Operations Manager

First West of England Ltd; Bath; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Discounted travel

Cycle to work

Pension scheme

Flexible working

25 days holiday

Job summary

First Bus in Bath seeks an Operations Manager to oversee Bath and Wells depots, delivering safe, punctual services and leading a high‑performing team. You will work with drivers, supervisors and engineers to ensure a consistent customer experience, while driving cost adherence and service quality under FirstGroup policies.

The role requires CPD, CPC in passenger transport desirability, and a strong focus on safety, leadership, and stakeholder engagement across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership and ability to direct teams in a unionised environment.
• Strong influencing and negotiation capabilities.
• Excellent customer service focus and relationship building.
• Mentoring and coaching to develop high performing teams.
• Willingness to study for CPC; passion for safety and driving performance.

Responsibilities

• Ensure cost efficient delivery of a safe, punctual service.
• Analyse and manage information and data to drive continuous improvement.
• Drive engagement with drivers, management team and customers.
• Collaborate between operations, engineering and union personnel.
• Manage service delivery across multiple depots per policy and legislation.
• Deliver plans and budgets with defined levels of service and quality.
• Plan staff rosters to meet operating requirements and ensure effective union relations.
• Maintain relationships with external bodies to improve performance and punctuality.

Skills

Leadership

Influencing

Customer service

Team leadership

CPC awareness

Education

Certificate of Professional Competence in Passenger Transport

Job description

About First Bus

Are you ready to advance your career with one of the UK's leading bus operators? Join a forward-thinking company that embraces cutting‑edge bus technology, from innovative mobile apps to environmentally friendly vehicles. We are passionate about delivering passenger journeys that are sustainable, comfortable, and efficient. We are at the forefront of innovation in the industry, connecting communities and shaping the future of public transport. We have a fantastic opportunity for an Operations Manager to oversee both our Bath and Wells depots on full time permanent basis. Reporting to the Senior General Manager the Operations Manager is accountable for all aspects of operational performance for the depot. As a champion of our customers, the successful candidate will build and maintain a customer centric culture. You will support your team in delivering excellent customer experiences, while leading a governance agenda that support legislative and policy compliance. Through your leadership, the Operations Manager will establish and develop and engaged, talented and high performing operations team, nurturing an innovative and continuous improvement culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure cost efficient delivery of a safe, punctual service
• Dynamically analyse and manage information, systems and data both retrospectively and proactively to ensure continuous improvement of service performance.
• Drive engagement with drivers, management team, and customers
• Ensure collaboration between operational and engineering team members, fostering excellent working relationships between drivers and Supervisors to ensure a consistent customer experience
• Manage Service delivery team across all assigned depots in accordance with FirstGroup policies, standard operating procedures and all relevant legislation
• Deliver agreed plans and budgets, including established level of service and service quality.
• Ensure staff planning at the depot meets the operating requirements of the business
• Ensure an effective working relationship with recognised trade union representatives and officials
• Manage and plan collision reduction and staff/passenger injury reduction
• Manage and deliver agreed key performance indicators
• To effectively manage the teams in all areas of people management; development, absence management and compliance
• Ensure positive working relationships are maintained between operations, commercial and engineering functions
• Liaise with external bodies to improve performance of lost miles and punctuality.
• Ensure all cash handling procedures are followed.
• Act as the ‘Transport Manager’ for the company as defined by the Traffic Commissioner

Skills/Experience

• Proven leadership skills are essential to provide strategic and day to day direction to your team and be an effective manager of collective relationships in a unionised environment
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills
• Excellent customer service focus
• Team builder and driver of high‑performance teams
• Certificate of Professional Competence in Passenger Transport would be desirable.
• A willingness to study for CPC is essential passion for safety and driving to deliver a high performing safety behavioural culture
• Budgetary and financial experience with a capability in logical system analysis to communicate results in formats comprehensible to all disciplines
• Ability in endorsing commitment to set long/short‑term objectives
• Mentoring/coaching skills in the progression of the deliverables of the business
• Self‑reliant and straightforward communicator with skill sets to promote the customer facing business, in a positive light with the capacity to inspire in a structured and encouraging way
• Aptitude to build and maintain stakeholder relations, indicative of a professional leader
• Capacity to manage and commute between multi‑site operations, providing cover when required

Salary

Salary - £59,000 plus up to 15% annual bonus

Rewards

Your health is important to us which is why we offer Simply Health & Smart Health for you and your dependents at no cost to you! This offering includes cash back benefits across optical & dental as well as virtual GP appointments, mental health support and nutrition and fitness advise. Our EAP provision offers 24hr, 365 days a year mental health support

• We are also committed to your financial wellbeing, and we offer a platform with many discounts on high street brands and supermarkets etc
• Working at First you also receive discounted train travel for you and your family after 6 months service as well as a free bus pass
• Cycle to work scheme
• 25 days' holiday + bank holidays
• Pension scheme and chance to buy discounted First Group shares
• Flexible working

Equal Opportunities

Public transport serves everyone, whatever their differences. At First Bus, we want to be an employer open to you, no matter what your differences are. We aspire to be an inclusive organisation because diverse backgrounds, thinking and experiences bring so many benefits to our customers, communities, and people. We welcome applications from all. We are always looking for skilled and talented people to join us across our sixty plus depots from Aberdeen to Truro. It takes a dedicated team of specialists and professionals over just about every type of role you can think of to keep us on the road and creating amazing passenger journeys. We’ve embarked on a journey of major transformation – to make sure we put our people and customers first. Our people are the beating heart of First Bus. Without them, there would be no drivers to take customers to where they need to go and no engineers to keep our buses safely on the road. Our transformation programme is designed to reshape our business to meet tomorrow’s travel needs.