Operations Manager

A.I.R Recruitment; Newcastle City Council; On-site; AUD 117,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary $130k + super

Company vehicle

Career development

Collaborative team culture

Impact on growth

Job summary

A.I.R Recruitment client in Newcastle, NSW, seeks an experienced Operations Manager to lead the delivery of products and services, optimise profitability, and ensure safety and efficiency across the business.

You will manage labour, scheduling and performance, build a high-performing team, ensure WHS compliance, and drive forward operational plans in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years' experience managing operations in trade, construction or field-service.
• Strong commercial understanding of labour costs, materials, productivity and job profitability.
• Strong people leadership and performance management capability.
• Strong WHS knowledge and demonstrated safety leadership.
• Strong systems, reporting and problem-solving capability.
• Current Australian Driver Licence.
• Decisive and accountable in day-to-day operations.
• Able to prioritise competing demands and act early on emerging issues.
• Clear communicator who can lead both office and field teams.
• Practical, solutions-focused and comfortable challenging poor performance.

Responsibilities

• Operational planning, forecasting and delivery to protect profitability.
• Investigate margin leakage and implement corrective actions.
• Monitor costs, callbacks, defects and avoidable expenses.
• Oversee labour utilisation, scheduling and capacity.
• Lead a productive operational team and manage attendance and performance.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training and reviews for ops staff.
• Ensure WHS compliance and safe work practices across the team.
• Maintain continuous improvement of processes and systems.
• Provide visibility of performance, risks and actions to General Manager.

Skills

Operations leadership

Safety leadership

WHS knowledge

People management

Cost control

Education

Operations/Project management qualification

Tools

ServiceM8

Digital ops tools

Job description

Our client is a highly respected market leader, proudly servicing the Hunter Region with a strong reputation for delivering safe, efficient, and sustainable products and services to both residential and commercial customers.

Due to continued growth and expansion, an exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Operations Manager to lead and optimise the delivery of products and services across the business.

Reporting to senior leadership, you will play a pivotal role in driving operational excellence, ensuring safety, efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction remain at the forefront of business performance.

Leading a dedicated operational team, you will be responsible for achieving key performance targets, fostering a culture of accountability, and ensuring high standards of productivity, reliability, conduct, and service delivery are consistently maintained.

As the operational leader, you will develop and execute forward operational plans, make informed and timely decisions, remove barriers, and ensure systems, processes, standard operating procedures, and quality controls are effectively implemented and adhered to across the business. This is an outstanding opportunity for a hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about building high-performing teams while driving continuous improvement and operational success.

The role

• Operational planning, forecasting and delivery to protect profitability by controlling job costs, quality issues and controllable overheads, supporting gross revenue, gross margin and net profit targets.
• Investigate the causes of margin leakage and ensure corrective action is taken.
• Monitor callbacks, defects, rework and other avoidable operational costs and address recurring causes.
• Monitor controllable operational overheads, including vehicles, equipment, warehouse and supplier-related costs, and address unnecessary or avoidable spend.
• Track operational cost trends and report significant or unresolved risks to the General Manager with recommended actions.
• Manage labour utilisation, scheduling and capacity to support delivery, productivity and revenue margin targets.
• Build and lead a productive and accountable operational team that consistently meets company standards and delivery expectations by providing clear operational direction manage attendance and leave accruals, unplanned absences and performance.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training and performance reviews for operational employees.
• Ensure work is performed safely and operational WHS requirements are consistently followed, holding all staff accountable.
• Ensure required SWMS, JSA, risk assessments and safe work procedures are current and followed.
• Ensure hazards, incidents and near misses are reported, investigated and corrective actions completed.
• Ensure appropriate compliance checks are built into operational processes and completed by suitably qualified personnel.
• Maintain a disciplined operational rhythm that drives visibility, accountability and timely action across Operations through leading regular operational meetings with the relevant office and field teams to review priorities, workload, capacity, performance, risks and actions.
• Provide the General Manager with clear visibility of operational performance, forward delivery, risks and required actions.

What we're looking for

Essential

• Minimum 3 years' experience managing operations in a trade, construction or field-service business.
• Strong commercial understanding of labour costs, materials, productivity and job profitability.
• Strong people leadership and performance management capability.
• Strong WHS knowledge and demonstrated safety leadership.
• Strong systems, reporting and problem-solving capability.
• Current Australian Driver Licence.
• Decisive and accountable in day-to-day operations.
• Able to prioritise competing demands and act early on emerging issues.
• Clear communicator who can lead both office and field teams.
• Practical, solutions-focused and comfortable challenging poor performance.
• Comfortable adopting new technology and improving systems as the business evolves

Desirable

• Operations, leadership, business or project management qualification.
• Experience with ServiceM8 or a similar job-management system.
• Experience using digital systems, automation or AI tools to improve operational efficiency and reporting.

Benefits

• $130k + super (neg)
• Company vehicle
• Career development and progression opportunities
• Supportive and collaborative team culture
• Opportunity to make a significant impact on business growth and success