Primary Engineer have, over the past 12 years, created an engineering curriculum that spans Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Further Education institutions. Its core aims include; the development of children and young people through engagement with engineering, the promotion of engineering careers for pupils through inspiring programmes and competitions, the development of engineering skills for teachers and practitioners as a sustainable model and working to address the gender imbalance in science and engineering. 

The Operations Manager role is a fantastic opportunity to work in a high-profile national organisation where you can make a difference to society. 

As the Primary Engineer Operations Manager, you will have a strong commercial background and have proven your ability to establish and maintain a lean operational model within a small to medium sized (but growing) organisation. You will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to determine an operations strategy which can deliver on Primary Engineer’s strategic direction. You will ensure that Primary Engineer operates in a streamlined and efficient way, while adhering to industry and legal standards of compliance.  

The Operations Manager will be a key member of the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team. 

Job Purpose 

The successful candidate will shape the operational structure, tools and processes within Primary Engineer to make it the most efficient and well-run organisation possible. 

Role Responsibilities 

General: 

You will support the Primary Engineer team to do their best work, by overseeing budgeting, planning, reporting and culture, including: 

• Financial: Manage all financial aspects of Primary Engineer including setting budgets, and controlling costs for the organisation (with CEO), managing those budgets to ensure effective delivery within parameters, managing the financial admin processes within the organisation, and working with accountants and bookkeepers to ensure reporting and accounts are done. 
• HR: Lead on all legal and cultural aspects of HR within Primary Engineer 
• Child protection: Ensure that Primary Engineer sets and adheres to the highest standards of safe-guarding 
• Insurance: As Primary Engineer grows, ensure that there is effective iteration of all relevant insurance 
• Governance: Work with the CEO to prepare information and documents for the Advisory Board as well as other outside bodies 
• Health & Safety: Ensure that Primary Engineer complies with the highest level of H&S standards, maintain all H&S records, champion a proactive and responsible H&S culture within the team and ensure that all staff receive the appropriate H&S training 
• GDPR: Work with Primary Engineer’s Data Protection Officer to ensure that the organisation is GDPR compliant; carry out regular auditing, ensure excellent record keeping, conduct staff training and facilitate reporting to the Senior Leadership Team 
• Reporting: Lead on setting up effective reporting of performance across all areas 
• Policies: Ensure Primary Engineer has effective policies in place across all areas 
• Legal: Work with external legal counsel (with CEO) to prepare commercial contracts, licensing deals and IP protection. 
• Systems: Manage, maintain and hone Primary Engineer’s operational systems and tools, ensure that the full team are using them effectively. 

Strategy & Continuous Improvement:

• Work closely with the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team to develop an operational strategy based on Primary Engineer’s strategic plan and organisation objectives 
• Work with Primary Engineer’s Programme Manager to deliver on operational projects within the wider Business Transformation Programme 
• Work with the Service Delivery Manager to identify and implement service delivery process optimisation 
• Conduct ongoing research into tools, processes and models to further improve the operational efficiency and cost effectiveness of the organisation 
• Manage the relationship with our IT support contractor and work with them to optimise IT infrastructure and processes 

Leadership:

• Direct line management of the Operations team; Office Manager, Warehouse Manager and freelance Bookkeeper 
• Contribute to wider business strategy and direction as a key member of the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team 
• Champion and facilitate a continuous improvement culture within the Primary Engineer team as a whole  
• Manage briefing of, workload of and relationships with external contractors as required 
• Produce and develop a Primary Engineer Operations Manual as a blueprint for ‘what good looks like’, hone and improve this regularly 

Delivery: 

• Overseeing warehouse operations (with the support of the Warehouse Manager) to ensure kits are supplied for events and continuation kit orders are processes effectively 
• Support of event logistics and planning to aid the Service Delivery Manager, where required 
• Overall resource capacity analysis and forecasting (with support from the Service Delivery Manager) for the Operations and Service Delivery Teams 

Reporting:

• Report back to the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team on the performance of operations performance, efficiency initiatives and on other key metrics 

Commitment to Learning: 

• Updating job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional organisations 

The person 

We are seeking an effective, organised, practical and solutions-focussed operations specialist to lead the operations team within Primary Engineer. This position comes with broad scope to improve efficiency and effectiveness, shape the culture, and ensure the successful future of our not-for-profit organisation.   

