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Job description

We are on the look-out for an experienced Operations Manager to join our dynamic, market-leading property business to lead from the front on delivering a world-class customer experience for our property owners.

Over the last 16 years we’ve become one of the leading estate and letting agencies in Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK – being widely recognised and awarded for our success. We’re not your average property business. We do things differently; we work hard, but we have fun while we’re doing it. We’re bold and playful but we always act with integrity and acknowledge our mistakes. We’re ambitious and unafraid – we try new things, we innovate, and whatever the outcomes we’ll enjoy the learning journey and make the most of the ride. We also put people at the heart of all we do; that goes for our customers and our team. If you can get behind our ethos of Homes not Housing, People not Property, and truly embody this in everything you do then you’re going to love it here.

We are looking for a highly-capable, forward-thinking, decisive, confident and energetic individual to take management responsibility for operations across our Lettings and Property Management services. While it’s not essential for you to have experience within the property sector, we are looking for someone with a proven track-record as a high-performing people and operations manager within a customer service setting. This is an exciting and varied role that will offer challenge, autonomy, and a high level of responsibility, so you’ll need to bring your A-game at every turn. You will have responsibility for understanding, shaping and influencing the Lettings & Property Management element of Umega operations, seeking to drive forward our Owner Service offering and ensure we’ve got the best team, set up in the best way. Your role will cover everything from Line Management, resourcing & recruitment, learning & development and using data to inform decisions. No two days will be the same and you’ll be exposed to a variety of tasks and challenges. From time to time, you’ll be liaising with and nurturing relationships with Owners and Tenants as well as working towards resolutions for escalated issues.

You’ll work closely with our Operations Director and fellow Operations Managers to lead the way in driving service forward, with a focus on building and improving our systems and processes and playing a strong leadership role with our people. We currently have a team of 60 employees across the business, 35 of whom work within our Lettings and Property Management function, and we’re continuing to grow.

The primary focus of the Operations Manager is to ensure you understand your department inside out - at any time you'll have clarity about what’s working well and what needs some attention, you'll know your team members brilliantly and understand how to support and get the best out of them, deal with performance issues, tough conversations and review, and be an outstanding role-model for all things Umega. Your technical knowledge will be important (although we’ll support you to build this out) as you’ll also be dealing with escalated issues relating to your department, and you’ll need to be a confident and capable decision-maker, aiming to resolve issues without further escalation. We’re looking for experience in customer-focused roles where you’ve had to work strategically, taking a flexible and adaptable approach when challenges arise - keeping calm and focused in the face of adversity. You should embrace & welcome learning when it comes to unfamiliar operational challenges, take initiative, and look to upskill quickly. You love working with people (both colleagues and customers) - you’re a natural leader with an ability to bring people together to tackle any situation.

You’ll hold direct line-management responsibility for a number of team members - ensuring that performance is managed effectively and proactively - always keeping your finger on the pulse when it comes to those in your care. This role also calls for you to be emotionally intelligent and tuned-in to our culture and our people so you can navigate sensitive issues, communicate well and demonstrate care in every interaction whether that's conducting reviews with your team or offering feedback to your peers. We’ll be looking for you to build knowledge and understanding of Umega operations quickly in order to support your team with problems and escalations - understanding what information you need before taking ownership/action and giving clear direction.

You’re adept at managing your own time and workload, putting an effective system in place that helps you work on long-term projects and still have stamina and availability to jump on reactive tasks. This role calls for someone who thrives within an organisation that welcomes and encourages change (for the better) and who isn’t afraid to try something new and admit defeat if it doesn’t work.

We’re looking for you to demonstrate that;

• You are a solution-focused, problem solver with the ability to balance multiple projects, manage your priorities and display excellent decision-making and judgment.
• You have exceptional organisational, interpersonal, communication, delegation, and leadership skills.
• You are able and confident to connect with different parts of the organisation and build great relationships across our teams. The ability to engage and connect with others, from a variety of backgrounds and at all organizational levels is essential.
• You are keen to drive a high-performance culture; setting clear expectations, empowering your team, and holding them accountable.
• You thrive when working in a changing environment - you embrace (and seek out) opportunities to learn, grow and improve, and you don’t let your ego get in the way.
• You have a high will to engage in tough conversations, not shying away from holding peers and teams accountable or offering direct feedback from a place of genuine care.
• You have a deep understanding of what excellent customer service means and are excited at the prospect of pushing this forward.
• You show high levels of self-awareness and can self-manage and self-regulate well.
• You have a minimum of 5 years’ experience in a direct people management role, within a customer service setting.

Your role will include (but not be limited to);

• Line Management of staff members in our Portfolio Management Team, ensuring a strong and consistent focus on their learning, development and performance.
• Responsibility for relevant KPIs, pulling data from across our systems and softwares and confidently and honestly reporting this back to our Senior Team and Directors. Within this, you will be expected to take action on any data that suggests areas for improvement be that with people or process.
• Taking a lead role in ensuring we are making continual improvements to our Customer Service, specifically for our Lettings Owners
• Building close working relationships with our Director & Operations teams - contributing to an open, honest and free-to-challenge space with your peers and seniors, and being a fantastic leader and role-model for all things Umega
• Dealing with, from time to time, complaints or escalations from our customers, ensuring we understand any areas for improvement and take responsibility for sharing learnings
• Holding performance reviews for your direct reports as part of our feedback & review structure, and supporting peers and other managers within the business in facilitating these with their direct reports
• Taking an active role in the recruitment and selection of new hires into Umega, from understanding resourcing, writing job adverts, carrying out interviews and onboarding
• Leading from the front and engaging in elements of the Portfolio Manager job - supporting your team and understanding the role from the front line perspective
• Taking part and supporting other managers in the weekly team meetings across the department ensuring communications are consistent and well-informed
• Keeping up to date with new legislation related to the Scottish PRS, making sure that the wider team are tuned-in to any new learnings
• Role-modeling our values at every opportunity - internally and externally

Your application needs to be punchy. Don’t hold back! Your CV should be fully up-to-date, and highlight the aspects of your career and the qualities and skills you possess which make you the best person for the Operations Manager role. Your cover letter is your opportunity to demonstrate what you plan to bring to the role if successful; what are the things you’re motivated by? What are you bringing to the table in terms of skills, ideas, expertise? Why do you feel you deserve this role, and why would we be mad not to hire you?

Applications without cover letters will not be considered.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

• Be part of a vibrant, growing company of great people, ranked in the top 100 small businesses to work for in the UK (Best Companies 2022)
• A beautiful office space in Quartermile (although we work in a hybrid setup with regular home-working)
• 32 days Annual Leave – pro-rata (and more when you stay with us for 2 years or longer)
• Casual Dress
• Company Pension
• Enhanced Parental Leave
• Employee Discounts
• Flexible Mon-Fri Schedule
• Cycle to work scheme
• Private Healthcare (Vitality)
• Enhanced Sick Pay
• Free tea, coffee, soft drinks fruit and regular treats
• Great social life
• Volunteering opportunities
• Regular performance reviews and 121 meetings
• …and more!

Before you send us your application, take a look at our website and social media to find out more about working at Umega.

Full-Time, Permanent Role

Start date – As soon as you are available – we can be flexible and we’ll wait for the right person.

Salary: £35,000+ (depending on experience)

– NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES, PLEASE –

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: From £35,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Casual dress
• Company events
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Enhanced maternity leave
• Enhanced paternity leave
• Paid volunteer time
• Private medical insurance
• Sick pay
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Edinburgh: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Experience:

• People Management: 5 years (preferred)
• Customer service: 5 years (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence (preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Edinburgh