Workflow & Systems Engineer, Operations

About Group 1001

Group 1001 is a consumer-centric, technology-driven family of insurance companies on a mission to deliver outstanding value and operational performance by combining financial strength and stability with deep insurance expertise and a can-do culture. Group1001’s culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, communication, core business focus, risk management, and striving for outcomes. This goal extends to how we hire and onboard our most valuable assets – our employees.

Why This Role Matters

This role is centered on operational workflow engineering and continuous process improvement. The Workflow & Systems Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and optimizing operational workflows within Zendesk and supporting automation tools, with a focus on driving towards zero-touch processing where applicable by identifying and eliminating manual intervention points across operational workflows. This individual translates business requirements into system configurations, automations, and AI-driven solutions that improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, and enable data-driven decision-making. This individual serves as a bridge between business stakeholders and engineering/IT teams, partnering with IT on platform-level integrations and enhancements while owning Zendesk configuration, AI/automation initiatives, and operational reporting.

How You'll Contribute

• Own the design, configuration, and continuous improvement of Zendesk workflows, automations, and agent experience.
• Drive towards zero-touch processing by identifying manual intervention points and engineering automated solutions to eliminate them.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement AI and automation opportunities that reduce toil, improve quality, and scale operations — including evaluating and leveraging third-party applications and marketplace integrations to streamline operations.
• Build and own operational dashboards and reporting frameworks that provide leadership visibility into workflow performance, bottlenecks, automation impact, and opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with IT/Engineering on platform integrations and cross-platform needs, serving as the operations subject matter expert for requirements, testing, and acceptance.
• Champion a culture of continuous process improvement, constantly evaluating how workflows can be made more efficient, more automated, and closer to straight-through processing.

Zendesk Administration & Workflow Design

• Design, build, and optimize Zendesk workflows including triggers, automations, routing rules, macros, views, SLAs, custom fields, and escalation paths.
• Manage Zendesk Suite administration across Support, Guide (knowledge base), Talk/Chat channels, and Explore reporting.
• Analyze existing business processes and identify opportunities to streamline through Zendesk configuration improvements.
• Evaluate, recommend, and implement third-party applications and marketplace integrations that plug into the workflow system to extend capabilities and reduce manual effort.
• Test and QA all configurations in sandbox environments before production deployment.
• Manage user roles, permissions, groups, and organizational structures within Zendesk.

AI & Automation

• Evaluate and implement AI-powered tools within the operations workflow — including Zendesk AI features (intelligent triage, auto-tagging, suggested macros, generative replies) and third-party AI/automation platforms.
• Build and manage chatbot flows, auto-response logic, and self-service deflection strategies.
• Identify and map manual touchpoints across operational workflows and develop automation strategies to achieve zero-touch processing where applicable.
• Identify repetitive, manual processes and engineer automation solutions using native platform capabilities, low-code tools (e.g., Zapier, Make), or scripting.
• Monitor automation performance and continuously tune for accuracy, coverage, and customer experience quality.
• Stay current on emerging AI/automation capabilities relevant to customer operations and recommend adoption where appropriate.

Reporting & Analytics

• Develop and maintain dashboards and reports in Zendesk Explore covering resolution times, first response times, agent productivity, SLA adherence, CSAT, and workflow throughput.
• Design and own executive-level dashboards that surface actionable insights on workflow efficiency, automation coverage, and progress towards zero-touch processing goals.
• Build reporting on AI/automation impact — deflection rates, auto-resolution rates, bot effectiveness, and time savings.
• Monitor operational KPIs and proactively surface trends, anomalies, and improvement opportunities to leadership.
• Support cross-platform reporting needs by exporting or integrating Zendesk data with broader BI tools as needed.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & IT Partnership

• Partner with IT/Engineering teams on platform integration requirements, providing operational context, acceptance criteria, and UAT support.
• Serve as the operations liaison for any platform integration work between Zendesk, CRM, and internal systems.
• Collaborate with third-party vendors on platform enhancements, feature requests, and issue resolution.
• Work with SMEs and cross-functional stakeholders to identify process improvements and prioritize enhancements.

Documentation & Process Management

• Document all workflows, SOPs, system configurations, and automation logic for knowledge management and onboarding.
• Gather business requirements from operations teams and translate them into technical specifications and configuration plans.
• Assist in special projects related to new tool evaluations, platform enhancements, and operational scaling initiatives.

What We're Looking For:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.
• 2+ years of experience in a business analyst, workflow analyst, systems administrator, or operations technology role.
• Zendesk administration experience — configuration of triggers, automations, macros, routing, SLAs, and reporting (Explore).
• Demonstrated interest or hands-on experience with AI tools, automation platforms, or process automation.
• Strong analytical skills with logical thinking and process orientation.
• Excellent communication, documentation, and organizational skills.
• Microsoft Office proficiency (Excel in particular).
• Ability to manage multiple projects and work cross-functionally.

Preferred / Nice to Have:

• Zendesk Administrator certification.
• Experience implementing or managing AI features — chatbots, intelligent triage, auto-tagging, generative AI tools.
• Familiarity with low-code/no-code automation platforms (Zapier, Make, Power Automate).
• Experience evaluating and integrating third-party apps, plugins, or marketplace solutions into a workflow or ticketing platform.
• Basic API/integration knowledge (REST APIs, webhooks, Postman) for connecting Zendesk with other systems.
• Basic SQL or experience with BI/data analysis tools (QuickSight, Tableau, Looker).
• Light scripting ability (Python, JavaScript) for custom automations or data manipulation — strongly preferred.
• Experience working in a contact center or customer operations environment.
• ITIL, Lean, or Six Sigma exposure.

Key Differentiators of This Role:

This is not a traditional analyst or reporting role. The ideal candidate is someone who:

• Owns Zendesk as a platform — not just using it, but shaping how the entire team uses it.
• Is genuinely curious about AI and automation and actively seeks ways to apply them to real operational problems.
• Can operate independently between business and technical teams, translating in both directions.
• Treats every manual, repetitive process as a problem to solve.
• Understands that good reporting starts with good instrumentation — building the right data capture into workflows from the start.
• Views dashboards and reporting not as an afterthought, but as a core function — building the visibility that drives decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Sees platform administration as a means to an end — the real job is making operations faster, leaner, and more scalable through smarter workflows.

Key skills/competency

• Zendesk Administration
• Workflow Optimization
• Process Improvement
• Automation
• AI Implementation
• Reporting and Analytics
• System Configuration
• Business Analysis
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Problem-Solving