Operations Support Manager

Summary:

IAM RoadSmart is committed to delivering an excellent, consistent, and accessible service to its members and customers throughout their relationship with the organisation.

The Operations Support Manager is responsible for the effective day-to-day delivery and continuous improvement of operational support services, ensuring that customer needs are met efficiently, accurately and in line with organisational objectives.

This role leads the Operations Support team to deliver high-quality customer service, optimise operational performance and maximise the effective use of people, systems, and resources. It champions a culture of customer service excellence, continuous improvement, data-led decision-making, and digital innovation.

The key aspect of the role is to ensure the Operations Support team deliver day to day adherence to the organisations Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) thereby achieving excellence in customer service.

Working collaboratively across IAM RoadSmart, the Operations Manager will improve end-to-end customer journeys, enhance employee capability, support business growth, and deliver measurable improvements in productivity and customer experience. This role will ensure that modern technologies and ways of working are implemented effectively, with appropriate quality, security, governance, and human oversight.

Key responsibilities

Operational Leadership and Performance

* Lead the day-to-day management and service delivery of the Operations Support team, ensuring all standards, customer expectations and business objectives are consistently achieved.

* Monitor and manage key performance indicators (KPIs), including service levels, response and resolution times, productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, and operational backlogs.

* Use operational data, management information and performance dashboards to identify trends, anticipate demand, address performance gaps, and inform timely decisions.

* Optimise resource allocation and workforce planning in response to business volumes, forecast demand, seasonal fluctuations, and changing service requirements.

* Establish clear objectives, performance expectations, and accountability across the team, supporting individual development and collective achievement.

* Identify and manage operational risks, escalating issues where appropriate and ensuring service continuity and resilience.

Process Excellence and Automation

*Lead the identification, assessment and prioritisation of opportunities to simplify, standardise, and automate operational processes across the customer journey.

*Challenge existing ways of working, identifying repetitive manual tasks, duplication, unnecessary hand-offs, avoidable customer contact, and other sources of operational inefficiency.

*Develop and maintain a prioritised pipeline of process improvement, AI, and automation initiatives, supported by clear business cases, delivery plans, expected benefits, and measures of success.

*Work with relevant business and technology stakeholders to implement appropriate automation and AI-enabled solutions, including workflow automation, automated communications, intelligent document processing, knowledge management, and AI-assisted customer support where suitable.

*Identify opportunities to use AI and digital tools to support enquiry categorisation, information retrieval, response drafting, quality assurance, trend analysis, and operational reporting.

*Ensure fresh solutions are appropriately evaluated, documented, and monitored, with suitable human oversight, exception handling, and escalation routes.

*Measure the benefits of process changes and automation, including time saved, reduced manual effort, improved accuracy, increased capacity, cost avoidance, and enhanced customer experience.

*Promote the effective, responsible, and secure use of approved AI and digital tools, working within organisational policies and applicable data protection, information security, and governance requirements.

Customer Service Improvement

*Champion a customer-first approach, ensuring that operational processes are designed around the needs of members and customers.

*Review end-to-end customer journeys and contact drivers to identify opportunities to reduce customer dissatisfaction, improve accessibility and deliver more consistent experience.

*Use customer feedback, complaints, contact trends, and service performance data to identify root causes and implement sustainable improvements.

*Identify opportunities for proactive customer engagement, clearer communications, improved self-service and reduced avoidable contact.

*Ensure that process improvements and automation enhance rather than compromise customer service, retaining appropriate human support for complex, sensitive, or exceptional cases.

*Collaborate with other departments to resolve cross-functional issues and improve overall customer experience.

People Leadership and Capability Development

*Lead, coach, and develop the Operations Support team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.

*Set clear individual and team objectives, conduct regular performance reviews, and provide constructive feedback and development opportunities.

*Identify current and future skills requirements, including digital confidence, data literacy, process improvement, and the effective use of AI-enabled tools.

*Ensure team members have the knowledge, training, systems, and resources required to perform their roles effectively.

*Maintain and improve product, service and process knowledge through effective knowledge management, cross-functional collaboration, and structured training.

*Engage employees in identifying improvement opportunities and support the adoption of new processes, systems, and technologies through effective change management.

