Head of Operations

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the UK’s independent authority on age ratings. From the cinema screen to the latest digital platforms, our mission is to empower families to make informed viewing decisions.

Behind every age rating is a fast-paced, high-volume operational engine ensuring content reaches audiences securely, efficiently, and on schedule. We are now seeking an exceptional, forward-thinking Head of Operations to run and optimise our end-to-end classification pipeline.

If you thrive in dynamic, deadline-critical environments and bring a passion for operational excellence and exceptional customer experience, this is your opportunity to play a pivotal role at the heart of the UK’s media landscape.

Head of Operations

• Salary: £60,000 to £65,000 per annum (depending on experience)
• Location: Soho, London (Hybrid - minimum 2 days in office)
• Reporting to: Director of Technology and Operations

As Head of Operations, you will lead our day-to-day classification workflow, overseeing the entire journey of content from receipt and viewing through to certification and rating delivery. You will act as the voice of the customer across our operations, ensuring our processes are agile, resilient, and built around the real-world release schedules of leading studios, streaming platforms, and distributors.

Function

Reporting to the Director of Technology & Operations, the Head of Operations runs the BBFC’s operational service day to day, ensuring the content classification pipeline, from receipt of content through viewing to certificate and rating delivery, performs efficiently, resiliently and to a high standard of customer service. They act as the voice of the customer, making sure we design how we work around what clients need.The post-holder leads the Operations function and directly owns the department’s operational management: service performance, change readiness, business continuity, documentation standards and operational reporting.

• Own day-to-day performance of the classification pipeline against SLAs and KPIs set with the Director, identifying bottlenecks and reducing friction for Compliance Officers and customers.
• Hold the Service Delivery Manager accountable for scheduling, capacity planning and customer support delivery, and work with Compliance Management on capacity and peaks.
• Monitor turnaround times daily across all services, intervening when volume spikes, complex submissions or incidents threaten performance, and escalating to the Director where targets are materially at risk.
• Assure the standards of the classification environment (theatre, projection, remote and virtual viewing).

2. Resilience and change

• Own business continuity for the operational workflow: arrangements documented, tested regularly, and effective during partial outages.
• Chair the department’s change calendar: coordinate the operational readiness, scheduling and customer communication of system and process changes, so no change lands on the operation or its customers unprepared.
• Assure a comprehensive, current library of Standard Operating Procedures and service policy documentation across all operational services and products, so customer-facing answers are consistent and auditable.
• Lead the customer service approach across the pipeline, ensuring operational priorities and turnaround times actively support client release schedules and commercial deadlines.
• Act as the senior escalation point for major or contentious customer issues, engaging directly with key distributors and platforms to resolve problems quickly and improve the end-to-end client experience.
• Assure the operational onboarding of new customers, products and services, ensuring clear external guidance, proactive communication during peak periods, and robustly tested support processes.

4. Risk and compliance

• Maintain the departmental risk register, ensuring operational risks and single points of failure are identified, mitigated and escalated to the Director as appropriate.
• Support departmental compliance with information security obligations and data protection (GDPR) across operational workflows.

5. Reporting and financial administration

• Accountable for the accuracy and timeliness of operational performance reporting to the Director and Executive team, including the daily turnaround report.
• Manage and monitor operational spend against budget; approve routine purchasing within delegated thresholds.

6. People and team leadership

• Provide direct line management, leadership and daily direction to the Service Delivery Manager; set annual objectives, hold regular 1:1s and deliver reviews.
• Build capability, accountability and a collaborative, service-first culture across the operations team; act as the first point of escalation for conflict or performance matters in line with BBFC policies.
• Deputise for the Director on operational matters as required.

7. General

• To carry out any other tasks as required by management from time to time.

Person Specification

1. Experience & Track Record

• Substantial, proven track record of operational leadership in fast-paced, customer-facing, and deadline-driven environments, demonstrated across more than one organisation or operating model.
• Deep expertise in managing pipeline workflows against stringent SLAs and KPIs, including workforce planning, volume forecasting, bottleneck identification, and operational interventions during demand spikes.
• Proven experience owning and testing Business Continuity Plans (BCP), maintaining operational risk registers, and embedding Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) across live teams.
• Successful track record of integrating new workflows, software, or service policies into live operations without disrupting ongoing delivery.
• Extensive experience acting as a senior escalation lead for complex or contentious client issues, building confidence with major external stakeholders.

2. Skills & Knowledge

• Strong analytical ability to translate operational metrics, turnaround data, and capacity trends into actionable improvements and clear reporting for Executive Leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to operationalise regulatory and statutory duties, information security standards, and UK GDPR obligations into day-to-day team practices.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the credibility to influence at executive level and communicate transparently with operational teams.
• Degree in business, operations management, or an equivalent level of extensive, demonstrable senior operational experience.
• A client-centric mindset that champions the customer experience while maintaining operational discipline and efficiency.
• Proven track record of line management, setting performance standards, resolving conflict constructively, and developing team capability.
• Calm, decisive, and pragmatic problem-solving style when managing shifting priorities, service outages, or competing deadlines.
• Highest standards of integrity and confidentiality, with the maturity required to lead an operation handling sensitive and restricted media content.
• Active commitment to advancing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion across recruitment, staff development, and everyday operational decision-making.
• Direct operational experience or strong working knowledge within media distribution, streaming platforms, broadcast operations, post-production, digital asset management, or localisation.
• Insightful understanding of how digital workflows, cloud platforms, and automation tools are evolving across global entertainment and content delivery chains.
• Experience operating within a statutory body, regulator or standards authority in the UK.

What We Offer:

• Salary: £60,000 to £65,000 per annum depending on experience
• Contract Period: Permanent
• Full Time: 36 hours per week
• Hybrid working (a minimum of two days in London office per week )
• 25 days holiday per full year (increasing by one day each year to a maximum of 30 days)
• Non-contributory life assurance
• Employee assistance support
• Opportunity to influence the future of media regulation in the UK and protect children from harmful content.
• Be part of a dynamic, forward-thinking organisation at the forefront of film and digital content regulation.
• A supportive and inclusive work environment that values diversity and promotes professional development.

Closing Date for Applications: 4:00pm on Wednesday 25th November 2026

Interviews will take place in-person during the week commencing 7th December 2026.