Customer Experience Manager

Permag, the only North American producer of Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) magnets, is a leading provider of engineered magnetic solutions through its portfolio of specialized brands—Dexter Magnetic Technologies, Electron Energy Corporation (EEC), and Magnetic Component Engineering (MCE). With deep expertise in rare earth materials precision magnetics, and manufacturing excellence, Permag delivers innovative, high-performance solutions for the world’s most demanding industries.

Position Summary

The Customer Experience Manager is responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing customer experience strategies. This role acts as the voice of the customer within the organization, working cross-functionally with Sales, Operations, Finance, Logistics, Engineering, and Quality to ensure that customers receive consistent, high-quality service. The CE Manager leads a customer experience team across multiple locations, including Europe, to ensure consistent standards, processes, and metrics are met that will result in outstanding customer satisfaction. The ideal candidate has strong continuous improvement aptitude, excellent communication skills, and demonstrated experience improving customer satisfaction in a manufacturing environment.

This position reports to the VP, Sales and Marketing and is part of the global Commercial team, based in Elk Grove Village, IL.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities – reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions:

• Lead and develop a team of Customer Care Specialists, who are responsible for processing global customer orders for multiple regions.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive customer experience strategy aligned with Permag’s Go-To-Market strategy, as well as operational and product capabilities.
• Manage and resolve complex escalations and customer disputes implementing countermeasures as necessary; collaborate with Sales, Operations, Quality, Finance, Logistics, and Credit to resolve issues and protect the customer experience.
• Accountable for end-to-end standard work compliance across order-to-invoice, returns, complaint handling, and dispute management, making improvements and recommendations where necessary.
• Drive continuous improvement (Standard Work, Kaizen, PSP, 5S); remove process bottlenecks, reduce cycle time, and improve quality. Develop and deliver operational reports and insights to leadership; oversee root cause analysis and implement corrective actions for recurring issues.
• Maintain consistent and proactive communication and build long-term customer relationships that foster loyalty and retention.
• Coordinate with Production and Supply Chain to ensure customer expectations for lead-time, delivery, and product performance are met.
• Ensure the Customer Care team are resourced to serve the needs of the commercial organization, through effective workforce planning, and capacity management. Accountable for hiring, onboarding, performance management and career development, mentor and coach team members; provide guidance in problem resolution, professional interactions to ensure excellent customer care across multiple channels.
• Implement standardized training, onboarding, and performance management processes across sites.
• Visit with each team regularly to support each location, audit customer interactions, and ensure operational consistency.
• Use data analysis to identify trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Operations Management, or a related field.
• MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of customer service management or inside sales management experience.
•  This position may require access to ITAR-controlled technical data and services. As such, all applicants must be U.S. persons, as defined by ITAR, to be considered for this role. A U.S. person is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or individual with protected status under U.S. immigration laws. Applicants who do not meet these criteria will not be considered for the position.
• Travel: 25%: Company site locations; some travel to customer sites and trade shows.

Salary Range: $120,000-$140,000 + bonus

We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including Medical/Rx, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, Basic Life/AD&D (includes coverage for dependents 100% Company paid), Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability (100% Company paid), Supplemental Life/AD&D, 401(k) with Company match, tuition assistance after 1 year, paid time off, and 11 paid holidays.