Operations Manager in Nottingham

OPERATIONS MANAGER LEC ROBOTICS AND THE 48 GROUP

MANDARIN AND ENGLISH SPEAKING

Operations, tech know how, events and business growth. Someone who understands all parts of a business, across robotics and UK China trade.

London, Fulham HQ. Full time, office based. Reporting to the COO.

WHO WE ARE

London Export Corporation is one of the UK’s longest established trading companies, founded in 1951 with over seventy years of UK China trade behind us. Today the group spans LEC Robotics, the exclusive UK distributor and deployer of commercial service robots, expanding into many categories of robotics as the industry grows, LEC Beverages, the exclusive UK distributor of Tsingtao beer, LEC AI, which builds the AI systems that run our group and are now sold to customers, and the 48 Group, our UK China trade organisation with deep government and business relationships in both countries.

We are around thirty people in a genuine growth stage, we move extremely fast, and operations runs through everything. People here get plugged into whichever business needs them most that week.

BEFORE YOU APPLY

This role is for a hungry person who gets things done. The environment is fast paced, demanding and constantly moving. If you are not naturally fast, highly structured and genuinely hungry to build something, please do not apply. We say this with respect for your time and ours. For the right person this is a growth stage seat with real trajectory, and we would rather be honest about the pace now than surprise anyone later.

THE ROLE

Operations is the engine of this group and it runs across both companies. You will sit in the middle of LEC Robotics and the 48 Group, coordinating sales, marketing and finance, running our headquarters and showroom, driving events for both businesses and dealing daily with clients and partners in China and the UK. It is a doing role. You will personally drive things over the line while building the structure that keeps them from getting stuck in the first place.

THE LEC ROBOTICS SIDE

Robotics is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and our range is growing with it, service robots today, many more categories to come. You will push robot demonstration events and launches, run the operational side of our Fulham headquarters including the showroom where clients see the robots working, support deployment scheduling, service response and the operational side of client relationships, and learn the robots properly, what they do, how they are configured and why a deployment succeeds or fails.

THE 48 GROUP SIDE

The 48 Group is our UK China trade organisation, with seventy years of relationships across government and business in both countries, now opening up to businesses in the technology sector as UK China trade evolves. Your work here is about growing with businesses and bringing people together. You will set up and run trade events, delegations, dinners and celebrations, from venue and suppliers to guest lists, protocol and the day itself. You will support the relationships that come out of those events, working with tech and trade businesses on both sides as they grow with us, and liaising in Mandarin and English at a professional level throughout.

ACROSS BOTH

Team coordination. Run the operating rhythm across sales, marketing and finance. Daily priorities, weekly reviews, clear ownership, blockers surfaced and removed. You sit in the middle and make sure everything is done.

China and UK liaison. Daily communication with Chinese partners, suppliers and clients in Mandarin, and with UK clients and partners in English.

Structure and systems. Trackers, one source of truth, operating cadence, clear next actions on everything live. Build the system that means nothing gets left behind, then enforce it every day. You will work alongside Donnie, our group AI platform, which runs across all our operations.

Whatever it takes. In a growth stage business the list changes weekly. You will pick up whatever the businesses need and run at it.

WHO YOU ARE

Fluent in Mandarin and English, spoken and written.

Experienced in technology in some form, with robotics, hardware or automation exposure strongly preferred. You do not need to be an engineer, but you must be comfortable with tech products and quick to learn them.

Proven at coordinating across functions, sales, marketing and finance, and holding people to deadlines without owning their jobs.

Experienced at organising events end to end, whatever the scale.

Extremely structured and organised. You run trackers and systems by instinct and nothing you own gets dropped.

Naturally fast. Quick to respond, quick to act, more done by lunch than most manage in a day.

Hungry. You want a growth stage seat, you want responsibility early, and you want to earn your way up through execution.

THE OFFER

A central seat across two businesses with a direct line to the COO, wide exposure across robotics, UK China trade, AI and events, and real progression for someone who proves themselves. Salary competitive and discussed openly at interview. Three month probation applies, as it does for every role at every level of the company including the CEO.

HOW WE HIRE

Apply with your CV. Strong candidates receive written questions, answer them honestly and quickly, that is the first test. Then an in person interview at our Fulham headquarters including a practical session on real live work. We move fast on the right person.