Successful track record in: 

• Building and maintaining a lean operational model 
• Managing operational compliance in several key areas, including H&S and HR 
• Financial management; establishment of financial processes, control of budgets, management of financial reporting 
• Determining process and tool solutions to increase operational efficiency 
• Managing operational projects based around optimisation and change 
• Creating a successful and efficient operational strategy 
• Line management of staff and contractors 

Skills:

• Eagle-eye attention to detail 
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills 
• Good level of digital skills; comfortable with various web tools and a good understanding of Microsoft 365 
• Inspiring leadership approach, the ability to manage staff, workload and deadlines 
• Creative approach to developing solutions to operational problems 
• Excellent interpersonal and team-working skills 
• Positive relationship building with colleagues and external partners 
• Ability to overcome objections and manage change 
• Ability to successfully roll out new ideas to a team 
• Ability to tackle difficult HR situations in a sensitive way 

Behaviours:

• Continuous improvement/growth mindset 
• Diligent and thorough in approach 
• Enthusiastic about technology and new IT solutions 
• Personal and professional integrity 
• Energy-giving, motivational 
• Outcomes/results-orientated 
• Collaborative style 
• ‘Outside the box’ solutions thinking 
• Enthusiasm for, and understanding of, the Primary Engineer cause 
• Embraces change and isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo 
• Ability to travel throughout the UK when required 

Terms: 

Salary: £33,000/year, full-time at 37.5 hours per week 

Company Pension Scheme 

Position within organisation: 

Reports to: CEO 

Sits within: Senior Leadership Team 

Direct reports: Office Manager, Warehouse Manager and freelance Bookkeeper 

Location: 

Place of work will be AMS Neve, Billington Road Technology Park, Burnley, with flexibility to attend meetings and events off-site as required. There is also the potential for home working in this role, by prior arrangement. 

Hours: 

The post is full-time at 37.5 hours per week 

Hours of work will be Monday to Friday between 08:30 and 16:30 

29 days holiday per annum including bank holidays 

The role will be subject to a 6-month probationary period 

Benefits: 

• Work from home opportunities 
• Working with some of the world’s largest blue-chip companies as part of their school outreach activities 
• An additional day holiday for each year of employment up to 5 years 
• Flexible working for an early finish on Fridays (3pm) 
• Opportunities to engage with inspiring people and companies, including industry site visits and conferences 

To apply please submit a CV with covering letter to sharon.johnson@primaryengineer.com.  

Please note applications without a covering letter may not be reviewed. 

Please note closing date is 5pm on Friday 26th June 2020. 

Primary Engineer have, over the past 12 years, created an engineering curriculum that spans Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Further Education institutions. Our core aims include; the development of children and young people through engagement with engineering, the promotion of engineering careers for pupils through inspiring programmes and competitions, the development of engineering skills for teachers and practitioners as a sustainable model and working to address the gender imbalance in science and engineering. 

The Service Delivery Manager role is a fantastic opportunity to work in a high-profile national organisation where you can make a difference to society. 

Primary Engineer’s Service Delivery Manager is responsible for understanding, communicating and delivering on our funder’s needs. You will oversee the delivery of all of our education services (including approximately 200 events per year) to meet SLAs, and to budget and quality standards. You will be focussed on establishing processes to provide consistently high levels of service and event delivery in a cost-effective manner. 

As the Primary Engineer Service Delivery Manager, you will have a strong customer service and events management background and the ability to manage a delivery team focussed on delivering funder contracts and driving school engagement to our programmes and events. You’ll make sure that service standards are being met and will directly line manage all employees within the service delivery department. You will be expected to produce service reports, manage incidents, problems and changes in the service, and handle funder and customer service escalations where required.   

You will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to develop and hone a service delivery approach that aligns with Primary Engineer’s strategic direction.  

Role Responsibilities  

Service Delivery: 

• Provide day to day support and management to the Service Delivery Team. 
• Establish robust delivery processes, streamlining these processes and procedures to ensure that each funder and school receives the same level of service from the get-go. 
• Establishment of events management processes for a growing number of events annually (currently 200 per year), ensuring they are developed for optimum customer service and cost-efficiency, with the support of the Operations Team.  
• Ensure that delivery processes are efficient and cost-effective. With the support of the Operations Team; find ways to reduce costs without affecting the overall customer experience. 
• Effective communication with clients and across organisational boundaries – from front line staff through to senior managers – you will get things done and make things happen! 
• Ensure the timely and cost-effective delivery of all funder contracts. Ensure the Financial health of the contract, managing revenues and costs within agreed budgets. 
• Manage the deployment of Service Delivery Team resource to ensure contract and event delivery. 
• Management of 3rd parties within contract delivery, ensuring that services received are at the required levels of performance and quality. 
• Ensure that the Service Delivery Team are aware of the scope of our product offering and have the required information, tools and skills to deliver. 
• Ensure the good systems of record keeping and data quality for customer details and account activities to support service delivery. 
• Conduct performance monitoring of services against contracted Service Level Agreement metrics. 

Customer Service: 

• Design the standards for customer service within Primary Engineer. Act as the champion of customer service and instil these standards within the Service Delivery Team. 
• Conduct training with Service Delivery staff to deliver a high standard of customer service. 
• Act as a point of escalation for service issues, with the authority to pull in additional resources when needed e.g. specialist teams or people for specific issues. 
• Record and share solutions and develop best practice and supporting documentation to support the Service Delivery Team and facilitate ongoing service improvement. 
• Evaluate customer experience against customer satisfaction goals and criteria. When scores fall below these thresholds, conduct additional research into improvements. 
• Conduct post-delivery surveys and review to inform improvements to service. 

