General Services Manager

Sodexo; England; On-site; GBP 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading service provider in Oxford is seeking a General Services Manager to oversee catering and housekeeping teams. You will be responsible for ensuring high service standards and team performance while managing compliance and operational budgets. Ideal candidates will have strong leadership skills and experience in managing diverse teams. This full-time role offers opportunities for professional development and a supportive working environment.

Benefits

Free meals while on duty

Opportunities for professional development

Qualifications

• Experience in managing domestic service staff across departments.
• Ability to implement changes effectively.
• Proven skills in coaching and training teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage catering and housekeeping teams for exemplary service.
• Monitor compliance with food hygiene and safety standards.
• Recruit and develop staff while ensuring high team performance.

Skills

Effective communication

Leadership

Problem analysis

Time management

Teamwork

Education

Higher-level qualification in catering or facilities management

Job description

Location: LVS Oxford, Spring Hill Road, Begbroke, Oxfordshire OX5 1RX

Salary: £40,000 per annum plus Sodexo Benefits

Hours: 40 hours per week

Working: Monday to Friday (7am - 3pm or 8am -4pm)

Free meals while on duty

Opportunities for professional development

Role Overview

As the General Services Manager at Sodexo in LVS Oxford, Oxfordshire OX5 1RX, you will effectively manage the Sodexo catering and LVS housekeeping teams and ensure that exemplary services are provided at the School against key performance indicators. You’ll act as the primary representative of Sodexo on site by the effective management of resources, promoting an ethos of teamwork, instilling a culture of continuous improvement and delivery of qualitative and quantitative results.

This is a people-first leadership role, requiring strong client relationship skills, team management, and a proactive, solutions-driven mindset.

Catering Operations

• Continually monitor all food standards, to ensure that they are to the required client and Sodexo service level agreements
• Ensure completion of food hygiene and health and safety paperwork, and they are maintained to the required legal and company standards to achieve audits
• To ensure compliance with allergen paperwork
• To implement regular and effective promotions and theme days.
• Monitor financial performance (e.g. supply chain, sales, labour, expenses, internal issues) to ensure that the pre-set budget figures are maintained and, when variances do occur, to provide written explanation of these costs, and to implement action plans for correction.
• Ensure all events are delivered successfully.

Housekeeping Operations

• Check and review rotas with the housekeeping supervisor
• Mentor and manage housekeeping supervisor
• Ensure health and safety compliance within the housekeeping department using Sodexo tools for best practice within the workplace
• Ensure housekeeping team completes all relevant training and compliance checks
• Liaise with LVS HR team for management of housekeeping staff

People

• Select, recruit and induct the right team in line with safer recruitment guidelines.
• Develop your people and ensure succession planning.
• Measure the performance of your people by giving feedback and reviewing and completing the EPA process
• Communicate regularly – face to face team briefing. Adopt the ‘focus on five’ principles.

Client

• Ensure the staff deliver the operation to the service level agreement
• Attend meetings and assist with producing monthly and termly formal review reports for the client
• Assist the Group manager with the implementation of the Clients for Life processes.

Finance

• Complete the unit budgets and forecasts
• Complete weekly and monthly accounting input to ensure records are up to date
• Ensure cash, stock, debt and assets are correctly controlled

Business Improvement

• Always seek out new and innovative ways of doing things
• Be proactive in overcoming barriers to success.
• Provide feedback on how we can improve our performance.
• Networking – keep appraised of best practise within the industry by maintaining contact with professional bodies in other market sectors.

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• Experienced business manager who has operated in multiple departments including managing domestic service staff.
• Highly effective communication and interpersonal skills
• Clear, effective leadership style and able to successfully implement changes
• Ability to analyse problems analytically, develop opportunities and implement innovative solutions and approaches
• Strong ability to increase individual effectiveness through leadership, motivation, communication, coaching and training
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Computer literate with flexible approach to role
• Able to demonstrate positive attitude to self-development; willingness to learn in role and identify own training needs as appropriate
• Strong ability to build professional partnerships and communicate at all levels, particularly at senior client levels
• Ability to set high standards, achievable through striving for continuous improvement
• Ability to act on own initiative and also to work effectively as part of a team

Desirable

• Contract catering experience
• Relevant higher-level qualification in functional specialties (i.e. catering, facilities management)
• Experience of managing a diverse team

Ready to be part of something greater?

Sodexo reserves the right to close this advert early if we are in receipt of a high number of applications