Customer Support Specialist | Portuguese Speaker

ABOUT UNICEF

UNICEF is the world’s leading children’s rights organization, working for children in 190 countries to save lives, defend rights, and help fulfill their potential. We are funded entirely by voluntary contributions and are committed to making a lasting difference for children.

JOB PURPOSE

We are looking for a Customer Support Specialist to ensure high-quality donor support while actively contributing to the improvement of processes, service quality and operational consistency. This role combines hands-on donor interaction with a strong operational mindset, playing a key part in delivering an efficient, donor-centric support experience.

The Customer Support Specialist plays a key role in elevating the quality and consistency of donor support by combining hands-on experience with a strong operational perspective. This role contributes to the optimization of workflows, service standards and tools, identifies opportunities to improve efficiency and donor satisfaction, and acts as a trusted point of reference within the support function. Working closely with cross-functional teams, the role helps translate organizational priorities into effective, high-quality support delivery.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Donor Support & Issue Resolution

Respond to donor inquiries via email and phone in a professional and timely manner.

Handle complex or sensitive donor cases, ensuring accurate diagnosis and effective resolution.

Act as an escalation point for non-standard issues, coordinating with internal teams as needed.

Track, prioritize and follow up on donor requests in the CRM or ticketing system.

2. Operational Support & Service Consistency

Contribute to the day-to-day stability and effectiveness of donor support operations.

Ensure consistency in responses, processes and use of tools across donor interactions.

Support workload organization and adherence to agreed service standards.

3. Quality, Insights & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor recurring issues, donor feedback and key service indicators (e.g. ticket volumes, response and resolution times, common request types) to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Use operational data and frontline insights to proactively flag risks, inefficiencies or recurring friction points.
• Propose practical enhancements to processes, workflows and templates to improve efficiency and donor satisfaction.
• Contribute input to existing service reporting and performance reviews in support of continuous improvement initiatives.
• Flag potential donor risks or attrition signals and share insights with Customer Success and relevant teams.

4. Knowledge Base & Process Optimization

• Contribute to the development, review and maintenance of FAQs, scripts and internal support documentation.
• Ensure that knowledge resources remain accurate, clear and aligned with donor needs.
• Collaborate with internal teams to improve end-to-end processes impacting the donor experience.

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead Customer Support team (1 HC).​
• Work closely with Customer Success, Marketing and Operations teams to align on donor needs and operational priorities.
• Share frontline insights and practical recommendations to support donor experience improvements.
• Contribute operational input to donor-centric initiatives and campaigns.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES OF A SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION:

• Native or fluent Portuguese speaker, with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• 2–4 years of experience in Customer Support, Helpdesk, Customer Success Operations or a similar role.
• Experience in NGO, subscription-based or recurring revenue environments is a plus.
• Hands-on experience with CRM and ticketing systems (e.g. Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk or similar).
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Social Sciences or a related field.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES:

• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to handle complex donor situations.
• Proven ability to interpret operational metrics and service indicators to support quality and efficiency improvements.
• Ability to identify operational inefficiencies and propose practical, actionable solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• High level of organization, with the ability to balance day-to-day execution and improvement initiatives.
• Donor-centric mindset, focused on quality, consistency and operational effectiveness.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Hybrid work model with flexibility.
• A sustainable office environment.
• Additional vacation days and a special day off for your birthday.
• Flexible afternoons for family time.
• Fresh fruit in the office.
• Health insurance.
• Onsite doctor 1x/month.
• Opportunities for professional growth within a dynamic team.

VALUES

UNICEF’s work is guided by the values of Care, Respect, Trust, Integrity, Accountability, and Sustainability. We are committed to upholding these values in all that we do.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and are expected to adhere to these standards and principles.