Front of House Operations Manager - London

Savills manage a wide range of commercial and residential real estate assets across the UK, including multi-occupied office buildings. Savills Workforce+ FOH is the in-house service provider for Front of House services in a number of these commercial assets. Our ambition is to be the supplier of choice for our internal customers, delivering a service to match the best in the market.

FOH is currently recruiting for a Front of House Portfolio Operations Manager to oversee the front of house operations across a number of different locations and clients, based in London with travel required to other sites outside of London across the UK. The portfolio is mixed and includes buildings with one and multiple team members from commercial and residential settings, either operating Monday to Friday or 24/7; the leadership style needs to be adapted to meet the requirements of each role and site.

The role of the Portfolio Operations Manager is to look after a portfolio of front of house operations, providing guidance and direction to all direct reports, whilst creating and cultivating a culture of service excellence to strengthen customer satisfaction, team leadership to optimize employee engagement, as well as owning the financial success within the commercial portfolio, ensuring that all aspects of the business reflect Savills’ brand and values. A regular site visit schedule alongside control of the portfolio’s KPIs in terms of financial, team, and quality performance will require high organisational abilities, diplomacy, a drive and motivation towards excellence, and outstanding relationship building skills.

Key areas of responsibility are Operational Excellence, Client Relationship, Contract Budget, People Management, Health & Safety.

It is essential that the successful candidate has several years’ experience in a management role, looking after multiple team members within a front of house environment, as well as complex client/stakeholder relationships.

It is the nature of work of SMR that tasks and responsibilities are, in many circumstances, unpredictable and varied. All staff are, therefore, expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises where tasks are not specifically covered in the Job Description and have to be undertaken.

• PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
  • Foster a culture of aspirational leadership, acting as the figurehead ambassador for your portfolio and team.
  • Proactively manage all aspects of your portfolio, ensuring operational and commercial success.
  • Ensure compliance with Savills and FOH specific SOPs.
  • Drive the KPIs within your portfolio towards continuous improvement.
  • Deliver timely reports and insightful management information from your portfolio.
  • Mobilise new contracts as required, including support with TUPE transfers.
  • Support senior management in tenders/presentation when required.
• TEAM MANAGEMENT
  • Proactively manage your direct reports to develop all aspects of Front of House within their buildings.
  • Stay close to the business at all times making recommendations on improvements and innovations, always thinking forward and regularly reviewing technology and service standards.
  • Manage the onboarding process, creating welcome packs and onboarding information for new employees.
  • Support and develop your direct reports and on-site teams, including performance management, training, succession planning and mentoring.
  • Responsible for recruitment and talent management within the managed team.
  • Portray yourself in a professional manner at all times and lead from the front.
  • Manage the training pathway for all Front of House employees, with clear bespoke development and feedback opportunities given to those who demonstrate themselves as Front of House Ambassadors.
  • Write job descriptions and personal specifications to company standards.
  • Responsible for direct absence management, both operationally and ensuring all absence is correctly registered within the Cascade system.
  • Carry out annual appraisals in a timely manner with all direct reports, providing constructive feedback and support for professional growth.
• SERVICE EXCELLENCE
  • Strengthen the internal reputation of Front of House by providing an exceptional service to employees, customers and users of the service.
  • Deliver events and activations across the portfolio, thereby contributing to Savills’ and our clients’ ESG goals and customer satisfaction.
  • Ensure a strong focus on service excellence is threaded into every aspect of the department.
  • Continuously develop and innovate the standard of our services.
  • Maintain the visual aspect of the Front of House service by managing standards such as Uniform and general presentation.
  • Encourage a sustainable way of working, bringing forward innovative ways of working with sustainability being a key focus of how we deliver our welcome and services.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of competitor and market activity outside of Savills FOH, focusing on best practice, innovation and community.
• MOBILE REQUIREMENT
  • Implement and deliver a regular site visit and client meeting schedule.
  • Attend internal and external meetings, mobilisations and recruitment drives, client meetings and welfare visits, and industry events.
  • Respond to all emergency out-of-hours calls in a timely and efficient manner.
• COMPLIANCE
  • Ensure compliance with all ESG, H&S and security rules and regulations as directed by legal and Savills requirements.
  • Responsible for issuing all Front of House Procedures and Policies, ensuring these are signed by all direct reports.
  • Ensure all on-site operational manuals are up to date.
• FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL
  • Manage and control the payroll for each Individual/contract where necessary.
  • Manage and take accountability for your team's P&L, report to your line manager on a monthly basis on profit/loss.
• RELATIONSHIPS
  • Build and maintain relationships with the Building Management Teams, your colleagues and your teams.
  • Communicate with your line manager and the HR Partner on all and any issues pertaining to HR and Training.
  • Engage in constructive dialogue with direct reports and clients, employing positive challenges to achieve desired outcomes.

Candidates will be required to demonstrate the following:

• At least 2 years’ experience of managing front of house operations, ideally have previous experience in managing multiple sites and/or multi teams across different locations.
• Experience within luxury hotels or other 5* settings, or the corporate business environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a natural ability to positively influence business decisions.
• Commercial and financial understanding and ability to manage a portfolio P&L.
• Able to demonstrate ability to manage and lead a team of people.
• Highly organised with an eye to detail.
• Passion to achieve excellence in everything they do.
• Ability to handle a large number of projects alongside managing a portfolio of reception/concierge teams and administrational duties.
• Experience conducting HR related meetings, ideally to include disciplinary hearings, investigations and general sensitive meetings.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office programmes, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams etc.
• A positive attitude, a visible and natural passion for customer services.
• Ability to adapt and adjust to a number of clients, contracts and team styles.
• A strong sense of responsibility and highly professional presentation.
• At least three years’ experience managing and mentoring people.
• As you manage, supervise and/or employ individuals who perform licensable activities in their job you will be required to hold a non-front line SIA licence which is subject to limited vetting.
• You will be required to hold IOSH managing safely qualification.

Working Hours - Mon – Fri. Business hours (37.5 hours) as required, mostly 9am – 5:30pm. Some evening or weekend work may be required to ensure operational oversight in the 24/7 residential portfolio.

This role is home-based, with an expectation of 75% of time spent in Savills UK offices or on-site client premises within the FOH current and prospective portfolio.