Operations Manager

Smile Digital; Manchester; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Smile Digital in Manchester is seeking an Operations Manager to oversee day-to-day activities across multiple teams. This hybrid role requires 3 days per week in the office and involves close collaboration with delivery and finance to keep processes accurate, visible, and commercially on track.

You will optimise workflows, implement data-led improvements and support onboarding and coaching of a junior team member, ensuring systems run smoothly and efficiently.

Qualifications

• Experience in operations, resource, workflow, studio, project delivery, PMO or a similar role within a busy service-led environment.
• Agency or project-based experience would be useful, but not essential.
• Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple moving parts.
• Strong commercial awareness linking delivery, resource and financial performance.

Responsibilities

• Keeping day-to-day operational activity moving across multiple teams.
• Coordinating priorities, actions and deadlines with clear follow-through.
• Supporting resource and capacity planning so workloads are visible and manageable.
• Maintaining and improving operational processes, workflows and reporting.
• Working with finance and delivery teams to ensure information is accurate.
• Producing reports on performance, workload, delivery and commercial activity.
• Identifying where processes could be more efficient and implementing improvements.
• Support onboarding and helping new starters get set up across systems and processes.
• Mentoring a junior member of the operations team.

Skills

Highly organized

Commercial awareness

Excel

Data reporting

Cross-team collaboration

Resource planning

Tools

Excel

Job description

Operations Manager, Operations Lead Manchester Hybrid, 3 days per week in the office - £38,000 to £45,000 - 12 month fixed-term contract

We are working with an established business that is looking for an Operations Manager to help keep the day-to-day running of the business organised, efficient and commercially on track.

This is a hands on role for someone who enjoys being close to the detail, making sure things happen, improving how teams work and using data and systems to spot where things could be running better.

You will work across operations, delivery and finance, helping to make sure processes are followed, information is accurate and teams have the visibility they need to make good decisions.

What you will be doing

• Keeping day-to-day operational activity moving across multiple teams
• Coordinating priorities, actions and deadlines and making sure there is clear follow-through
• Supporting resource and capacity planning so workloads are visible and manageable
• Maintaining and improving operational processes, workflows and reporting
• Working closely with finance and delivery teams to make sure commercial and operational information is accurate
• Producing useful reports around performance, workload, delivery and commercial activity
• Looking beyond the numbers to understand where things are working well, where there are gaps and what needs attention
• Helping teams stay on top of job management, system updates and accurate data entry
• Taking ownership of day-to-day operational systems and supporting colleagues with queries
• Reviewing existing ways of working and suggesting practical improvements where processes or systems could be more efficient
• Supporting onboarding and helping new starters get set up across systems and processes
• Supporting and mentoring a junior member of the operations team

What we are looking for

You are likely to have experience within operations, resource, workflow, studio, project delivery, PMO or a similar role within a busy service-led environment.

Experience within an agency or another project-based business would be useful, but it is not essential.

• Is highly organised and comfortable managing lots of moving parts
• Has good commercial awareness and understands how delivery, resource and financial performance link together
• Is confident working with data and reporting and can pick out useful insight rather than simply produce numbers
• Has strong Excel skills and is comfortable with formulas, lookups, pivot tables and manipulating data
• Is comfortable with different systems and has experience improving workflows, reporting structures or operational processes
• Understands resource planning, workload and capacity
• Is confident working across different teams and following up where actions are slipping
• Has a practical, solutions-focused approach and naturally looks for ways to improve how things are done
• Is approachable, calm and able to build good relationships across the business

This is a good opportunity for someone who enjoys being at the centre of how a business runs, likes combining systems, data and people, and wants a role where they can make a visible difference to how smoothly things operate.