Operations Supplier Manager

Littlefish Group; Nottingham; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Referral bonus £1000

LinkedIn Learning access

Healthcare cash plan

Casual dress policy

Company Pension Scheme

Company social events

25 days annual leave + holidays

Annual leave purchase

Job summary

Littlefish Group is seeking an experienced Operations Supplier Manager to own the operational performance of third-party suppliers and partners supporting our customers. This hybrid role sits at the centre of our customers, operations teams and supplier relationships, ensuring services meet contractual commitments and driving continuous improvement.

You will lead supplier conversations, challenge performance constructively, and bring stakeholders together to resolve issues.

Qualifications

• Experience of managing operational services within a customer-facing environment.
• Strong understanding of Incident, Request, Problem, Change and Knowledge Management.
• Ability to interpret and manage SLAs, KPIs and contractual commitments.
• Strong customer-facing skills and the ability to build trusted, long-term relationships.
• Experience presenting operational performance, risks and improvement plans to senior stakeholders.
• The confidence to challenge poor performance and hold suppliers accountable while maintaining productive relationships.
• Knowledge of ITIL principles and service delivery methodologies.
• Experience using service-management tooling and reporting to improve performance.
• Ability to prioritise competing requirements and coordinate activity across different teams and organisations.

Responsibilities

• Taking ownership of supplier and partner performance across an account or portfolio of accounts.
• Monitoring delivery against contractual obligations, SLAs, KPIs and customer commitments.
• Chairing regular operational service reviews with suppliers and agreeing clear improvement actions.
• Acting as the primary operational escalation point for supplier performance issues, service failures and customer-impacting risks.
• Coordinating operational escalations and driving issues through to an effective resolution.
• Leading operational governance with customers, suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Contributing to Monthly Service Reviews, Quarterly Business Reviews, risk assessments and Continual Service Improvement sessions.
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes, control costs and strengthen the overall customer experience.
• Supporting the successful onboarding and transition of new supplier services into live support.
• Providing day-to-day matrix leadership to the Littlefish delivery resources and partners aligned to your accounts.
• Maintaining accurate operational data to support performance reporting and customer billing.
• Exploring how automation and AI can improve service quality and operational efficiency.

Skills

Supplier management

Service management

ITIL

Customer facing

Performance reporting

Tools

ITSM tooling

Job description

Work location: Nottingham or Sheffield (Hybrid)

Security clearance: You must be eligible for SC clearance (typically requiring five years’ UK residency) and able to obtain NPPV Level 2 (NPPV2) clearance.

Here at Littlefish, we look for people who can make a real difference and become a giant slayer. As the world around us continues to change, we look for people who grab that change with optimism and excitement. These are the passionate and high performing people who enjoy and thrive on thinking outside the box.

Our current employees are the giant slayers who have made Littlefish who we are today, and you will be the future employees who continue to add the drive, passion, and add to our skills and experience as we see Littlefish grow.

So, if this is ticking your boxes and you are excited at the thought of working with creative, passionate, energetic, friendly people- we would love to hear from you.

The role and what you’ll be getting up to on a day to day basis:

At Littlefish Group, we’re looking for an experienced Operations Supplier Manager to take ownership of the operational performance of the third-party suppliers and partners supporting our customers.

This is a highly visible role sitting at the centre of our customers, operational teams and supplier relationships. You’ll make sure services meet their contractual commitments, operational risks are addressed and suppliers remain accountable for delivering the quality, performance and customer experience expected.

You’ll be trusted to lead supplier conversations, challenge performance constructively and bring the right people together when issues need resolving. Alongside managing day-to-day delivery, you’ll identify opportunities to improve services, increase efficiency and make better use of automation and AI.

What you’ll be doing:

• Taking ownership of supplier and partner performance across an account or portfolio of accounts.
• Monitoring delivery against contractual obligations, SLAs, KPIs and customer commitments.
• Chairing regular operational service reviews with suppliers and agreeing clear improvement actions.
• Acting as the primary operational escalation point for supplier performance issues, service failures and customer-impacting risks.
• Coordinating operational escalations and driving issues through to an effective resolution.
• Leading operational governance with customers, suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Contributing to Monthly Service Reviews, Quarterly Business Reviews, risk assessments and Continual Service Improvement sessions.
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes, control costs and strengthen the overall customer experience.
• Supporting the successful onboarding and transition of new supplier services into live support.
• Providing day-to-day matrix leadership to the Littlefish delivery resources and partners aligned to your accounts.
• Maintaining accurate operational data to support performance reporting and customer billing.
• Exploring how automation and AI can improve service quality and operational efficiency.

We need a candidate with:

You’ll bring experience from service management, supplier management or technical service delivery, with a clear understanding of what it takes to manage services against contractual commitments.

We’re particularly interested in someone who can demonstrate:

• Experience of managing operational services within a customer-facing environment.
• A strong understanding of Incident, Request, Problem, Change and Knowledge Management.
• Confidence managing third-party suppliers or service partners against agreed standards.
• The ability to interpret and manage SLAs, KPIs and contractual commitments.
• Strong customer-facing skills and the ability to build trusted, long-term relationships.
• Experience presenting operational performance, risks and improvement plans to senior stakeholders.
• The confidence to challenge poor performance and hold suppliers accountable while maintaining productive relationships.
• Commercial awareness and an ability to identify operational efficiencies.
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL principles and service delivery methodologies.
• Experience using service-management tooling and reporting to improve performance.
• The ability to prioritise competing requirements and coordinate activity across different teams and organisations.

Experience working within a Managed Service Provider environment, supporting vendor selection or developing new service capabilities would be advantageous. An ITIL 4 Managing Professional qualification, or equivalent practical experience, would also be beneficial.

What can we offer you?

• Referral bonus scheme of £1000 when you successfully refer a friend.
• Access to our LinkedIn Learning platform, with over 16000 expert-led online tutorials to enhance and achieve your personal and professional goals.
• Healthcare cash plan. This will give you access to online GP appointments, 24/7 access to qualified counsellors and cash back against a range of general healthcare
• Casual dress policy
• Company Pension Scheme
• Company social events
• 25 days annual leave plus public / bank holidays
• Purchase of annual leave scheme

Life at Littlefish:

Our company values shape who we are as a business, what we stand for and how we work. Hiring people with our values at heart, is very important as we see Littlefish grow.

I am High Performing- I like to raise the bar, we look at creating opportunities to increase quality and improve efficiency, we strive for service excellence.

I am Passionate- We build team success and celebrate them together, I am enthusiastic and energetic, I care about the people I work with and we support one another.

I Have a Can-Do Attitude- I am not afraid to step outside my comfort zone, we are not afraid to challenge status quo, we get stuff done!

I am Cyber Conscious – I am vigilant, responsible, and proactive in protecting our people, customers and organisation from Cyber threats.

Here at Littlefish we aim to be somewhere everyone can be themselves. We are committed to encouraging a diverse and inclusive community where everyone irrespective of who they are, or their background, can feel equal and supported.

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Please get in touch if you are concerned about any difficulties you may face during your recruitment process, so we adjust accordingly.

Part of our application process includes a set of ED&I (Equality, diversity and inclusion) questions. Please note, each question has a ‘prefer not to say ‘option).