Operations Manager in Chelmsford

The Operations Manager is responsible for overall day-to-day operational leadership of the clinic, ensuring safe, efficient, high-quality, and patient-centred service delivery. Reporting directly to the General Manager (GM), the role leads all clinic operational teams (Patient Support, Nursing and Lab) and is accountable for workforce performance, operational effectiveness, patient experience, complaints management and service standards. The Clinic Operations Manager works in close partnership with the GM to align operational delivery with the clinic’s strategic and commercial objectives.

The Operations Manager is responsible for identifying, managing and escalating significant operational and people-related risks to the GM.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership
  • Oversee and coordinate the daily running of the clinic to ensure smooth patient flow and service continuity.
  • Ensure consistent operational standards across all departments and satellite clinics (where applicable).
  • Identify and mitigate operational risks.
  • Escalate significant operational, patient safety, regulatory or reputational risks to the GM in a timely manner.
  • Lead the implementation of operational initiatives and technological improvements that enhance workflow and the patient journey.
• People Management & Workforce Planning
  • Provide operational leadership and direct management for Patient Support, Lab and Nursing teams.
  • Lead recruitment, onboarding, rota management, performance management, absence management and disciplinary processes within your remit.
  • Align workforce planning with clinic activity and strategic objectives.
  • Act as the first point of escalation for people-related matters within the clinic.
  • Escalate complex, high-risk or potentially litigious employee relations issues to the GM and HR.
  • Address serious staffing risks (e.g., workforce shortages impacting safety or capability concerns) with solutions.
  • Promote staff well-being, engagement and development while ensuring performance accountability.
• Patient Experience & Complaints Management
  • Lead operational management of patient complaints, ensuring timely investigation, response and resolution.
  • Identify trends and themes in complaints, escalating significant risks or reputational concerns to the GM.
  • Improve patient satisfaction metrics (e.g., Google reviews, NPS, internal feedback measures).
  • Ensure learning from complaints is effectively embedded into operational practices.
• Performance Management & Commercial Alignment
  • Monitor, analyse and report on operational KPIs to the GM.
  • Support the improvement of patient conversion and retention through operational excellence and service quality.
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of annual business plans and clinic goals.
  • Support cost-control initiatives via efficient rota management, overtime/on-call/TOIL and resource utilisation (with financial accountability resting with the GM).
  • Escalate risks that may impact performance delivery, staffing sustainability or service capacity.
• Strategy, Change & Continuous Improvement
  • Partner with the GM to translate strategic objectives into operational action plans.
  • Lead operational change initiatives, ensuring safe implementation.
  • Identify efficiency opportunities and operational risks.
  • Escalate strategic risks or barriers to delivery to the GM.
• Governance, Compliance & Safety
  • Work closely with the MD, Nursing Leads and Quality Manager (QM) to ensure clinical governance and patient safety.
  • Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory requirements (e.g., HFEA/CQC).
  • Identify, document and escalate regulatory or compliance risks.
  • Ensure health and safety compliance within operational areas and escalates significant concerns to the GM.
• Reporting & Escalation
  • Reports directly to the General Manager (GM).
  • Directly manages all clinic operational teams (Patient Support, Lab, Nursing).
  • Act as the primary operational escalation point for staff and patients.
  • Escalates significant operational, people-management, regulatory, reputational or patient safety risks to the GM.
• Confidentiality
  • The post holder must maintain confidentiality of information regarding patients, employees and other company business in accordance with national and European data protection legislation.

Qualifications and Experience

• Educated to higher level.
• Proactive manager capable of assessing and costing new business opportunities.
• Knowledge of marketing strategies.
• Previous experience in senior management roles.
• Demonstrable experience in business development.
• People management and development.
• Experience in fertility clinics – desirable but not essential.

Skills, Abilities and Personal Qualities

• Contract negotiation skills, capable of negotiating effectively with new business leads.
• Able to interpret financial statements and improve business profitability.
• Able to improve financial reporting systems and analysis.
• Able to work with the senior management team to drive the business forward.
• Excellent leadership, organisation and communication skills.
• Adept at using MS Office, especially Word and Excel.
• Be able to properly manage teams and employees.
• Able to delegate responsibilities.
• Resourceful, inventive and self-confident.
• Flexible and self-motivated.
• Natural team player.
• High level of resilience.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary: Competitive (depending on experience)
• Location: TFP Simply Fertility – Chelmsford
• Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week
• Pension: Dual contribution pension scheme
• Holiday Entitlement: 27 days + bank holidays (pro-rata)