Assistant Waste Operations Manager in London

Our Waste Services Team delivers one of the most essential services our residents rely on every single day — ensuring that household waste is collected, treated, recycled and disposed of safely and efficiently. We provide domestic, recycling and garden waste collections to more than 126,000 households across the city, completing over 9 million collections each year. Collecting more than 100,000 tonnes of waste annually, the team is committed to delivering high‑quality, safe and customer‑focused services. Alongside day‑to‑day operations, the team also leads on key environmental initiatives that support residents in participating positively in the services provided. This includes behaviour‑changing campaigns, education and engagement work to help improve sustainability, reduce contamination and enhance the overall efficiency of our waste services.

Our Values

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

What is the job role?

In this role, you will play an important part in supporting the delivery of our waste and recycling services. This includes coordinating waste collections, assisting frontline colleagues, and ensuring that services are delivered in line with our Council values and our commitment to high‑quality, inclusive public services. You will contribute to a range of environmental initiatives, customer engagement activities, and continuous improvement projects designed to enhance the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of our services for all members of the community. Your work will help us build stronger relationships with residents and support our wider sustainability goals. A key aspect of the role involves maintaining compliance with health and safety requirements. You will help ensure that staff are working safely at all times, that our operations meet statutory standards, and that we continue to promote a positive and inclusive safety culture across the service. Your contribution will directly support the wider waste management process, helping the Council meet recycling targets, improve service reliability, and encourage environmentally responsible behaviour throughout the community.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking a suitably experienced operational leader who can help us deliver safe, reliable waste and recycling services for the residents of Coventry, while also supporting residents to make positive use of those services. This role combines hands‑on operational management with leadership responsibilities for a small team of Waste Education Officers, who run campaigns and initiatives to improve recycling habits and reduce contamination.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be confident managing frontline services.
• Have experience planning routes and resources.
• Be skilled in problem‑solving within fast‑moving operational environments.
• Build strong working relationships with crews, supervisors and partners.
• Provide supportive leadership to staff delivering education and engagement work in the community.

Within our team, women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds are currently underrepresented across middle management roles. We therefore actively encourage applications from women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds. This does not prevent any other applicants with or without protected characteristics from applying.

For an informal conversation about this challenging and rewarding role, please contact: Sarah Elliott – Strategic Lead for Environmental Services.

For full details of the application process, please read the document on our jobs page titled "Coventry City Council Application Process." If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to learn about the assistance we can provide.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you will need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long‑term health condition

Interview Date is 23 February, in person at Whitley Depot.

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change. We are cutting‑edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse. At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities. If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package.