Finding and hiring the right talent is what can ultimately set your call center apart from your competitors. But hiring isn’t easy—and the many books on building effective teams will tell you that. Still, your best bet is to get started on the right foot, and that means creating an effective and accurate job description.
Whether you’re just starting out as a hiring manager or simply trying to become a better call center agent yourself, understanding the responsibilities and expectations at each level of these roles is crucial.
Job Descriptions for Low, Mid, and Senior-Level Call Center Roles
From their daily responsibilities to their educational requirements, each of the following job descriptions will tell you everything you need to know about hiring (and applying) for these call center roles.
Entry-Level Role: Call Center Agent
Building an effective call center team requires establishing the ideal profile of your frontline staff members. Ultimately, you’ll want candidates who possess strong communication skills, including exceptional phone etiquette and written abilities.
Additionally, you should look for candidates with prior customer service experience and a proven track record of successfully handling inquiries and complaints. This type of experience demonstrates the patience and professionalism required for customer-facing roles like these.
It’s also worth noting that your ideal candidates should be comfortable learning new technology and digital platforms. Call center agents must rapidly learn new software and systems to access customer accounts, document interactions, and identify solutions.
A sales aspect should also be considered when hiring for this role. Agents who can spot opportunities to upsell products without taking anything away from the customer experience have a serious advantage over other potential candidates.
Here is a typical job summary for this role:
“This position manages a high volume of inbound and/or outbound calls and service requests coming from our company’s communication channels. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to solve customer issues, complaints, and inquiries—both effectively and in a timely manner.”
A call center agent’s main duties and responsibilities include managing a high volume of inbound and outbound calls, resolving customer issues, and updating customer accounts with accurate information. They should also obtain product knowledge to drive sales when appropriate and meet critical KPIs such as call volume, average call handling time, and customer satisfaction scores.
Agents must also know how and when to escalate complex issues to other departments and team members.
Here is a list of these duties and responsibilities you can include in your entry-level call center agent job description:
- Manage a high volume of inbound and/or outbound calls
- Solve customer issues and answer queries
- Review customer accounts and update them with accurate information
- Obtain product knowledge to upsell and drive sales when appropriate
- Meet daily, weekly, and monthly goals for critical key performance indicators (KPIs) like call volume, average call handling time, and average customer satisfaction score
- Escalate customer calls to other departments and team members when necessary
- Learn new call center software and other essential technology or systems
Apart from daily responsibilities, support agent candidates often need a number of skills before entering the role.
Typical requirements include a high school diploma or equivalent, customer service experience, and strong written and verbal communication skills. Your ideal candidate should also be comfortable with technology, good at multitasking, and able to manage their time effectively. Good listening skills and phone etiquette are also essential.
Here is a list of requirements and qualifications you can include in your job description:
- A high school diploma or equivalent
- Customer service experience
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Comfortable with technology and digital platforms
- Ability to multitask and manage time well
- Experience in sales is a plus
- Good listening skills and understanding of phone etiquette
The average salary for this entry-level position ranges from $32k to $35k per year.
Mid-Level Role: Call Center Team Lead
Ideally, the Call Center Team Lead should exemplify strong leadership capabilities. This includes motivating, rallying, and coaching a team to optimize collective performance. Candidates for this position should have a proven track record of managing teams to deliver exceptional customer service and meet key performance metrics.
While a bachelor’s degree in management, communication, business, or related fields is preferred, it should not be a dealbreaker if the candidate has significant directly relevant experience. Long-term success in similar customer service management roles can override a lack of college-level or higher education—especially when leadership talent is evident.
Here is a typical job summary for this role:
“This position manages a small team of call center agents to ensure company, team, and individual goals are met. The ideal candidate will have good leadership skills, a demonstrated ability to motivate and coach others, and a strong dedication to high-quality customer service.”
The team lead needs to provide training and feedback to team members, create and execute performance assessments, and offer coaching to ensure goals are met. They should also oversee team metrics and use call center reports to report progress to upper management and find ways to improve. Additionally, the team lead must be able to prioritize agent workloads and step in to handle customer calls and requests as needed.