Systems, Data and Cross-Functional Collaboration

*Work collaboratively with IT, digital, data, compliance, and other business functions to identify operational requirements and deliver effective system and process improvements.

*Act as the operational lead for relevant system enhancements, ensuring business needs, customer outcomes and user experience are reflected in requirements and implementation decisions.

*Promote the effective use of CRM systems, workflow tools, reporting platforms and approved productivity and AI applications.

*Improve the quality, consistency, and accessibility of operational data, ensuring that management information supports reliable decision-making.

*Maintain clear process documentation, standard operating procedures, knowledge resources, and controls to support consistency, resilience, and scalability.

*Share operational insights and best practice across the organisation, supporting wider business transformation and improvement initiatives.

Capacity Planning, Change and Business Growth

*Develop operational capacity and resource plans that reflect forecast demand, business growth, service changes, and new initiatives.

*Assess the operational impact of new products, services, processes, and customer engagement activities, including member welcome calls where required.

*Identify opportunities to increase capacity and scalability through improved workflows, technology, automation, and effective workforce deployment.

*Support the planning and implementation of operational change, ensuring appropriate stakeholder engagement, training, testing, and post-implementation review.

*Contribute to departmental planning, budgeting, and business cases, demonstrating the expected operational, customer and financial benefits of proposed improvements.

Governance, Quality and Continuous Improvement

*Ensure operational activities comply with relevant organisational policies, procedures, quality standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.

*Maintain appropriate controls over customer data, system access, automated processes, and AI-enabled activities.

*Ensure operational changes are subject to proportionate risk assessment, testing, approval, and ongoing monitoring.

*Monitor service quality and implement corrective and preventive actions to address recurring errors, control weaknesses, and customer issues.

*Maintain a structured approach to continuous improvement, tracking actions, outcomes, lessons learned and realised benefits.

*Ensure processes and controls remain effective as operational services, technology and business requirements evolve.

Person specification

Essential knowledge and experience

*Demonstrable experience of operational management within a customer service, contact centre or customer support environment, including experience leading teams and managing performance.

·Proven ability to improve operational processes, increase efficiency and deliver measurable improvements in service quality and productivity.

·Experience using operational KPIs, management information and data analysis to identify trends, support decisions and improve performance.

·Strong IT and digital skills, including Microsoft 365 applications, Excel, CRM systems, and operational reporting tools.

·Understanding workflow improvement, process mapping, standardisation, and the opportunities presented by automation and AI.

·Experience of supporting or delivering operational change, system improvements, or technology-enabled initiatives.

·Understanding of quality management, risk management, and operational controls, with knowledge of ISO standards or equivalent quality frameworks desirable.

·Experience of resource planning, workload management, and the effective deployment of operational capacity.

·Ability to work collaboratively across departments, translating operational requirements into practical improvements.

Essential skills and behaviours

*Leadership and people development: Sets clear expectations, motivates others, builds capability, and supports employees through change.

*Customer focus: Understands customer needs and ensures decision-making efficiency, quality, accessibility, and service excellence.

*Digital and Automated mindset: Actively identifies opportunities to use approved digital tools, AI, and automation to improve how work is performed.

*Data-led decision-making: Interprets operational data, challenges assumptions, and uses evidence to prioritise actions and evaluate outcomes.

*Continuous improvement: Questions established practices, identifies root causes and develops sustainable, measurable solutions.

*Change management: Communicates the rationale for change, engages stakeholders, and supports the successful adoption of new processes and technologies.

*Communication and collaboration: Communicates clearly and confidently with colleagues at all levels, adapting style to different audiences.

*Planning and organisation: Prioritises competing demands, manages resources effectively and delivers commitments within agreed timescales.

*Problem-solving and judgement: Evaluates options, manages ambiguity, and makes sound decisions, escalating issues when appropriate.

*Commercial awareness: Understands the relationship between operational performance, resource costs, business growth, and customer value.

*Resilience and adaptability: Responds constructively to changing circumstances, emerging technologies, and evolving business priorities.

*Governance and accountability: Recognises the importance of data protection, information security, quality controls, and responsible technology use.