Operations Manager - 12 month FTC

Gravita; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Gravita is undertaking a major operational transformation to improve onboarding, compliance and service delivery. The role combines process design, system selection and hands-on delivery across Operations, Technology and Risk functions to standardise how clients are onboarded and managed.

You will define ownership, drive system implementations and embed changes into BAU while supporting broader transformation projects and KPI reporting.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting operational change, process improvement and standardisation in a project or multi-stakeholder environment.
• Strong project delivery skills, with the ability to bring structure to unclear requirements, coordinate stakeholders and keep work moving through to implementation.
• Experience working closely with QRM or Risk functions, ideally in professional services, a regulated environment or a partnership-style business.
• Analytical mindset, with the ability to define simple metrics, interpret data and drive action.
• Experience reviewing, selecting and implementing operational systems and tooling.
• Clear, organised and delivery-focused, with good follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Lead the review, selection and implementation of new onboarding system(s), working with Technology and business owners to ensure the systems support clear processes, controls, reporting and handover into BAU.
• Define and implement a clearer Client Operations model, including how teams and individuals will work with the new systems, processes, roles, responsibilities and handover points across Operations, Compliance, Places and the service lines.
• Standardise key operational processes, including onboarding, changes in client status, internal requests, compliance touchpoints and handover between teams.
• Work with QRM to translate AML, KYC, conflicts, client acceptance and Letter of Engagement requirements into practical operational processes.
• Support other priority operational and transformation projects where agreed with ExCo.
• Define and deliver a practical plan to address historic compliance gaps, operational inefficiencies and control weaknesses.
• Define KPIs across team performance, onboarding, compliance activity and operational delivery; implement reporting that provides visibility of performance, risk and bottlenecks.
• Ensure all processes, controls, tooling and reporting are fully documented, embedded and transitioned to appropriate long-term owners.

Skills

Operational change

Process improvement

Project delivery

Stakeholder coordination

Analytical mindset

Systems & tooling

Tools

Operational systems

Job description

We’re Gravita: the accountants fuelling ambitious businesses. We’re a full service, tech-enabled firm, working with entrepreneurs and businesses to help them achieve their goals, and make an impact in the world.

We’re growing fast and are bringing like-minded advisors together to form a full-service tech-enabled accounting partner for thousands of SMEs. Our team use their incredible expertise alongside intuitive technology to help businesses and entrepreneurs plan better and grow faster.

Our mission is to become the UK’s leading tech-enabled accounting firm for SMEs. We have ambitious goals and our high-calibre team work hard to achieve them. We are one team with one agenda, working collaboratively in a respectful environment to deliver a great service to our clients. So if you join us, you’ll not only be working on exciting client challenges, you’ll also be helping us shape the future of accounting.

The Role

Gravita is going through a period of significant growth and change, with a number of important operational projects underway across the business. This role is an opportunity to play a central part in shaping how the firm works, starting with one of our key priorities: improving our onboarding processes and systems.

The role will bring operational leadership to the review, selection and implementation of new onboarding system(s), alongside the processes, ownership, controls and ways of working needed to make them successful. It will also support other ExCo priorities where additional delivery support is needed.

Role

Working across Operations, Quality Risk Management , Technology and the service lines, this role will help put in place processes that:

• Enables consistent, high-quality client onboarding processes and a better experience for both teams and clients
• Build compliance requirements into day-to-day operational processes
• Create capacity to fix historic issues and support integration or consolidation work
• Make it clear who owns each process, decision and handover point
• Support growth, acquisitions and future technology change

This is an individual contributor role with no direct line management responsibility but will be part of project teams.

Success will be measured through delivery of agreed priorities, improved process performance, stronger control and governance, and effective handover of ownership into business-as-usual teams.

This role will suit someone who enjoys turning ambiguity into action. They will need to be comfortable working with partners and functional leaders, able to ask the right questions and challenge constructively and be willing to get into the detail when needed. This is not a role for someone looking only to provide project oversight; it requires someone who can help shape practical solutions and then support delivery.