Here is a list of duties and responsibilities you can include in your call center team lead job description:
- Provide training and feedback to each team member
- Create and execute performance assessments
- Offer ongoing coaching for new and existing agents
- Oversee team metrics and report progress to upper management
- Ensure customers receive the highest level of service and quality by providing backup support to the team
- Prioritize agent workloads and well-being
- Step in and answer customer calls, emails, and requests from other communication channels as needed
Your call center team lead should possess a high school diploma or equivalent educational credentials. While it’s not a requirement, a bachelor’s degree is preferred and demonstrates deeper knowledge.
Relevant experience is also key for new hires. Look for candidates with at least one year of hands-on experience handling customer calls in a call center. Proven success managing various customer issues shows that they can tackle inquiries and troubleshoot problems.
Your team lead should also be adept at navigating general software applications, including CRM platforms and call center tech tools, to access accounts, update records, and document interactions.
Here is a list of requirements and qualifications you can include in your job description:
- A high school diploma or equivalent, but preferably a bachelor’s degree in management, communication, business, or a related field
- Demonstrated success in handling a variety of customer calls and issues and providing top-tier customer service
- Proficiency with basic computer programs, CRMs, and call center software
- Good leadership skills and the ability to work well with others on all employment levels
- At least one year of experience working as an agent or in a call center
- Excellent communication and problem-solving skills
The average salary for this mid-level position ranges from $38k to $44k per year.
Senior-Level Role: Call Center Manager
Hiring an effective call center manager is critical for ensuring smooth, successful operations within your call center. Ultimately, this role will set the pace for the rest of your customer service department and serve as an example of how to serve your customers best.
The ideal candidate for this role will have a comprehensive background spanning all facets of call center functionality, including previous work as a frontline agent and a team leader.
Additionally, you want your call center manager to be results-driven and committed to the department’s overarching vision and goals. They should know how to analyze granular call center data to uncover trends, identify issues, and develop solutions to improve performance.
The education requirements for this role are also going to be more demanding. The right candidate should hold a minimum bachelor’s degree in management, business, communication, or other complementary fields. This establishes their educational foundation in leadership, strategy, and human resources. However, significant real-world experience may suffice if education credentials fall slightly short.
Here is a typical job summary for this role:
“As this position oversees the daily operations of a call center, all future agents are hired by and will report to this manager. They will ensure all systems, processes, and procedures go smoothly to facilitate a high-end customer call center experience. The ideal candidate has experience as an agent and team leader, is results-driven, and can see the big picture of call center management.”
The call center manager will oversee the daily operations, ensuring all systems, processes, and team activities run smoothly. In addition to recruiting, hiring, and training new employees, this role’s key responsibilities include creating goals for daily performance, executing effective resource planning, and analyzing call center metrics to make operational improvements.
To be effective, your call center manager must create a positive workplace environment, develop strong relationships with team leads and the call center director, execute performance reviews, and prepare work schedules. They are also responsible for creating budgets and ensuring their adherence.
Here is a list of duties and responsibilities you can include in your job description:
- Create goals for daily call center performance
- Make and execute plans for the productive use of resources
- Recruit, hire, and train new employees
- Analyze call center metrics and KPIs, making key operational adjustments to improve performance
- Create a positive workplace environment for employees to thrive in
- Develop a strong relationship with team leads and the call center director to create unified goals and ensure they’re met
- Execute quarterly and annual performance reviews
- Create weekly reports for teams and upper management
- Prepare work schedules
- Create budgets and adhere to them
Here is a list of requirements and qualifications you can include in your job description:
- A bachelor’s degree in management, business, communication, or a related field
- Excellent, written, verbal, and phone communication skills
- Experienced at data analytics, creating accompanying reports, and presenting them
- Demonstrated success as a team lead in a call center or other management position
- At least five years of work experience in a call center
- Completely comfortable with call center software and technology
- An ability to motivate and coach a team of people
- Solid understanding of budgeting processes and basic financial analysis skills
- Excellent organizational and leadership skills
- Outstanding interpersonal skills
- A willingness to step in wherever the team needs you
The average salary for this senior-level role has a wide range, from $63k to over $100k per year.