Planning Scheduling Manager

Met Serve Ltd; Guildford; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Holiday entitlement (20 days + BH)

Life Assurance

Medical cash plan

Discounts with British Gas

Discretionary bonus

Overtime options

Job summary

Met Serve Ltd, a Plumbing & Maintenance specialist, is seeking a Planning Scheduling Manager to lead the scheduling and logistics of plumbing bookings using Dynamics 365 Field Service.

You will optimize routes, balance maintenance vs reactive work, design on-call rotas, monitor KPIs, and mentor the dispatch team from our office. This role demands strong data literacy and commercial awareness.

Qualifications

• Proven dispatching experience in trade services.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 scheduling tools.
• Experience managing complex engineer rotas and on-call shifts.
• Ability to interpret D365 reports and dashboards.
• Commercial awareness to support business decisions.

Responsibilities

• Booking Planning & Scheduling: Oversee the planning, scheduling, and routing of plumbing jobs within the D365 field service module.
• On-Call & Rota Management: Design and manage the out-of-hours on-call rota for the engineering team.
• KPI & Performance Management: Monitor SLA compliance and track response times and job completion stats.
• Team Leadership & Office Operations: Lead the dispatch team and manage office rotas for continuous cover.

Skills

D365 scheduling

Rota planning

KPI tracking

Team leadership

Office coordination

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Field service platforms

Job description

Job Title: Planning Scheduling Manager (Plumbing & Maintenance)

Role Overview

• Salary: £35,000 - £43,000 per annum (depending on experience)
• Working Hours: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Monday to Friday) (working day is either 8am-5pm or 9am-6pm - on a rota'd basis)
• Location: Office-based role
• Reporting to: Internal Operations Manager

The Business

Met Serve Ltd is a Plumbing & Heating Company covering SW London, South Middlesex Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, East Dorset and South Wiltshire. We carry out circa 8000 home visits per month; varying from minor repairs to extensive installation works. With offices in Reigate and Basingstoke we are a Business of circa 100 Engineers and 30 Office staff.

Trading as Dyno-Rod Plumbing, we are part of the Dyno-Rod franchise network.

What we Offer our Team

• -Basic Salary
• -Pension (Royal London)
• -20 days holiday plus bank holidays
• -Group Life Assurance (post 6 month qualifying period)
• -Group Medical Cash Plan (post 6 month qualifying period)
• -Access to certain benefits and discounts with British Gas
• -Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• -Overtime options available

We are keen advocates of continuous improvement and continuous training. We will always look to help our colleagues develop, whether that be through online or in person training courses or qualification, including external.

Role Purpose

The Dispatch Manager leads the scheduling and logistics team, leveraging Dynamics 365 (D365) Field Service to ensure plumbing bookings are planned efficiently and attended within agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This role acts as the critical link between customers, office staff, and field engineers to maximize daily productivity and ensure seamless out-of-hours coverage.

Key Responsibilities

Booking Planning & Scheduling

• D365 Optimization: Oversee the strategic planning, scheduling, and routing of all plumbing jobs within the Dynamics 365 field service module.
• Route Efficiency: Ensure plumbing engineers are dispatched based on proximity, skill set, and job urgency to minimize travel time.
• Capacity Management: Balance emergency reactive plumbing calls with planned preventative maintenance bookings seamlessly.

On-Call & Rota Management

• Engineer Rotas: Design, implement, and manage the out-of-hours on-call rota for the plumbing engineering team.
• Fair Allocation: Ensure balanced, fair, and compliant distribution of on-call shifts among the engineering workforce.
• Escalation Support: Act as an escalation point during handover periods to ensure out-of-hours emergencies are logged correctly in D365.

KPI & Performance Management

• SLA Compliance: Monitor the D365 live schedule board to guarantee engineers attend bookings within promised time windows.
• Monitor Metrics: Track response times, first-time-fix rates, and daily job completion stats.
• Jeopardy Management: Intervene early when jobs risk breaching KPIs and re-route resources instantly via D365.

Team Leadership & Office Operations

• Staff Management: Line-manage, train, and motivate the office-based dispatch team on D365 system workflows.
• Shift Coverage: Manage office rotas to ensure constant cover during core operational hours.
• Escalation Point: Resolve complex booking conflicts or customer complaints efficiently.

Technical & Experience Requirements

• Industry Experience: Proven background in dispatching trade services (plumbing, heating, maintenance, or gas).
• Software Skills: Strong hands-on experience using Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) scheduling tools or field service management platforms.
• Rota Planning: Demonstrated experience managing complex engineer rotas and out-of-hours schedules.
• Data Literacy: Ability to interpret D365 performance reports and dashboards to improve team and engineer efficiency.
• Commercial Understanding: Able to understand and see the commercial picture driving the business forward, with a strong ability to make key decisions using their own judgement.

Appraisal / Review System

• Annual reviews will be carried out to appraise your performance not only to ensure that standards are being maintained but to also ensure that the correct support is offered. The review system also gives a fuller understanding of the Skill set required and what is expected of your role.

We practice a diverse and inclusive recruitment process that ensures equal opportunity for all we work with, irrespective of race, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age or gender. As an organisation, we encourage applications from all backgrounds and will ensure measures are met when required, to allow a fair process throughout.