Creative Operations Manager

Location: Leeds or London - you will need to visit both offices

Contract: Permanent, Full Time

Shifts: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 8am until 4:30pm with a 1 hour unpaid break (must be flexible with working hours as you will be working with a global team)

Overview

Williams Lea seeks a Creative Operations Manager to join our team! Williams Lea is the leading global provider of skilled, technology-enabled, business-critical support services, with long-term trusted relationships with blue-chip clients across investment banks, law firms and professional services firms.

Purpose of role

The individual’s primary responsibility will be to communicate a vision for how Williams Lea best serves our clients across single or multiple service offerings, and who empowers and enables their team to bring that vision to life. The role focuses on executing service delivery, delivering operational excellence, implementing optimized cost to serve models, applying continuous improvement initiatives, and team growth and development.

Responsibilities

• Oversee contracted global operation(s) to ensure needs of the contract and client are met while addressing needs of employees
• Manage relationships with clients by ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction
• Establish, execute, and sustain quality service delivery through standard operating procedures, account planning, and achieving agreed-upon metrics and goals to ensure client satisfaction and exceptional employee performance
• Drive continuous improvement; keep client and manager informed of significant and potential issues, and communicate proposed solutions or processes that will avoid future or other potential issues; resolve issues escalated by the client
• Responsible for employee lifecycle of direct and indirect reports including, but not limited to interviewing and hiring; onboarding and induction; on-the-job training; professional learning, development, and growth; performance management including reviews and goal setting; talent management including succession planning for key roles; off-boarding management
• Ensure direct and indirect reports understand and are compliant with company and client policies, service level agreements (SLAs) and expected quality of work, utilizing corrective action when necessary
• Engage in regular and consistent communication with employees, hold regular team meetings and individual (1:1) meetings to ensure open lines of communication for company and client information, as well as to discuss clear expectations, performance and progress against goals and development
• Manage staffing and workflow volumes; use workflow management system to justify headcount based on work volumes and allocate staffing resources by shift or service line accordingly
• Review all labour allocations; manage over-time and time-off to avoid non-billable charges
• Participate in the budget process; ensure all operational processes are managed to timeline and budget
• Create and present monthly Client Service Review (CSR); reflect on data presented and be prepared to discuss ideas for process improvement and benefits to the client to support informed decision-making
• Solicit feedback from clients (client outreach) regularly
• Foster cross-training and a sense of teamwork to optimize client service delivery
• Educate clients regarding Williams Lea services already providing and those available through strong sense of the client’s business and the impact our services may have on their success
• Identify opportunities for account growth, new services, resolutions to client challenges through communication with clients/end-users – escalate opportunities to manager
• Participate or lead due diligence, implementation (people, process, technology) for new business within client account; participate as needed on other new client accounts.
• Adhere to Williams Lea policies in addition to client site policies

Personal attributes

• Over 5 years’ experience and a proven track record of being a recognized leader and manager of people in a customer service intensive environment
• Solid understanding of Creative capabilities, workstreams and skill sets, preferably in a studio, agency or corporate environment
• Demonstrated record implementing solutions that have permanently resolved poor contract performance or difficult situations
• Excellent client service skills with a service-minded approach towards the client
• Proven experience in the delivery and management of complex multi-service solutions for clients
• Manage staff allocation through optimized scheduling and cross-training and through fostering a strong sense of teamwork

Rewards and Benefits

We believe in supporting our employees in both their professional and personal lives. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to:

• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part time roles)
• Salary sacrifice schemes, retail vouchers – including our TechScheme which can be used on a range of gadgets such as Smart TVs, laptops and computers or household appliances.
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance
• Health Assessments
• Discounted gym memberships
• Referral Scheme

You will also have the opportunity to work for a global employer who is dedicated to offering each and every employee an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding career with future career development prospects!

Equality and Diversity

The Company values the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation and will not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (each of these being a “protected characteristic” in discrimination law). It will not discriminate because of any other irrelevant factor and will build a culture that values openness, fairness and transparency.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to make an interview please contact us at careersatWL@williamslea.com (we do not accept applications to this email address).

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