Key Responsibilities

System selection and process review

Lead the review, selection and implementation of new onboarding system(s), working with Technology and business owners to ensure the systems support clear processes, controls, reporting and handover into BAU. Review related tools and processes, including AML tools, internal requests, DMS and practice management systems, and deliver improvements that increase efficiency, visibility, control and scalability.

Client Operations structure and ways of working

Define and implement a clearer Client Operations model, including how teams and individuals will work with the new systems, processes, roles, responsibilities and handover points across Operations, Compliance, Places and the service lines.

Client onboarding and related operational processes

Standardise key operational processes, including onboarding, changes in client status, internal requests, compliance touchpoints and handover between teams.

Embed compliance into operations

Work with the Quality Risk Management (QRM) team to translate AML, KYC, conflicts, client acceptance and Letter of Engagement requirements into practical operational processes, with clear ownership, decision points and escalation routes. Compliance will continue to own policy, risk decisions, monitoring and assurance; this role will make those requirements work in practice through process design, tooling, reporting, adoption and clear handover into BAU.

Broader operational projects

Support other priority operational and transformation projects where agreed with ExCo, particularly where there is a need to complete, embed or standardise ways of working across teams.

Remediation and clean-up

Define and deliver a practical plan to address historic compliance gaps, operational inefficiencies and control weaknesses.

KPIs, metrics and reporting

Define and agree KPIs across team performance, onboarding, compliance activity and operational delivery; implement reporting that provides visibility of performance, risk and bottlenecks and supports data-driven decision making.

Handover to BAU ownership

Ensure all processes, controls, tooling and reporting are fully documented, embedded and transitioned to appropriate long-term owners.

How You’ll Work

• Responsible for agreed operational projects from diagnosis through to implementation and handover.
• Define how teams and individuals will work with new systems and processes, including roles, responsibilities, decision points and escalation routes.
• Lead the review, selection and implementation of new onboarding system(s), working closely with Technology, QRM and business owners.
• Work with Quality Risk Management (QRM) to make sure regulatory requirements are translated into practical operational steps.
• Put in place simple reporting on progress, risks, delays and decisions needed.
• Support adoption through clear communication, documentation, training and follow-through.
• Ensure changes are transitioned to appropriate long-term owners.

Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience

Experience you’ll bring

• Experience supporting operational change, process improvement and standardisation in a project or multi-stakeholder environment
• Strong project delivery skills, with the ability to bring structure to unclear requirements, coordinate stakeholders and keep work moving through to implementation
• Experience working closely with QRM or Risk functions, ideally in professional services, a regulated environment or a partnership-style business
• Analytical mindset, with the ability to define simple metrics, interpret data and drive action
• Experience reviewing, selecting and implementing operational systems and tooling
• Clear, organised and delivery-focused, with good follow-through

What Success Looks Like After 12 Months

At the end of the 12-month period, the business should have:

• New onboarding system(s) selected, implemented and embedded into day-to-day working
• A clearer and more consistently embedded Client Operations and Compliance model, including how teams work with the new systems and processes
• More standardised, efficient and compliant onboarding and operational processes
• Improved visibility and control through KPIs, reporting and governance
• Reduced risk through remediation of historic issues
• Clear ownership of processes, controls and reporting transitioned to BAU teams

Your Career with Gravita

When you join Gravita, we’ll support you on your own growth journey. We want to be the place you learn, grow and unlock your true potential.

We’ll work with you to build a progression plan to outline how you’ll grow at our company and everything we’ll do to help you get there. We’re also passionate about learning and development, to help you focus on your future.

The Key Details

• Our standard working week is a 37.5-hour week on a hybrid basis
• Core working hours are 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday
• Flexible working and happy employees are at the top of our list here at Gravita and we have been working hard to support our teams through the fast-paced changes.
• Your development won’t be forgotten, our development support is extraordinary for a firm of our size.
• It's a busy, fast-paced environment here at Gravita. Feel free to check out our social media channels (Instagram, X, LinkedIn and Glassdoor).