.

Ready to Join brighthush?

If you are a visionary leader with a proven track record of building high‑impact customer experience functions, and you thrive in a fast‑paced, data‑driven environment, we want to hear from you. Bring your expertise, your passion for customer delight, and your drive for operational excellence to brighthush, and help us move the world forward together.