1. POSITION PURPOSE
The Operations Manager is accountable for the end-to-end operational performance of a distributed portfolio comprising a combination of Student Residences and Student Centres. The role ensures consistent, compliant, and measurable service delivery aligned to Service Level Agreements (SLAs), client standards, and applicable legislation.

A defining requirement of this position is excellence across three pillars:

• Client Relationship Management: Own the day-to-day senior interface with client stakeholders; build trust, manage expectations, and resolve escalations through structured governance and clear communication.

• People Leadership: Lead and hold teams accountable across sites through strong visibility, discipline, coaching, performance management, and a culture of service excellence.

• Project Delivery: Plan and execute operational projects and improvement initiatives that protect uptime, elevate user experience, standardise performance, and reduce risk across the portfolio.

2. ROLE CONTEXT / OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
This is a high-intensity, multi-site role in a student living and retail context where service reliability, stakeholder responsiveness, safety, and reputation management are critical. Work is performed across multiple locations, including periods of peak operational demand, and may require after-hours and weekend support when service continuity or incidents demand it.

3. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

A) Client Relationship & Stakeholder Management
• Serve as the primary operational interface with the client across the residences and student centres; maintain professional, solutions-led engagement.
• Establish and maintain a structured governance cadence (site meetings, operational reviews, KPI reviews, and escalation pathways) to ensure transparency, predictability, and proactive issue management.
• Manage escalations timeously and ensure corrective actions are implemented, tracked, and closed out with evidence.
• Build collaborative relationships with residence management and student-centre stakeholders to ensure operational plans support academic and residential activities.

B) Portfolio Operations Management
• Provide full operational oversight of the Student Residences and Student Centres portfolio, ensuring each site meets defined performance, safety, quality, and service standards.
• Ensure facilities are operationally ready and consistently supported, including proactive planning for high-occupancy cycles and peak demand periods.
• Conduct regular site inspections, service audits, and performance reviews; ensure actions are prioritised and delivered.
• Implement standard operating routines that create consistent outcomes across all locations (walkabouts, checks, reporting discipline, close-out processes).

C) Soft Services Delivery & Quality Assurance
• Oversee and integrate soft services (including but not limited to cleaning and pest control) in line with scope, specifications, and SLAs.
• Ensure service delivery is measurable against KPIs, cost-effective, and continuously improved through structured QA and corrective action workflows.
• Maintain visible service leadership on-site, ensuring teams understand standards and deliver consistently across residences and the retail environment.

D) People Leadership, Workforce Management & Culture
• Lead, manage, and develop site teams and supervisors; ensure adequate staffing and effective scheduling across locations.
• Drive a high-performance culture through: clear expectations, routine supervision, coaching, consequence management, and recognition of strong delivery.
• Enforce attendance, discipline, productivity standards, and quality checks (including work completion verification and checklist sign-off).
• Ensure training, toolbox talks, and capability upliftment are embedded into operational routines.

E) Project & Change Delivery
• Lead and coordinate operational projects and improvement initiatives across the portfolio (e.g., quarterly & bi-annual scheduled services, mobilisation activities, service enhancements, standardisation) to improve outcomes and reduce risk.
• Plan, scope, schedule, and coordinate stakeholders to deliver projects with minimal disruption to core residence and retail operations.
• Ensure project governance: objectives, cost controls, risk controls, communication plans, and handover/acceptance discipline.

F) Contractor & Service Provider Management
• Manage service providers across the portfolio; monitor performance against SLA/KPI requirements and apply corrective actions where required.
• Review performance deliverables and approve job completion evidence (e.g., job cards, service reports) in line with governance requirements.

G) Health, Safety, Risk, Compliance & Business Continuity
• Ensure full compliance with applicable legislation, including Occupational Health & Safety, environmental requirements, and client policies and procedures.
• Drive a zero-incident culture, including visible leadership, safe work practices, and immediate response/containment when issues arise.
• Ensure completion, filing, and audit readiness of risk assessments, incident reporting, compliance audits, and statutory inspections.
• Maintain readiness for emergencies through practical site preparedness and continuity planning aligned to operational best practice.

H) Financial & Commercial Management
• Manage operational budgets across the portfolio, ensuring tight cost control, value optimisation, and transparent cost reporting.
• Forecast operational costs, identify savings opportunities, and support commercial decisions with evidence-based recommendations.
• Implement and enforce disciplined stock control for all operational consumables (ordering, goods receiving, secure storage, distribution, and stock-takes), maintaining agreed minimum/maximum levels, accurate stock registers and audit trails, and proactive re-order triggers to prevent stock-outs, leakage, and wastage across the portfolio.

I) Reporting, Performance Governance & Continuous Improvement
• Compile and submit monthly operational reports, dashboards, and compliance reports with clear insights, trends, and action tracking.
• Support internal/external audits through disciplined record-keeping and governance.
• Identify operational risks and improvement opportunities; standardise processes and implement best-practice methodologies across the portfolio.

4. KEY COMPETENCIES
Technical / Professional
• Ability to set, track and report soft services performance measures (e.g., service quality outcomes and customer satisfaction indicators) and drive corrective actions through structured reviews and dashboards.
• Strong capability in implementing and maintaining a quality management approach for soft services, including inspections, monitoring, analysis, and continual improvement practices.
• Working knowledge of cleaning methodologies, routines, equipment/consumables utilisation, and the ability to translate standards into practical checklists and site-level execution controls
• Multi-site operations leadership and service delivery control
• SLA/KPI management, quality assurance, and corrective action governance
• Budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimisation
• Health & safety compliance, risk management, and audit readiness
• Project coordination and operational change delivery

Leadership / Behavioural
• Strong people leadership with high accountability and sound judgement
• Excellent client-facing capability: stakeholder confidence, calm escalation management, and service mindset
• Structured problem-solving and decisive execution under pressure
• Communication discipline: clear reporting, expectation-setting, and professional engagement

5. EXPERIENCE / BACKGROUND
• Demonstrated track record managing multi-site operational portfolios with measurable service outcomes, preferably in high-occupancy environments (e.g., residences, education, hospitality, or mixed-use).
• Proven capability in leading teams across dispersed sites, managing service providers, and delivering improvements through structured operational governance.

6. WORKING CONDITIONS
• Multi-site operational environment with travel as required.
• On-call availability for incidents/emergencies; after-hours and weekend work may be required.

7. PERFORMANCE MEASURES (KPIs)
• Portfolio service reliability / uptime and consistent standards across sites
• Stakeholder satisfaction and escalation resolution effectiveness
• Compliance outcomes (audit readiness, statutory adherence, H&S performance)
• Budget adherence and cost optimisation delivery
• Contractor/service provider performance against SLAs and KPIs
• Incident reduction and sustained safety performance

8. PERFORMANCE MEASURES (KPIs)
• Minimum 5 years experiences in a related field
• Degree or diploma in a relevant field (e.g Facilities Management, Built Environment, Commerce)
• Project delivery exposure (formal training/certification advantageous) with the ability to plan, execute, and govern operational improvement initiatives.
• Health, Safety, Environment & Quality (SHEQ) knowledge and/or formal training advantageous, with the ability to operate within an audit-ready governance framework.
• Computer literacy and confidence using standard productivity tools and operational reporting systems (e.g., dashboards, registers, and management reporting).
• Professional affiliation/registration with a facilities management professional body (advantageous).