Director of Operations

Recruitment vacancy: Operations Director.

We’re looking for an experienced operations director to join our York team. This is a permanent, full-time role.

We are a leading Employee Engagement consultancy that partners with global organisations to drive transformational change. Our expertise spans across People & Change, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Culture & Insights, Digital, Internal Communications, and Employee Experience. We are passionate about creating better worlds of work.

Job Overview:

We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Operations Director to transform and optimise our operations in a fast-paced environment. This role is pivotal in ensuring that our operational activities are aligned with the company's strategic goals, enhancing efficiency and productivity. You will lead teams of project managers and creatives, working closely with executives to develop long-term plans that drive productivity, quality, and overall company success.

What you’ll do:

You will direct all operational activities of the company to ensure that business objectives are met efficiently and effectively.

You will translate business strategy into operational plans and initiatives, developing long-term plans that usher in new levels of productivity and success for the company.

This is a crucial role in ensuring that the company's operations are efficient, effective, and aligned with strategic goals. You must balance strategic thinking with hands-on management, focusing on optimising processes, managing resources, and fostering a high-performance culture.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop long-term strategies that drive productivity and success for the company.
• Oversee the delivery team to ensure they are motivated, trained, and equipped to meet high standards.
• Lead, mentor, and manage operations teams, including department heads, project managers, and creative teams. Ensure teams have the necessary skills, resources, and motivation to perform effectively.
• Analyse and streamline operational processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase quality. Implement best practices and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure consistency across all operations.
• Utilise data and performance metrics to monitor key performance indicators (KPI)s and objectives and key results (OKR’s) to assess operational effectiveness and identify areas for, and drive performance measures, maximise company growth, and identify revenue opportunities.
• Oversee resource allocation to ensure optimal use and productivity. Manage budgets, monitor utilisation, and forecast resource needs, and ensure operations stay within financial targets.
• Ensure that all operational activities meet or exceed quality standards. Identify potential operational risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Work closely with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), and other departments, including Sales & Marketing, Finance, and HR, to ensure alignment of operations with overall business objectives.
• Draw on relationships with external partners and vendors to make decisions regarding operational activity and strategic goals.
• Provide regular reports to the ELT and the board on operational performance, including progress toward strategic goals.

Your skills and experience

Our ideal candidate has proven experience in an operations leadership role. We’re a busy consultancy, so you’ll need to be quick, adaptable, enthusiastic and hard working. And, yes, we need you to be a team player who can also work independently.

You are a strong strategic thinker who can stay focused under pressure, with a focus on optimising processes and managing resources.

You have exceptional leadership and communication skills, with experience leading high-performing teams of project managers and creatives.

Excellent computer skills, with the ability to analyse business data to identify revenue opportunities and operational improvements is essential, as is experience in budget management and financial forecasting.

Experience in managing vendor and partner relationships, including contracts, agreements, and procurement is an advantage.

What we offer

You’ll be part of a vibrant, energetic, award-winning team. We love what we do, support each other, and get a buzz from working together to delight clients and colleagues. You’ll learn every day, working with some of the best in the business, tackling projects for household-name brands and clients that span every industry sector.

You’ll have the opportunity to develop your career in a dynamic and growing business, having plenty of fun along the way.

Benefits:

A healthy remuneration package including yearly salary reviews and discretionary bonus scheme

Coaching and development pathways

Away days

Private healthcare and access to a 24-hour stress counselling helpline

Pension scheme (5% employee contribution, 3% employer contribution)

Death in service benefits (4x annual salary)

25 days holiday pa plus bank Holidays – (increasing to 27 days pa after 5 years & 30 days pa after 10 years)]

Flexible working day

Company sick pay (based on length of service)

Enhanced maternity pay; to be paid at full salary for the first three months of leave and Statutory Maternity Pay thereafter.

Enhanced paternity pay; to be paid at full pay for two weeks of leave.

Cycle to work scheme

Service awards

Access to SA’s Employee Assistance Program

This role is predominantly office based at our York office. It my occasionally involve travel to our London office.