Senior Customer Service Specialist at Koala in London

Koala is a global furniture brand bringing Australian design and innovation to the world. We create forward-thinking products that solve problems for people and homes everywhere, driven by our purpose to make the world a more comfortable place.

We’ve always believed in doing things differently, whether in the way we develop products, how we do people and culture, or the way we bring the brand to life. That mindset has fuelled our growth, helping us disrupt categories in ways that are creative, bold and often unexpected. While we’re a household name in Australia, our journey on the global stage is only just beginning.

Since launching in 2015, our furniture has reached homes across Australia, Japan, the US and the UK. As a B Corp-certified, customer-obsessed, and data-led company, we’re committed to revolutionising furniture for generations to come through design, innovation, and meaningful sustainability.

Role Description

Koala launched in the UK at the end of 2025, and we’re just getting started. This is a rare chance to shape the customer playbook for an early stage market backed by a proven, globally scaling brand. You’ll draw on learnings from our established AU and US CS operations while adapting to the nuances of the UK consumer and competitive landscape. If the idea of building something meaningful from the ground up gets you out of bed in the morning, keep reading.

The Senior Customer Service Specialist is a senior individual contributor for Koala's UK market, combining exceptional customer-facing service with trusted ownership of higher-level customer operations. The role is expected to perform at a consistently high level and represent Koala professionally and confidently to UK customers.

As Koala’s UK Customer Experience team grows, we see this role developing into a Team Leadership position, with increasing responsibility for the onboarding, training, coaching and day-to-day leadership of future Customer Service team members. This role is therefore well suited to someone who is excited by the opportunity to help build a team, not simply join one.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver high-class frontline customer service interactions and operations that meet or exceed our Customer Satisfaction targets.

• Manage UK customer contact across live chat, phone, email, social media and other channels with clear, empathetic and brand-aligned communication.

• Handle high-volume customer enquiries with strong ownership, pace and attention to detail.

• Act as a trusted senior point for complex, sensitive or escalated cases, using sound judgement and proactive service recovery.

• Own higher-level back-of-house operations including refunds, returns, warranty and aftercare case handling, and related administration within Koala's policies and assigned authority.

• Maintain accurate case, order and customer records and complete operational actions correctly and promptly.

• Represent Koala professionally in the UK market, combining local customer understanding with Koala's global CX standards and brand voice.

• Work independently during UK business hours with direction from the Senior Manager in Australia, managing priorities and escalating risks or decisions appropriately.

• Collaborate closely with the UK team in the London hybrid environment, sharing knowledge and providing dependable senior support in complex scenarios.

• Analyse UK contact drivers, refunds, warranty trends, recurring pain points and other market signals to identify themes, risks and opportunities.

• Produce concise UK market and CX insights for leadership to inform operational priorities, product feedback and continuous improvement.

• Support UK and global CX initiatives, process changes and peak-period priorities, proactively identifying opportunities to improve customer and team outcomes.

• Support the onboarding and training of new Customer Service team members as the UK team grows.

• Share knowledge, feedback and best practice with colleagues to help maintain consistently high standards across the UK Customer Experience team.

Ideal background

• 3+ years in a high-volume customer service, CX or contact centre role, ideally within a fast-paced start-up ecommerce or retail environment; senior-agent or trusted escalation experience is highly regarded.

• A proven track record of strong performance against customer satisfaction, quality and productivity KPIs.

• Prior experience with platforms like Gorgias, Zendesk, or Shopify, and an appetite for leveraging AI and automation preferred.

• Exceptional customer service, active listening and written and verbal English communication skills, with the confidence to represent Koala professionally to UK customers.

• Strong experience handling complex complaints, refunds, returns, warranties and service-recovery cases end to end.

• High ownership and judgement; comfortable working independently with a manager in another time zone and knowing when to decide versus escalate.

• An analytical mindset and confidence using customer and operational data to spot patterns, investigate issues and communicate useful market insights.

• A collaborative, low-ego approach; comfortable supporting peers in a small London hybrid team within a global CX function.

• Demonstrated leadership potential, with experience supporting, mentoring, training or coaching other customer service team members highly regarded.

• Comfort collaborating across international time zones, with reasonable planned overlap with Australia (AEST) when required

• Flexibility to work a rotating monthly weekend roster (with weekdays given in lieu)

Perks and Privileges

Koala is only great when its employees are happy; and we’re one happy bunch!

• Hybrid working - We’re mixing it up with ~2-3 days in our London Treehouse (office) and work from bed/home (WFB)

• Take a break - Generous time off - Koala life leave, volunteer, parental, and more to help keep your work-life balance, balanced.

• Surprise & delight - The two-word combo at the core of everything we do. All Koalas can expect to enjoy free Koala products with ‘mates rates’ for your friends and fam!

• Support & wellbeing - Our employee experience respects and embraces all families, formed, found, and evolving. You’ll have access to our Employee Assistance Program, which includes unlimited sessions for financial, work, relationship, family or wellbeing support.

• Competitive pension matching with NEST.

• Accelerate your career - via our Learning Management platform, as well as individual and team growth budgets and dedicated days.

• Community & connection - We believe that simply doing ‘no harm’ isn’t good enough So, how are we doing our part? BCorp Certified, WWF Partnership, volunteer days, a member of 1% and so much more.

• All in all, the Koala Community is a great place to hang out and belong to!

Why Join Koala?

At Koala, we do things a little differently and we don’t shy away from the fact that we expect a lot from our employees! We have no ego; we seek feedback that grows us; and we have a strong bias for action. We want you to challenge expectations, always look to make a difference and give us something different from the norm. We want people that bring great energy, that have a long-game focus and are always trying to find new angles and approaches to the way we work. We're a team full of entrepreneurial spirit and have a relentless focus on 'what's next' but while always reviewing 'what's been done' and learning, growing and adapting. Honesty and empathy drive everything we do, as well as a total focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations. So if you feel like this could be you... well what the bloody hell are you waiting for? Drop us a line, and let's see what you've got! ;)

There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate, Koala is a place where everyone has opportunity. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and recognise that a diverse workforce is crucial to our success as a business.

To read more, check out our careers, LinkedIn, or the great work we do with Work180.