Senior Operations Manager (Sussex, UK)

Parking; England; Remote; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

Parking seeks a Senior Operations Manager to lead the Southern region across a multi-site railway car park contract. You will align operational delivery with contractual KPIs, manage Area Managers and frontline teams, and act as deputy Contract Manager when required.

In this role you will drive compliance, improve commercial performance, build strong client relationships, and deliver continuous improvements through process changes and robust reporting using Excel and other systems.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in parking operations or multi-site operational management.
• Experience delivering contractual requirements and KPIs across multiple sites.
• Strong leadership of managers and frontline teams to improve performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead contract delivery by coordinating Area Managers and teams to meet KPIs.
• Monitor revenue, occupancy, budgets, forecasts and costs; identify opportunities to improve income and efficiency.
• Provide visible operational leadership; visit sites and address underperformance with clear actions.
• Strengthen client relationships with performance reporting and timely updates.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety, BPA Codes of Practice, and contractual obligations.
• Drive continuous improvement through projects and process enhancements.

Skills

Parking operations

Contract delivery

People leadership

Commercial awareness

Client relationship management

Multi-site operations

Tools

Microsoft 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

• 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.