Operations Manager at Inspired Schools

Inspired Schools; Lisboa; Presencial; EUR 70 000 - 95 000; Tempo integral

Resumo da oferta

Inspired Education Group seeks an experienced Operations Manager to join the Senior Leadership Team. You will steward campus operations, budgets, procurement, and maintenance, while ensuring safety and compliance across facilities and boarding environments.

You will lead a multi-disciplinary team, negotiate with external vendors, and coordinate 24/7 incident responses to protect business continuity and school reputation.

Qualificações

• Experience in operations management or corporate services, ideally in education, hospitality, or complex multi-stakeholder settings.
• Proven leadership within a Senior Leadership Team or large operational department.
• Strong financial governance experience including Opex tracking and Capex budgeting.

Responsabilidades

• Oversee operating budgets, capex budgets, and cost-center discipline.
• Lead maintenance, procurement, security, and campus operations.
• Ensure safety, compliance, and emergency planning across campuses.
• Coordinate 24/7 incident responses and business continuity planning.
• Manage recruitment, workforce planning and performance evaluations.

Conhecimentos

Operations management

Leadership

Financial governance

Procurement discipline

Vendor management

Safety & compliance

Team people management

Strategic planning

Crisis management

Communication skills

Formação académica

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration

Engineering

Facilities Management

Hospitality

Ferramentas

ERP systems

Digital procurement platforms

Workflow automation

Descrição da oferta de emprego

Location: Lisbon, PT

Date: 18 Sept 2026

Application closing date:

Inspired Education is the leading global group of premium schools, with a portfolio of 125 premium private schools spanning 6 continents which utilise proven educational practices from every corner of the globe, ensuring over 95,000 students receive a world-class learning experience from Kindergarten to Year 13. In 28 countries, Inspired schools are individually developed and anchored in the vibrant cultures of their respective locations. They collectively form an international family of schools that nurtures each student's academic and personal development in a progressive, dynamic, and innovative learning environment. By joining our award-winning team of over 14,000 employees, you can work in state-of-the-art facilities alongside industry-renowned educators and leaders in some of the world's most desirable locations. We invest heavily in our team members who enjoy industry-leading professional development, exceptional career opportunities, and mobility across our group.

ROLE SUMMARY: The Operations Manager is a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), reporting directly to the Executive Head. The role also maintains a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Regional Operations Director, ensuring alignment with regional operational standards, procurement governance, maintenance frameworks and financial discipline. The Operations Manager acts as the operational and financial custodian of the campus. While additional responsibilities may be assigned locally, the areas defined below constitute the core regional mandate and form the basis of accountability and performance evaluation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Expenditure Budget Oversight
   • Monitoring: Oversee all Opex across cost centers.
   • Planning: Ensure cost center holders plan expenditures and stay within approved budgets.
   • Intervention: Act on overspend risks and coordinate in-year budget reallocations with the Executive Head when necessary.
   • Capex: Monitor and control small and maintenance Capex budgets.
2. Maintenance
   • Leadership: Supervise the maintenance team and review their execution and performance.
   • Planning: Develop termly, annual, preventive, and corrective maintenance plans.
   • Ticket Management: Manage maintenance tickets, prioritize critical interventions, and ensure timely execution.
   • Compliance: Ensure infrastructure reliability and compliance.
   • Note: Any intervention altering the school's aesthetics must be approved by the Capex Team prior to execution.
3. Procurement
   • Compliance: Enforce procurement policies and approval thresholds.
   • Logistics: Coordinate goods arrival, confirmation, and school-level purchases.
   • Purchases: Oversee periodic (e.g., stationery) and weekly supermarket/pharmacy purchases.
   • Invoice Workflow: Ensure Purchase Requests (PRs) are validated before commitment and align with invoices to prevent finance delays.
4. Security & Safety
   • Protocols: Define and enforce security procedures, entry/exit protocols, and safeguarding compliance.
   • Emergency: Organize response structures and conduct fire, earthquake, and evacuation drills.
   • Team Management: Manage the security team (insourced or outsourced), including staffing, shifts, and service levels.
5. Campus & Business Continuity
   • 24/7 Oversight: Coordinate immediate responses to critical incidents (e.g., burst pipes, electrical failures).
   • Continuity: Ensure seamless school operations, particularly in boarding environments.
   • Environment: Enforce cleanliness, safety, and tidiness across classrooms and common areas.
   • Events: Provide operational support for school events in collaboration with academic teams.
6. Other Income (If Applicable)
   • Reporting: Compile and submit monthly charge information to the Finance team.
   • Monitoring: Track revenue stream performance against the approved budget.
7. Team Leadership
   • HR Functions: Lead recruitment, workforce planning, and training.
   • Performance: Conduct annual evaluations, manage underperformance, and handle disciplinary matters.
   • Scheduling: Oversee shift planning and duty allocation to ensure continuous operational coverage.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL HAVE

• Experience & Background Proven Track Record: At least 5+ years of experience in operations management, facilities management, or corporate services, ideally within an educational institution, premium hospitality setting, or complex multi-stakeholder organization.
• Leadership Excellence: Demonstrated experience operating as a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) member or managing a large, diverse operational department.
• Matrix Reporting: Prior experience navigating a matrix organization - reporting locally to an executive leader while maintaining accountability to regional or corporate directors is highly desirable.
• Financial Acumen: Strong background in corporate finance governance, including direct accountability for Opex tracking, Capex budget management, and cost-center discipline.
• Technical Skills & Qualifications Education: A Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Facilities Management, Hospitality, or a related field is preferred.
• Safety & Compliance: Certified knowledge of Health & Safety protocols, fire safety governance, risk assessments, and emergency response planning (e.g., NEBOSH, IOSH, or equivalent local certifications).
• Procurement Expertise: Familiarity with centralized ERP systems, digital procurement platforms, and automated workflow approval processes.
• Vendor Management: Sharp negotiation skills with a history of managing external Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for outsourced security, catering, or cleaning.
• Core Competencies & Soft Skills Crisis Management: High emotional intelligence and resilience under pressure. Capable of leading 24/7 incident responses (e.g., utility failures) with logical, swift decision-making.
• People & Culture Champion: A strong, empathetic people manager who can inspire, train, and hold frontline operational teams (maintenance, cleaning, security) accountable to high-performance standards.
• Attention to Detail: An uncompromising eye for campus aesthetics, cleanliness, and overall tidiness. You treat the physical campus with true custodian pride.
• Communication & Collaboration: Fluent in English (and the local language if applicable) with exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of bridging the gap between local academic needs and regional corporate governance.
• Strategic Alignment: Ability to look beyond daily logistics to ensure all operational decisions directly safeguard business continuity and the school’s reputation.

SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT: Inspired Education Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment. Safer recruitment practices and pre-employment background checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.