Job Description
Job Title: Head of Operations
Department: Central Operations
Business Unit: Operations
Line Manager: Chief Operating Officer
Job Purpose:
The Head of Operations manages a range of key central services, drives continuous improvement, builds and maintains collaborative and effective relationships with external providers, other managers and colleagues across the school and ensures corporate standards are maintained through the development and implementation of standardised procedures.
As a member of the Operations Management Team, the Head of Operations supports a wide variety of cross-school work to ensure all service delivery teams can operate effectively and efficiently, whilst striving for continual improvement, quality and compliance.
The role works very closely with the Chief Operating Officer and supports the implementation of strategic objectives and business change projects; develops project plans, ensures tasks are completed, develops effective processes and ensures staff are adequately trained in changes, as required.
The role is responsible for the leadership, management and development of a small team of direct reports, which delivers a high quality service to customers (parents, staff, external visitors). The range of services is broad and frequently evolves through a process of continuous improvement, led by the role holder. Key services offered include: reception and administration support, visitor management, session/calendar planning, provision of print and copy services, central stationery, compliance, business change support and document management.
The role also manages a number of external supplier relationships and is responsible for annual contract negotiations and budget management.
Main Responsibilities:
1 Strategic Responsibilities
● To create a clear vision and objectives for the function and motivates the team to achieve the wider goals and objectives
● Provides leadership, management and development to direct reports and offers general guidance to cross school colleagues and managers on a wide range of issues
● Prepares annual budgets for Print Services and Central Operations, contributing to the construction of the School’s annual budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy.
● Ensures all new processes which are developed as part of the Business Transformation Project are GDPR compliant, documented to an agreed standard and managed within a central repository
● As a member of the Session Planning Team, develops proposals for future session dates which meet the defined specifications, ensures school calendar is developed and maintained
● Continually review and evaluate the services provided to ensure the function is offering high quality, efficient services and is supporting the School’s strategic goals
20%
2 Operational Responsibilities:
● Supports the Chief Operating Officer with the implementation of strategic projects, as required.
● Management of direct reports to ensure service delivery is effective and efficient
● Responsible for the supervision, appraisals, personal development planning and recruitment of central operations staff
● Identify training needs and implement professional development for staff as appropriate; this will include training needs of colleagues not within direct line management of the job holder
● Centrally manage a repository of business processes ensuring all core processes are documented to an agreed standard, revisions are maintained and
controlled.
● Ensures core processes are documented, implemented and delivers training as needs are identified, to ensure efficiency and compliance is maintained
● Manages the School’s Complaints Procedure, ensuring compliance to the policy and appropriate allocation of responsibilities
● Manages the School Print Managed System, liaising with external suppliers and the IT department to ensure printing services are effective and any issues are timeously resolved, costs are kept to a minimum. Regularly review the contract against the service level agreement raising issues with suppliers as required.
● Manages the school telephone system, ensuring operating issues are reported, out of hours voicemails are managed, training for new users given, etc
50%
3 Financial Responsibilities:
● Responsible for establishing, managing, tracking and the effective utilisation of Operations budgets.
● Implement financial management controls and oversight to effectively manage expenditure
● Responsible for Operations budget of c£250k
● Renegotiates/procures key supplier contracts to ensure school is receiving value for money and the best possible service provision
● Manages all contracts for print and copying, paper, taxi service, stationery etc to ensure effective service delivery and value for money. Makes recommendations on whether to lease or purchase depending on cost and life expectancy of equipment. Arranges for the deployment, replacement or removal of devices as required and within contractual limits
15%
4 Policy and Procedure Responsibilities:
● Develops relevant policy and procedures for area of responsibility
● Manages the central policy register to ensure policy owners are advised of pending reviews, new policies are under document control and current versions are shared with stakeholders. Produce progress reports to the Chief Operating Officer as required
● In accordance with legislation, ensure recommended policies and procedures are identified and appropriate owners are identified.
● Over and above the core business processes, ensure there are effective processes and procedures in place to support high risk activities, e.g. letters to parents, MIS input, and where identified assist staff in their compliance to these standards
● Works with colleagues across College to develop, implement, monitor and review a range of operating procedures for key administration tasks, manage the update and review of procedures required. This includes procedures for data input and maintenance into 3SYS/PASS.
● Identify opportunities to optimise business processes and improve compliance.
Working with key stakeholders to develop and introduce change to remove inefficiencies, risk of errors, or improve the customer experience and compliance.
● Identify gaps in compliance and work closely with DPO to identify owners to establish suitable policies, processes and support the implementation and monitor compliance where appropriate
● Ensure staff involved in the key admin processes are trained and competent, providing advice/support where possible and escalating issues to line managers where necessary, or raising with the Head of HR/Director of Professional
Learning where CPD needs have been identified.
