Facilities Operations Manager - Helpdesk

IWFM; Basildon; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

IWFM in Basildon is seeking an experienced Customer Operations Manager to lead the busy Helpdesk team and own day‑to‑day operations, ensuring a responsive, customer‑focused service while meeting contract SLAs and KPIs.

This role suits someone with a strong operational background in facilities maintenance or building services, capable of motivating people, improving processes, and delivering first‑class service in a fast‑paced environment.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of a busy helpdesk or facilities team.
• Strong track record in delivering service levels and customer care.
• Experience with reactive and planned maintenance, SLA compliance.
• Ability to drive continuous process improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate the Helpdesk team to deliver exceptional customer service.
• Oversee reactive and planned maintenance works to ensure SLA compliance.
• Manage Priority 1 and Priority 2 jobs, ensuring customers receive updates.
• Build strong relationships with key customers and resolve escalated issues.
• Monitor KPIs, SLAs, workflows and performance.
• Produce reports for senior management and recommend improvements.

Skills

People leadership

Operational management

Customer service excellence

KPI & SLA tracking

Tools

Facilities management software

Job description

Lead the team. Drive performance. Deliver exceptional customer service.

My long–standing client within the Building Services industry is looking to recruit an experienced Customer Operations Manager to lead their busy Helpdesk team.

Having worked with this business for a number of years, I've seen them go from strength to strength. They have grown steadily by delivering an exceptional service to their customers and now operate from beautiful modern offices, providing a fantastic working environment for their team.

This is a key leadership role within the business and would suit someone with a strong operational background who enjoys leading people, improving processes and delivering first–class customer service.

Whilst experience within Facilities Maintenance, Facilities Management or Building Services would be highly advantageous, candidates from similar other fast–paced operational environments may also be considered. Experience within the retail property maintenance sector would also be useful but is by no means essential.

The Role

As Customer Operations Manager, you'll take ownership of the day–to–day running of the Helpdesk, ensuring the team delivers an efficient, customer–focused service while meeting customer expectations and contractual service levels.

This is very much an operational management role, with responsibility for leading the daily operation, managing workloads, prioritising resources and ensuring the team consistently delivers an outstanding service. Whilst you'll line manage the Helpdesk team, the majority of HR administration is supported by an external HR provider, allowing you to focus on operational performance and continuous improvement.

Your responsibilities will include:

Leading and motivating the Helpdesk team to deliver exceptional customer service.

Overseeing reactive and planned maintenance works to ensure SLA compliance.

Managing Priority 1 and Priority 2 jobs, ensuring customers receive regular updates.

Building strong relationships with key customers and resolving escalated issues.

Monitoring KPIs, SLAs, workflow and performance.

Producing reports for senior management and making recommendations for improvement.

Driving continuous improvement across systems, processes and procedures.

Working closely with contractors and internal departments to ensure excellent service delivery.

Creating a positive, accountable and customer–focused culture within the team.

About You

You'll be an experienced people manager with strong operational experience within the Facilities Maintenance and Management sector and a passion for delivering outstanding customer service and improving operational performance.

Why Join?

This is an excellent opportunity to join a well–established and growing business that genuinely values its people. You'll have the autonomy to make a real impact, lead a successful team and play a key role in the continued growth of the business.

Working from beautiful modern offices with a supportive leadership team, you'll be joining a company that invests in its people and encourages new ideas to improve service and performance.