Operations Optimisation Manager

Gray Dawes Travel is a multi-award winning, global travel management company with offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands and the United States. Established in 1865, we're constantly growing by using technology and our passion for what we do to keep evolving.

With a laser focus on offering our clients a high touch, high tech, high content experience, at Gray Dawes we're not just there to deliver the best corporate travel fares, the most innovative itineraries, the slickest online tools or the most experienced consultants. We're there as an extension of our clients' own organisations - their out-of-house travel department. We achieve this because of the depths we go to in understanding our clients, their culture, their brand values and business objectives. And we always deliver... better!

If this all sounds like something you want to be a part of then we'd like to hear from you. We offer a fantastic work environment, with all the benefits and perks you'd expect from a forward-thinking and people-focussed organisation. And we're always on the lookout for skilled and motivated individuals to become part of the Gray Dawes family.

Our people are at the heart of our business and we're recruiting for an experienced Operations Optimisation Manager. This role will be based at our Colchester office. This is an exciting time to join us as we're rapidly expanding our operations team. The Operations Optimisation Manager is responsible for analysing, improving and optimising operational performance across global Operations teams. Working closely with Operations, IT, Account Management and wider business functions, this role uses data, insight and process improvement methodologies to identify opportunities, improve efficiency and enhance customer and operational outcomes. The role will support the delivery of operational change initiatives, system improvements, reporting solutions and continuous improvement programmes, ensuring that operational teams have the right processes, tools and insights to deliver against business objectives. This role acts as the link between operational requirements and business solutions, ensuring changes are implemented effectively and deliver measurable improvements.

What You'll Do

Operational Optimisation & Continuous Improvement

• Review operational processes, workflows and ways of working to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Develop and implement best practice processes, ensuring documentation is maintained and regularly reviewed.
• Identify operational challenges, inefficiencies and risks through analysis and stakeholder feedback.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives and track progress against agreed actions.
• Conduct root cause analysis on operational issues, customer complaints and service failures, recommending improvements.

MI, Reporting & Performance Insights

• Create, maintain and improve operational dashboards and reporting tools.
• Deliver accurate MI reporting across key operational metrics including:

Productivity

SLA performance

Quality

Customer service performance

Agent/team performance

KPI achievement

• Provide regular reporting and insight to Operations Managers and key business stakeholders.
• Analyse performance trends and provide recommendations to improve operational outcomes.
• Support the creation and review of operational scorecards, ensuring targets remain measurable and achievable.

Change & Implementation Support

• Support the implementation of operational changes including:

New clients

New processes

IT upgrades

Telephony changes

Email platform enhancements

Operational technology improvements

• Act as the operational point of contact for change requests impacting teams.
• Gather business requirements and translate them into clear solutions and implementation plans.
• Support user acceptance testing (UAT), operational readiness and implementation reviews.
• Ensure appropriate communication, documentation and training requirements are considered.

Systems & Technology Optimisation

• Support the optimisation of operational systems and platforms.
• Act as an operational SME for contact centre technology, including telephony and email solutions.
• Support:

Agent skill configuration

Call routing updates

Templates and workflows

SLA configuration

Reporting requirements

• Work with IT teams to ensure technology solutions meet operational needs.

Workforce & Resource Optimisation

• Support workforce planning through analysis of operational demand, capacity and performance data.
• Assist with headcount modelling and resource planning.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency and resource utilisation.
• Provide insight to Operations teams to support effective decision-making.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong working relationships with Operations Managers, Account Managers, IT and business stakeholders.
• Provide clear analysis, recommendations and updates on operational performance.
• Support operational reviews and improvement meetings.
• Present findings and insights to relevant stakeholders.

What we're looking for

• Proven experience within an Operations, Contact Centre, Customer Service or Business Analysis environment.
• Experience analysing operational data and translating findings into practical improvements.
• Strong experience creating MI reports, dashboards and performance insights.
• Understanding of operational KPIs, SLAs and service performance measures.
• Experience supporting process improvement and operational change initiatives
• Experience working with operational systems, technology enhancements or implementation projects.
• Strong stakeholder management experience across multiple teams.
• Data analysis and reporting
• Dashboard creation and MI development
• Process mapping and optimisation
• Continuous improvement techniques
• Business analysis
• Requirements gathering
• Change implementation support
• Stakeholder management
• Root cause analysis
• Project coordination
• Operational performance management
• Systems and technology optimisation
• A proactive self-starter who takes ownership and drives improvements.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and changing operational environment.
• Positive mindset with a focus on finding solutions rather than highlighting problems.
• Able to influence stakeholders through evidence, insight and strong communication.
• Adaptable and willing to learn new systems, processes and business areas.
• Passionate about improving customer experience and operational performance.
• Demonstrates a continuous improvement mindset and looks for ways to make things better.

What We Can Offer

Our people are our heartbeats, driving everything that we do. We encourage our people to be their best selves, do the right thing, tell it like it is and be flexible. This opportunity will allow our new team members to be part of our journey as we expand in the global market. As we value our people, we offer a range of great benefits including;

Private Health Care (after probationary period has been completed)

Cash plan scheme (after probationary period has been completed, please note if Private Health Care is chosen, then employee will cover the cost of the cash plan scheme)

Group Life Cover (after probationary period has been completed)

EAP Scheme

Pension Scheme

Volunteering days

Travel Discounts

Shopping discounts

Christmas Savings Scheme

Season Ticket Loans