● The Head of Operations is the School’s Complaint Reviewer and as such has overall responsibility for managing the Complaints Procedure to:
● ensure compliance to our standards are met
● produces reports to the Governing Council as required.
15%
Key Contacts and Working Relationships:
To build and maintain constructive relationships with Heads of Departments and Managers at all levels, in order to provide them with high quality, well-supported services which meet their needs and supports their business processes
A member of the Operational Leadership Team, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer.
Chief Operating Officer - for operational and leadership support Bursar - for financial and contract management advice/guidance
Head of Junior School, Head of Senior School - key stakeholders in school admin activities Head of IT and MIS Manager along with the wider business transformation team
Team (Admin, Reception, Print Room) Digital and External Events Manager
MIS - ensures processes in place for all key procedures. Member of the MIS Forum Deputy Head, Enrichment - key stakeholder for events, calendar production Assistant Bursar - invoices, purchase order or management account queries
All administration staff, Pupil Support, Curriculum Support, Heads of Teaching Departments.
External Suppliers:
Caley Stationery & Print Pitreavie Paper
Capital Solutions (Copiers and Printers) Badgemaster
Alphatec Pollination Capital Taxis
Other ad hoc suppliers Planning and Organising:
The majority of the role’s activities involve planning more than 12 months ahead to ensure the smooth and efficient running of school operations, e.g. development of future session dates, school calendars, teacher planners and pupil diaries.
Planning the school session dates and calendar occurs three years in advance and the job holder is required to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the school operation in order to identify potential clashes/risks in events.
Plans the annual negotiations of supplier contracts which involves analysing their performance in the last 12 months, assessing spend and activity, reviewing needs for the next academic year complies with Procurement Policy when tendering for new business
Annual budget preparation. Prepares draft budgets for approval by the Chief Operating Officer.
Organising resources to ensure service is maintained, e.g. organising cover for absence, busy periods, school holidays, monitoring stationery stock and ensuring adequate supplies.
Develops project plans which identify key dependencies, projected timelines, risks and resources required for successful delivery
Problem Solving and Decision Making:
Approves expenditure against approved budget, escalating any predicted over spend or exceptional items to the Chief Operating Officer
Sets the priorities for the team when demands on capacity are high. Manages expectations of customers.
Assesses problems with administration processes, designs new approaches, pilots and implements change, with stakeholder input. Makes changes to personnel /job roles where efficiencies can be identified.
Room/ Diary clashes: assesses the impact of the clashes, applying judgement and experience to decide how to address and which event to relocate.
Printer issues - what actions required ie replace equipment or relocated equipment.
Suppliers. Job holder makes the decisions on which suppliers/service providers the School will work with, according to value for money, reliability, risk and service delivery.
Source solutions and make decisions/recommendations for new School initiatives Resources and Requirements:
Line manages an Administration/Reception team of 7 (6 FTE), Print Room Assistant (1 FTE), Manage budgets to the value of c£250k which includes:
● Printing £8,000 (maintenance/service)
● Print Room Consumables: £5,000
● Paper; £36,000
● Photocopying - copy cost: £80,000
● Photocopying Rental £72,000
● Administration Stationery £10,000
● Taxi’s, newspapers/subscriptions, flowers/plant maintenance
Manages the deployment, maintenance and contract for 50+ printer/copier/shredding devices across the College.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Essential:
Leadership and Management Experience
● Has experience of managing a team, including coaching, training and development, recruitment, handling conflict, managing performance or conduct issues etc.
● Has a Leadership/Management qualification or has undertaken reputable management training in (for example) appraisal and development, managing conflict, having difficult conversations, budget management, recruitment and selection, data management
● Experience of report writing and data analysis
● Previous experience of negotiating contracts and operating within Procurement Policies
● Experience of managing budgets, negotiating with external suppliers
● Demonstrable organisational skills and ability to deal with conflicting priorities whilst maintaining strong customer focus
● Strong verbal and written communication skills Process Improvement:
● Experience of developing and improving processes or systems, preferably working to a quality management system
● Experience of mapping processes using software tools
● Experience of developing and delivering training sessions and coaching staff
● Possess strong problem solving skills and experience of using process improvement methodologies, e.g. Lean
● Experience of working within a project team environment, delivering projects and utilising project management methodologies.
● Knowledge of the requirements of GDPR General
● Previous relevant experience of running multiple services in a busy environment, (education environment an advantage)
● Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop and maintain positive, effective working relationships with colleagues and external contacts
● Advanced IT skills, including MS Office applications, Google Suite, working with databases
● Meticulous attention to detail
● Excellent grammar, written and verbal communication skills
● Ability to work on own initiative
● Ability to stay calm and work under pressure, manage complex and varied workloads and prioritise own work with minimum supervision.
