National Operations Manager – SMR

The AA; Oldbury; Ibrido; GBP 65.000 - 90.000; Tempo pieno

Vantaggi offerti da questo lavoro

25 days' annual leave

Up to 7% employer pension contribution

Free AA breakdown membership from Day

50% discount for family and friends

24/7 GP access and wellbeing support

Employee discounts including car and 1

Descrizione del lavoro

The AA in Oldbury is seeking an experienced Operations Manager – SMR Indoor Operations to lead the operational control environment for our Mobile Mechanic and wider SMR activity. You will ensure day-to-day management of workload, technician support, dispatch and customer exceptions with clear rhythms and ownership.

Working with field operations, planning, technology and product teams, you will translate real-time data into actions, address risks promptly and coach managers to improve service,

Competenze

• Proven leadership in fast-paced service, dispatch, scheduling or control environments.
• Experience developing managers and operational teams.
• Strong track record of improving service delivery and customer outcomes.
• Experience managing workload, capacity or resource deployment in complex ops.
• Analytical ability using MI and real-time data to drive action.
• Calm and decisive under competing priorities and risks.
• Strong stakeholder management to align cross-functional teams.
• Continuous-improvement mindset with root-cause analysis.
• Clear communication and accountability across busy ops.

Mansioni

• Lead the indoor SMR operation with clear accountability for performance and customer outcomes.
• Develop and coach managers responsible for dispatch, WIP management, support and exception handling.
• Establish daily rhythms for workload, resources, capacity and service risks.
• Oversee SMR WIP, identify aged or at-risk jobs and drive timely intervention.
• Ensure effective dispatch and workload management to optimise Mobile Mechanic capacity.
• Collaborate with field leaders to manage technician performance and availability.
• Use real-time data to understand demand and service performance and drive actions.
• Identify systemic causes and work with Planning/Tech/Product for improvements.
• Strengthen customer recovery processes and close feedback loops for learning.
• Drive continuous improvement across indoor SMR processes and simplify ways of working.
• Ensure priorities and accountability for delivering high-quality customer experience.
• Balance customer service, staff capacity, productivity and cost.

Conoscenze

Operational leadership

People management

Analytical capability

Stakeholder management

Continuous improvement

Communication

Commercial awareness

Descrizione del lavoro

Company Description

Location: Oldbury (Hybrid working, 3 office days per week)

Employment Type: Permanent

Why Join Us?

• Take ownership of the day-to-day indoor operation supporting our rapidly growing Mobile Mechanic and Service, Maintenance and Repair (SMR) proposition.
• Lead the teams responsible for keeping work moving, including dispatch, work-in-progress management, operational co-ordination and customer recovery.
• Play a key role in improving operational control as SMR continues to scale, ensuring we deliver a reliable and predictable service for customers and our frontline technicians.
• Use real-time performance insight to identify issues quickly, remove operational blockers and improve customer outcomes.
• Lead, coach and develop operational leaders and colleagues within a fast-paced environment undergoing significant transformation.

Company Description / Business Unit

For over a century, The AA has been keeping Britain moving. Today, millions of drivers trust us to be there when it matters most, and we're equally committed to supporting the people who make that possible. With a 4.5-star Glassdoor rating, we've built a culture where colleagues are empowered to grow, collaborate and make a real impact for our customers on every journey. Which has been recognised by Sunday Times “Best Places to Work” for the last two years.

Job Description

As Operations Manager - SMR Indoor Operations, you will lead the operational control environment supporting our Mobile Mechanic and wider SMR activity.

You will be responsible for ensuring the indoor operation delivers effective day-to-day management of workload, technician support, dispatch activity, work in progress and customer exceptions. You will create clear operational rhythms, establish strong ownership and ensure emerging risks are identified and acted upon quickly.

Working closely with field operations, planning, technology, customer teams and commercial stakeholders, you will help ensure the right work reaches the right resource at the right time and that issues affecting delivery are resolved with pace.

This is an opportunity for an experienced operational leader who is comfortable working in a high-volume, performance-led environment and can combine strong people leadership with operational discipline, customer focus and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the indoor SMR operation, creating clear accountability for operational performance, customer outcomes and colleague experience.
• Lead and develop managers and colleagues responsible for SMR dispatch, work-in-progress management, operational support and customer exception handling.
• Establish effective daily operational rhythms, ensuring workload, resource availability, capacity, service risks and customer issues are actively managed.
• Maintain strong oversight of SMR work in progress, identifying aged or at-risk jobs and driving timely intervention to reduce broken promises and poor customer outcomes.
• Ensure effective dispatch and workload management, supporting the optimum use of Mobile Mechanic capacity and improving technician productivity.
• Work closely with field operational leaders to provide joined-up management of technician performance, availability and operational constraints.
• Use management information and real-time performance data to understand demand, capacity and service performance, translating insight into clear actions.
• Identify systemic causes of operational failure and work with Planning, Technology, Product and other stakeholders to deliver sustainable improvements.
• Strengthen customer recovery processes, ensuring exceptions and service failures are owned, resolved quickly and used to drive future learning.
• Lead continuous improvement across indoor SMR processes, reducing unnecessary manual intervention and creating simpler, more scalable ways of working.
• Ensure colleagues understand operational priorities, service expectations and their individual accountability for delivering a high-quality customer experience.
• Manage resources effectively, balancing customer service, colleague capacity, productivity and cost.
• Build strong relationships across Road Operations and Car Care, ensuring indoor operations remain closely connected to the wider SMR strategy and transformation roadmap.
• Maintain appropriate operational controls, governance and escalation routes, ensuring risks are visible and acted upon with pace.

Qualifications

You’ll Bring

• Proven operational leadership experience within a fast-paced service, contact centre, dispatch, scheduling or operational control environment.
• Experience of successfully leading and developing people managers and operational teams.
• A strong track record of improving operational performance, service delivery and customer outcomes.
• Experience managing work-in-progress, workload, capacity or resource deployment within a complex operation.
• Strong analytical capability, with the ability to use operational MI and real-time data to identify emerging issues and drive action.
• The ability to remain calm and decisive when managing competing operational priorities and customer service risks.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge, influence and align teams across different functions.
• A practical continuous-improvement mindset, with experience identifying root causes and implementing sustainable operational solutions.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to create clarity and accountability across a busy operational environment.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to balance service, productivity, customer and cost considerations.

Nice to Have

• Experience within Service, Maintenance and Repair (SMR), automotive services or roadside operations.
• Experience leading dispatch, scheduling, contact centre or central operational support functions.
• Experience working within a growing or transforming operation.
• Familiarity with workforce management, scheduling or CRM platforms.
• Experience of improving operational processes through technology, automation or system change.

Additional Information

Belonging at The AA

At The AA, we value the unique perspectives, experiences and ideas that our people bring. We've nurtured a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and empowered to do their best work.

Through our employee communities and inclusion initiatives, we’ve created opportunities for people to connect, share experiences and influence positive change across the business. This is a place where your voice matters and where you can belong, grow and succeed.

Driven By People, Rewarded By Benefits

• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, the option to buy additional holiday
• Up to 7% employer pension contribution
• Free AA breakdown membership from Day One with 50% discount for family and friends, discounts on AA products including car and home insurance
• 24/7 GP access and wellbeing support for you and your family
• A wide range of employee discounts, including our popular car salary sacrifice scheme