Senior Operations Manager

Apcoa Parking; South Harting; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

APCOA Parking is seeking a Senior Operations Manager to lead the Southern region of a multi-site railway car park contract. You will deputise for the Contract Manager, drive operational delivery, monitor performance against KPIs and support client relationships across sites.

Reporting to the Contract Manager, you will oversee safety, compliance and commercial performance, coordinate Area Managers, and drive continuous improvement while ensuring high service standards and prudent cost control.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in parking operations, contract delivery or multi-site operational management.
• Strong commercial awareness and ability to interpret revenue, budgets and KPIs.
• Experience leading managers and frontline teams across multiple locations.
• Excellent communication, analytical and planning skills; able to report performance.
• Sound understanding of parking enforcement, customer issues, signage and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Operational delivery – coordinate Area Managers, review site standards, staffing, enforcement and maintenance.
• Commercial control – analyse revenue, tariffs, occupancy, costs; develop recovery plans and budgets.
• Client and stakeholder management – prepare reports, attend reviews, manage deadlines with rail teams and suppliers.
• People leadership – coach and develop managers, recruit and train, ensure staffing continuity.
• Compliance and risk – ensure procedures meet legislation and BPA guidance; manage incidents and audits.
• Projects and improvement – coordinate signage, equipment changes and process improvements.

Skills

Parking operations

Contract delivery

Multi-site management

Commercial awareness

Client relationships

Communication

Driving licence

MS Office

Excel

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Job description

Job Description: Senior Operations Manager

Industry: Parking Management / Car Park Operations (Rail Sector)

Location: Contract-wide: Three Bridges based / Mobile

Job Type: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £42,500 per annum

A day in the life of a Senior Operations Manager

Are you a commercially driven parking professional ready to take the next step in contract leadership?

Reporting directly to the Contract Manager, you will take operational responsibility for the Southern region and provide leadership support to the Area Manager responsible for Thameslink/Great Northern region. You will deputise for the Contract Manager when required, helping ensure safe, compliant and commercially effective delivery across this multi-site railway car park contract.

Your priorities will be to:

• Lead contract delivery – Coordinate Area Managers and operational teams, translate contractual requirements into clear plans and ensure KPIs and service standards are achieved.
• Improve commercial performance – Monitor revenue, occupancy, budgets, forecasts and costs; identify opportunities to grow income, improve utilisation and control expenditure.
• Provide visible operational leadership – Visit sites, review performance and challenge underperformance, ensuring actions are owned and completed.
• Strengthen client relationships – Support performance reviews, provide accurate reporting and manage client commitments professionally.
• Protect compliance and reputation – Oversee health and safety, fair enforcement, signage, customer complaints, incidents and relevant industry codes.
• Drive continuous improvement – Deliver projects, improve processes and systems, and promote accountability and customer focus.

Key Responsibilities

Operational, Commercial & Client Management

• Operational delivery – Support and coordinate Area Managers, review site standards, staffing, enforcement, equipment, cleanliness, maintenance and signage, and follow issues through to resolution.
• Commercial control – Analyse revenue, tariffs, occupancy, payment channels, enforcement outcomes and operating costs. Develop recovery plans, identify efficiencies and contribute to budgets, forecasts, business cases and commercial proposals.
• Client and stakeholder management – Prepare reports and performance updates; attend client reviews; track actions and deadlines; and work with rail teams, suppliers, contractors and internal functions to resolve issues.
• People leadership – Coach and develop managers, reinforce accountability, support recruitment and training, and maintain effective staffing and contingency cover.
• Compliance and risk – Ensure parking operations meet company procedures, contractual requirements, relevant legislation and BPA Codes of Practice, including the Single Code of Practice where applicable. Review incidents, complaints, audits and risks, ensuring investigations and corrective actions are completed.
• Projects and improvement – Coordinate projects, signage programmes, equipment or technology changes and process improvements. Maintain accurate management information, records, action logs and audit trails.

Person Specification

Essential

• Proven experience in parking operations, contract delivery or multi-site operational management, ideally in the parking or rail sector.
• Experience leading managers and frontline teams, improving performance and maintaining consistent standards across multiple locations.
• Strong commercial awareness and confidence interpreting revenue, costs, budgets, forecasts, KPIs and management information.
• Experience managing client relationships, presenting performance information and resolving operational or service issues.
• Sound understanding of parking enforcement, customer complaints, signage and compliance; knowledge of BPA guidance and the Single Code of Practice is beneficial.
• Excellent communication, analytical, planning, organisational and problem-solving skills, sound judgement under pressure, and competence in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, and operational reporting systems.
• Full UK manual driving licence, regular site travel and flexibility for occasional early, late or weekend work. Experience deputising for a Contract Manager, rail operations, ANPR or parking payment systems is advantageous.