● Able to balance competing deadlines and the needs of both internal and external stakeholders
Desirable:
Experience of working in a school administration environment Experience of working with process improvement methodologies Possesses a recognised leadership/management qualification
IOSH Managing Safely qualification
Business Process Management qualifications
FEDRA Elements Form
Activities Examples of role requirements
1 Communication Oral
Excellent communication skills are required in order to manage the relationships with external suppliers, negotiation skills essential to ensure the best possible deal is obtained for the School, e.g. print managed service.
Excellent communication skills are required to develop and maintain internal relationships across the school, and work with colleagues at all levels, including senior management.
Able to convert process documentation into engaging training material which the job holder then delivers to a wide range of audiences.
Requires the ability to gather detail on complex processes through inquisitive open questioning and active listening
An ambassador for the School, sets the highest of standards for customer service, e.g. how to answer telephones, meet visitors, treat pupils and staff, quality check work
Written
Oversees written communication with parents and staff before
publication ensuring grammar and spelling are accurate to maintain the reputation of the school.
Produces policy documents; process maps, manuals, training materials Writes reports for senior management and governors.
Responds to complainants and general inquiries on behalf of the School.
Email correspondence to staff, parents, visitors, suppliers.
2 Teamwork and Motivation
Reports weekly and monthly progress against objectives to the Chief Operating Officer.
As a member of the Operational Leadership Team, comprising the Head of HR, Head of Facilities, Centre for Sport Manager, Head of IT Services and the Digital and Events Manager, contributes to the delivery of strategic objectives.
Manages reception, admin and print room team members by providing standards to work towards, supporting with inquiries, improving
procedures, resolving problems. Carries out regular one-to-one meetings with the team to provide encouragement and motivation.
Ensures annual performance reviews are carried out and training and support needs identified are provided.
Responsible for setting the direction and work of the team.
Joins cross school project teams as required to assess risk to key processes and systems and identify where change management may be required.
In wider teams help and support team members to achieve success in the project delivery. Provides training and support to any member of the administration staff with any process that is inefficient.
3 Liaison and Networking
This role involves liaising with staff in departments across the whole School and establishing positive working relationships.
Liaising with external providers of goods and services is essential to ensure the School has a positive reputation with other businesses and benefits from these relationships.
4 Service Delivery Responsible for the delivery of a first class Reception/Admin/Print Management service for all members of the School community.
Sets standards for staff to follow, e.g. how to answer telephones, greet visitors, written communication to parents, ensuring brand guidelines are followed.
Provides training for staff on systems and procedures including the MIS, and Google applications
Manages a room booking and calendar system where specific staff are trained and supervised by the role holder to ensure accuracy and consistency for the benefit of the School community.
Standards of all services managed by the role holder are continually reviewed and improvements made as necessary. In some areas legislation and School strategy will influence changes but in the main changes are made to improve efficiency.
Handles a mixture of routine and complex enquiries from staff, parents, pupils and external groups, analysing their requirements and facilitating appropriate and timely responses.
Has a ‘can do’ attitude and uses professional knowledge and expertise to achieve a suitable solution to problems with processes/supply
Proactively reviews and decides on appropriate improvements to existing administrative processes and procedures, particularly when inefficiencies exist or staffing levels change. This could also be at the request of line managers and/or staff involved in processes.
Manage a robust Complaints Process. Recording details, identifying a suitable investigator, ensuring a timely response and reporting to senior managers and Governors
5 Decision Making Processes and Outcomes
Accountable for the effective spending of a £230,000 budget.
Make decisions on budgets and agree with Chief Operating Officer- Printing (maintenance/service), Print Room Consumables, Paper, Photocopying - copy cost, Photocopying Rental, Departmental/pupil Stationery, Administration Stationery, Taxi’s, News, Newspapers and subscriptions to TES, Flower/Plant Maintenance
Decide on priorities within budget, monitor spending, invoicing and ensure accurate records are kept. Check and amend budget reports issued by Finance.
Review suppliers annually and select preferred suppliers for each School year including office supplies, paper for printing and other ad-hoc goods.
Monitor leasing contracts for large office and printing equipment. As they come to an end or School requirements change, review and plan for replacements or upgrades and select new suppliers.
Discusses decisions with the Chief Operating Officer and ensures new contracts are put in place to avoid any disruption to School operations.
In preparing the annual budget for the department, analyses the
previous years expenditure, incorporates any changes in the cost of items or services, and any planned changes within the organisation that may impact on expenditure for the next academic year i.e. text books out of print will impact on paper and printing costs if departments need to produce their own material or if there are changes to teaching methods that would have an impact i.e. use on individual white boards could add thousands to the stationery budget.
