Control Tower Manager - Bulk Logistics

Location: Buxton, Derbyshire

Business Area: Tarmac Cement

Salary: Competitive + Bonus + Benefits

At Tarmac, who you are matters. We are looking for an experienced and people-focused Planning & Service Manager to lead our centralised Planning & Service function within the Bulk Cement business. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and develop a high-performing team responsible for delivering safe, efficient and cost-effective transport planning while providing an outstanding customer experience.

The Opportunity

As Planning & Service Manager, you will lead the day-to-day operation of a centralised planning and customer service team, ensuring effective decision-making in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. You'll be responsible for balancing customer requirements, fleet utilisation, transport costs and operational constraints, while developing the capability of your team and creating a culture focused on accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading and developing the Planning & Service team to deliver exceptional operational and customer outcomes.
• Managing transport planning activity, ensuring effective responses to operational disruption, capacity challenges and changing customer demands.
• Driving customer service performance through proactive, accurate and timely communication.
• Optimising fleet utilisation and supporting effective deployment of third-party capacity where required.
• Developing team capability through coaching, succession planning, skills development and cross-training.
• Embedding standard operating procedures and consistent ways of working across the function.
• Identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise, automate and digitise planning and order-management processes.
• Using operational data and performance metrics to identify trends, drive improvements and deliver business objectives.
• Building strong relationships across operational, commercial and supply chain teams.

You’ll ideally have:

Essential Experience

• Experience leading a transport planning, logistics operations or customer service team within a complex, time-critical environment.
• Strong practical understanding of transport planning and fleet optimisation.
• Proven experience coaching, developing and leading people.
• Experience using operational data to improve performance and inform decision-making.
• Experience managing operational disruption and challenging customer service situations.

Technical Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of transport planning, routing, scheduling, capacity management and fleet utilisation.
• Knowledge of transport planning systems (TMS) and opportunities for process automation and optimisation.
• Ability to analyse data, identify trends and translate insight into action.
• Understanding of operational improvement methodologies, root cause analysis and standardisation.
• Knowledge of road transport legislation and its implications for fleet operations.
• Strong leadership, coaching and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable

• Experience leading teams through significant organisational or operational change.
• Experience working within a centralised planning or control tower environment.
• Experience implementing or improving transport management systems.
• Transport CPC qualification.
• CILT qualification or professional membership.
• Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience.

Why Tarmac

We don't just offer a job, we offer a career. Alongside this role, you'll have access to industry-leading rewards, development opportunities, and a culture that puts people first, including:

• Bonus scheme
• Enhanced holiday entitlement
• Contributory pension scheme
• Access to the Tarmac Reward website with discounts on retailers, holidays, etc.
• Access to our Employee Assistance helpline for free and confidential advice
• Access to our Employee Communities, where you can network, learn from others, and increase your awareness of the support available to you.

Our three Employee Communities are: Health and Wellbeing, Inclusion and Identity, Personal Growth and Development Training and development opportunities.

Tarmac is committed to being a Forces-friendly employer. If you're coming from a military background, we'll support your transition and help you build a successful career with us. We're proud to be part of CRH, and even prouder to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. If you need any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, just let us know, we're here to support you.

Ready to build your future? Click ‘Apply' to get started. Please note: we sometimes close roles early due to high interest, so don't wait too long!