Account Management & Growth: 

• Lead the Service Delivery Team on client account management and account growth – looking out for client’s and Primary Engineer’s long-term interests. 
• Direct account management of a small number of key or high-profile accounts. 
• Work with the Service Delivery Team and Business Development Team to generate ideas for new revenue generation within all funder accounts to add value and to maximise the relationships. 
• Assist the Business Development tea in Bid work for on new / renewal of funder contracts. 

Leadership & Strategy: 

• Direct recruitment and line management of a Service Delivery Team of Account Managers, Account Assistants and Events staff. 
• Contribute to wider business strategy and direction as a key member of the Primary Work closely with the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team to develop a delivery strategy based on Primary Engineer’s strategic plan and organisation objectives. 
• Manage briefing of, workload and relationships with external contractors as required 
• Communicate effectively across the whole organisation to ensure that service delivery strategy and approach is clearly understood. 
• Conduct regular service reviews to inform strategy, including the chairing of Service review meetings. 

Product Development: 

• Make use of the full catalogue of available programme services and provide feedback to the R&D Team on the performance of programme services and their components. 
• Work with the R&D and Operations teams to identify and manage programme and service improvements 
• Work with the R&D team on the development of new products and services. 
• Oversee and manage the rollout of new products and services to the Service Delivery Team. 

Reporting: 

• Report back to the Primary Engineer Senior Leadership Team on the performance of marketing strategy and on other key metrics. 
• Report back to funders on agreed contract metrics. 
• Assist with the gathering of reporting data to benefit research activities. 

Commitment to Learning: 

• Updating job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional organisations. 
• Keeping ahead of developments in customer service and service delivery by reading relevant journals, going to meetings and attending courses. 

The person 

This role is well-suited to someone with a passion for providing excellent customer service, who possess strong interpersonal and leadership skills, and who enjoys leading a team of service-focussed staff. We are looking for candidates who are effective communicators, active listeners, and have excellent leadership skills.  

Successful track record in: 

• Contract, customer or account management 
• Events management  
• Managing an account management or customer service team 
• Creating a successful and efficient delivery strategy 
• Designing and optimising Customer Service Systems to deliver exceptional online and offline customer service  
• Working with multi-skilled, cross functional teams to improve customer service, delivery processes and overall product offering 
• Performance analysis, KPI measurement, and reporting results  
• Creating clear and effective presentation content and training guidelines for internal use 
• Line management of staff and contractors 

Skills: 

• Strong influencing skills and the ability to effectively manage relationships and inspire confidence 
• Good attention to detail and the ability to understand and translate contract requirements 
• The ability to maintain effective control over many tasks in parallel 
• Self-motivation and initiative 
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills 
• Good level of digital skills; comfortable with various web tools and a good understanding of Microsoft 365 
• Inspiring leadership approach, the ability to manage staff, workload and deadlines 
• Creative approach to developing solutions  
• Excellent interpersonal and team-working skills 
• Positive relationship building with colleagues and external partners 
• Ability to overcome objections and manage change in a customer driven environment 
• Ability to successfully roll out new ideas to a team 
• Ability to tackle difficult HR situations in a sensitive way 

Behaviours: 

• Outgoing, warm and enthusiastic in approach 
• A desire to deliver excellent service 
• Enthusiastic about technology and new IT solutions 
• Personal and professional integrity 
• Energy-giving, motivational 
• Outcomes/results-orientated 
• Collaborative style 
• ‘Outside the box’ solutions thinking 
• Enthusiasm for, and understanding of, the Primary Engineer cause 
• Embraces change and isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo 
• Continuous improvement/growth mindset 
• Ability to travel throughout the UK when required 

Terms: 

Salary: £27,000/year, full-time at 37.5 hours per week 

Company Pension Scheme 

Position within organisation: 

Reports to: CEO 

Sits within: Senior Leadership Team 

Direct reports: Line management of a Service Delivery Team of Account Managers, Account Assistants and Events staff. The number of team members fluctuates throughout the academic year, based on contract need. 

Location: 

Place of work will be AMS Neve, Billington Road Technology Park, Burnley, with flexibility to attend meetings and events off-site as required. There is also the potential for home working in this role, by prior arrangement. 

Hours: 

The post is full-time at 37.5 hours per week 

Hours of work will be Monday to Friday between 08:30 and 16:30 

29 days holiday per annum including bank holidays 

The role will be subject to a 6-month probationary period  

Benefits: 

• Work from home opportunities 
• Working with some of the world’s largest blue-chip companies as part of their school outreach activities 
• An additional day holiday for each year of employment up to 5 years 
• Flexible working for an early finish on Fridays (3pm) 
• Opportunities to engage with inspiring people and companies, including industry site visits and conferences 

To apply please submit a CV with covering letter to sharon.johnson@primaryengineer.com.  

Please note applications without a covering letter may not be reviewed.  

Please note closing date is 5pm on Friday 26th June 2020.