6 Planning and Organising Resources
The role responsible for own workload.
Direct line management responsibility for a team of 8 including administrators/reception staff, one print room assistant,
In Autumn term,initiates the development of the school session dates (3 years rolling), prepares the School session planner for three years ahead ensuring days of the cycle, key school events, exams etc are planned and laid out in advance to avoid clashes.
Plan events for the next School year with input from senior managers avoiding clashes i.e. Parent Meetings with Music events.
Has responsibility for planning team input into annual events i.e.
Founder’s Day, Caritas Lecture and ensures Drama and Music events are supported by the Reception and Print Room team through ticket
distribution and programme printing.
Provide appropriate printing equipment across the School according to the relevant needs of departments i.e. administration offices and teaching areas. This requires the role holder to assess the volume of printing in each area and other specific needs such as colour printing.
Plans the annual printing and distribution of Teachers’ planners and Pupil Diaries, ensuring accuracy and sign off before publication and distribution.
Policy review management. Identify policies due for review, notify relevant manager when review is due and ensure updated/amended version is prepared and published within a predetermined timescale.
Establish an annual programme of procedure/process review using Quality Management tools and methodologies
Ensure relevant staff and line managers are advised of changes to procedures and provided with advice/training where necessary.
Review the printing system leasing contract and subsequent
software/service contracts before expiry. This requires a full audit of the equipment. The reports provided by the audit allow for a full review of the print devices (50+) and the volume of use in each department/area of the School. The job holder uses this information to make decisions on the School’s requirements going forward. Interested suppliers (at least three) are then invited to put forward a proposal for the supply and
maintenance of the new contract. The proposals are considered based on equipment features, reliability, service arrangements, whether proposed software is compatible with School systems, leasing costs, copy and service costs. Following the process the preferred supplier is selected and recommended to the Bursar.
7 Initiative and Problem Solving
Operates a system of continuous improvement, collecting feedback, reviewing procedures and service standards and improving where relevant. Sources more efficient/effective solutions to manual processes Works closely with Event Manager to discuss external hire of facilities and role holder assesses against calendar bookings and school operations and identifies risks/issues that may arise.
e.g parking issues, child protection issues
8 Investigation and Analysis
Complaints analysis
- no. of complaints in same category within specific period - no. complaints at each stage
- time taken to resolve
Printing - Managed System software provides the opportunity for reports that show the highest individual/department users and inappropriate use ie excess use of colour and resulting cost.
Quarterly, any discrepancies or inappropriate use of the system is brought to the attention of the appropriate Head of Department who is asked to investigate and take appropriate action. This could be a pupil or member of staff printing private material.
Develops an annual training needs analysis to identify where process training is required and works with the Director of Professional learning to develop a programme which addresses the needs.
9 Sensory and
Physical Demands Keyboard Photocopiers Printers
Paper Cut - print software
Reception - Telephone system and switchboard (CISCO) 10 Work Environment Office and occasionally sitting at the Reception desk.
11 Pastoral Care and Welfare
As a member of the Operational Leadership Team can be approached by staff for help on a wide range of issues, personal and work related.
Listens and where appropriate discusses options with staff and directs them to HR or external support
Has the standard level of responsibility for protecting pupils that comes with working in a school.
12 Team
Development
Sets standards for role execution, manages against those standards and gives feedback, coaching, training as required.
During appraisal and development reviews, discusses individual training and development needs and supports where relevant to the school Reviews progress of learning with each team member at a monthly on-to- one.
Provides instruction and guidance on all procedures and equipment for each role within the team.
Prepares and reviews procedures and training material for each of the roles.
13 Teaching and Learning Support
Provide information and training (as required) to pupils on the print service provided by the School.
Provides training in newly developed or changed administration
procedures. This can involve delivering one to one training, or delivery of training to groups of staff/pupils. In these situations the role holder will design the training session, materials, presentations, handouts etc.
New staff induction training is given by the role holder in key admin processes, such as application of brand guidelines, use of school calendar, etc.
Supports major business change projects by working with the project teams to develop new procedures and training material for end users/staff
14 Knowledge and
Experience Detailed knowledge essential:
Microsoft packages, e.g. Word, Excel Databases i.e. PASS - learned on the job Web content app - learned on the job
Google applications - e.g. Forms, Sheets, Docs Print Managed Systems i.e. PaperCut
Document Management Systems Process Mapping Software
Lean/process improvement methodologies
Essential to keep up-to-date with systems and software in order to support the IT department when rolling out updates.
Any other significant activities not included above?
