Associate Director, Customer Experience

About the role

Catbird, a DTC demi-fine jewelry company, is seeking an Associate Director of Customer Experience to own the full CX function—from high-touch customer engagement to the operational backbone of our repairs and returns process. This hands-on leader will balance direct customer interaction with process optimization, ensuring Catbird delivers exceptional service at scale.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership
  • Manage a team of 7-10, ensuring consistent quality, coverage, and performance across time zones
  • Set clear goals, coach for growth, and foster a culture of ownership in customer interactions
  • Partner with HR on hiring, onboarding, and performance management
• Customer Experience
  • Serve as an escalation point for complex, high-touch, or sensitive customer situations
  • Define and uphold service standards that reflect Catbird’s brand voice and values across all channels
  • Develop and evolve Catbird’s CX strategy to build customer loyalty and repeat purchase behavior
  • Collaborate with manufacturing, warehouse, and merchandising teams to resolve fulfillment issues, shipping delays, inventory discrepancies, and order exceptions
  • Monitor and troubleshoot the returns experience for domestic and international orders
  • Deliver high-touch clienteling for VIP and high-value customers through personalized support and proactive outreach
  • Build feedback loops from customer interactions into product, retail, and merchandising teams
  • Bridge the in-store and online customer experience by partnering with retail teams on escalations, issue resolution, and consistency across channels
• Operational Strategy
  • Evaluate and evolve CX tooling, workflows, and staffing models as the business grows
  • Track CX KPIs and provide actionable insights to improve performance
  • Maintain fluency in CX and clienteling systems (e.g., Kustomer, Endear, NetSuite) and their new features
  • Support the evaluation and adoption of AI-powered customer service tools and automation to improve productivity and satisfaction
  • Own end-to-end repairs processing, including intake, manufacturing coordination, status tracking, customer communication, and reporting
  • Partner with Retail, Product Development, and Manufacturing on issues related to repairs, product quality, or customer satisfaction
  • Report on CX KPIs to senior leadership

Requirements

• 8+ years in customer experience, with at least 2-3 years managing teams
• Experience managing a service or repairs operation with logistical complexity; retail, ecommerce, or luxury goods background strongly preferred
• Comfortable balancing high-touch customer interactions with workflow redesign
• Strong process orientation—able to build structure without unnecessary bureaucracy
• Experience with customer service and returns platforms (e.g., Kustomer, Gorgias, LOOP, Shopify, or equivalent)
• Experience implementing AI or automation tools in a CX context
• Data-driven mindset for reporting and decision-making
• Based in or able to commute to NYC; onsite at Brooklyn Navy Yard 3 days/week