Head of Health Operations

Job description

The Head of Health Operations is a senior leader responsible for the end-to-end management of the Health Operations services. The role ensures consistent, high-quality service delivery, driving capacity planning, budgeting, change and productivity initiatives. The role emphasizes people leadership and change management to achieve excellent service standards and customer-centric outcomes while driving productivity growth.

It encompasses a strong governance, risk and compliance management and leading cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Product, Opex, Finance, and HR. The Head of Health Operations plays an active role in the COO Management team by contributing to the elaboration, implementation, communication and monitoring of the roadmap and reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer. The Head of Health Operations includes external-representation responsibilities and actively reinforces strategic partnerships with our key partners.

What you’ll be doing

Management of operations and change: Lead and own day-to-day Health Operations, ensuring consistent service delivery, quality, and timely resolution of escalations across regions. Own the achievement of Operations targets in relation to turnover; translate business growth into capacity plans, staffing, and budget adherence. Forecast FTE needs with precision based on business growth, volume trends, seasonality, and new initiatives; develop robust capacity planning and staffing scenarios; influence recruitment and deployment accordingly.

Realize and track the main KPI’s such as f.i. 5% Lost Call Ratio, handling times Identify, design, and implement productivity initiatives; leverage process improvements, automation, and workflow optimization to boost efficiency without compromising quality. Continuously challenge current operating performance; lead root-cause analyses, develop evidence-based proposals, and implement optimizations to maximize future potential.

Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Opex, Finance, HR, and other stakeholders to align on capacity, demand signals, and strategic initiatives. Ensure risk management, governance, and compliance with policies, data privacy, and quality standards; escalate critical issues promptly and effectively to the Chief Operating Officer Management of People Partner with direct reports to maintain a motivated, engaged, and high-performing workforce; ensure clear accountability, timely feedback, and effective people management.

Objective setting and performance monitoring

ensure departmental and individual objectives are understood, aligned with strategic goals, and tracked with regular progress reviews; use performance dashboards to inform decisions.

Performance management

conduct regular performance conversations in line with standard protocols; provide constructive feedback on successes and development areas; address underperformance promptly, fairly, and decisively; implement improvement plans as needed.

Learning and development

identify skills gaps and provide targeted training, coaching, and developmental support to enable maximum potential; coordinate access to internal and external learning resources.

Career development and succession

create and communicate career pathways; pursue internal promotions, secondments, and special projects; cultivate a robust talent pipeline and succession plans.

Communication and engagement

maintain open channels for ideas and feedback at all levels; foster an inclusive culture and psychological safety.

Resource planning and staffing

collaborate with HR and operations to forecast staffing needs based on workload, attrition, and growth; support recruitment, redeployment, and workforce optimization.

Compliance and wellbeing

ensure adherence to company policies, safety, labor laws, and code of conduct; promote employee wellbeing and a safe working environment.

Reporting

provide regular people metrics (turnover, engagement, training completion, time-to-fill, etc.) to the COO and relevant stakeholders; highlight risks and proposed mitigations Management and monitoring of service standards Foster a customer-centric approach, ensuring customer needs are understood, prioritized, and reflected in service design and daily operations. Manage and monitor service standards to ensure all service delivery complies with contractual obligations and company quality standards.

Proactively identify skills gaps and performance deficiencies within the team at an early stage; implement timely corrective measures to prevent quality degradation. Develop and maintain up-to-date Management Information (MI) on key deliverables, quality of services, quality performance, costs, and people metrics across Operations; ensure alignment with business strategy and priorities. Provide and present the MI in the different governance organs and ensure timely submission in line with governance and reporting requirements; ensure transparent, data-driven communications to foster informed decision-making.

Lead stakeholder management

map, engage, and manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders; ensure alignment on quality metrics, expectations, and accountability; coordinate communications and escalation processes. Develop, track, and execute action plans to mitigate risks that could impact quality of service; assign owners, monitor progress, and verify effectiveness of mitigations. Drive governance and compliance with policies, data privacy, and quality standards; escalate critical issues promptly and manage risk through proactive controls.

What you’ll bring

Master’s degree (or comparable by experience). Bilingual Dutch/French with a good knowledge of English. Demonstrated senior leadership experience in global operations or contact center/assistance environments; proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering scale. Customer-centric mindset with the ability to translate customer needs into actionable operational improvements. Change management and people leadership capabilities; experience coaching and developing high-performing teams.

Strong capability in forecasting, capacity planning, budgeting, and linkages to business growth. Data-driven decision maker with advanced analytical skills and proficiency in operational metrics, dashboards, and common analytics tools. Hands-on experience with process improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma) and driving automation or productivity initiatives. Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership.

Team player.

What we offer

At AXA Partners, we’re appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that.

You can expect to receive

Competitive gross monthly salary Yearly bonus based on your performance Mobility budget and/or company car €250 flat-rate expenses per month Meal vouchers worth €10 per day €250 eco-vouchers per year Insurance: group insurance, hospitalization & Ambulatoire/Ambulante" insurance, disability insurance, accident insurance Homeworking 33 days of vacation To apply, click on the ‘apply for this job’ button, you’ll then need to log in or create a profile to submit your CV.

We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long-term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, please send an email to AXA Partners Global HR Response - [email protected] Who we are: We’re AXA Partners, experts at designing and delivering assistance solutions and specialised insurance, credit, and lifestyle protection – with and for our partners worldwide.

What sets us apart? The expertise and passion of our 8,500+ people, and a strong network of over 55,000 professionals all over the world. Powered by them and our sector-leading technology, we continuously evolve, adapt and thrive – offering solutions and services that make sure we’re always at people’s side, no matter what. Helping others is our passion. Combining the best digital technology with our warm, human touch, we’re always looking at new ways to offer seamless and reassuring experiences when it really matters.

Join a company that helps protect the forests! At AXA Partners, we plant a tree for every new recruit (with a permanent contract) #LI-BE