Operations Supervisor

Role Purpose

The Operations Supervisor is responsible for the end-to-end run of the organisation's service delivery engine—turning strategy into reliable, scalable execution. The role leads daily operations, standard operating procedures (SOPs), resource and capacity planning, vendor management, quality assurance, and operational risk and compliance. The remit covers both education programme delivery (executive education) and consulting enablement, with a strong emphasis on digitisation, data-driven decisions, and cross-functional orchestration across Commercial, Curriculum, HR, Finance, and Technology.

Key Responsibilities

1) Operations Strategy & Governance

• Translate annual and quarterly objectives into an executable operations plan with milestones, budget, KPIs, and risk registers.
• Chair the weekly Operations Stand-up; coordinate cross-functional workstream reviews (Sales → Delivery → Finance → Reporting).
• Own the Operations Playbook: policies, SOPs, templates, RACI/authority matrix, and version control.
• Establish and maintain the master operational calendar (launches, cohorts, programme runs, blackout dates, Tuesday non-operational policy, holidays).

2) Programme & Service Delivery

• Build and run the master schedule for all programmes (up to 5 concurrent classes), ensuring instructor allocation, venue/virtual room readiness, materials, and learner communications.
• Manage cohort operations: enrolment verification, timetables, faculty onboarding, attendance, assessments logistics, CPD evidence collation, and certificate issuance workflows.
• Ensure learner success operations: helpdesk SLAs, session reminders, substitutions/escalations, satisfaction surveys (NPS/CSAT), and issue resolution.

3) Commercial Handover (Sales-to-Collection)

• Operate the contract-to-delivery handover: verify scope, dates, SLAs, pricing, invoicing milestones, and data capture in CRM/ERP.
• Track delivery progress against contractual obligations, change requests, and acceptance criteria; secure delivery sign-offs.
• Coordinate billing triggers with Finance; monitor receivables, collections status, and dispute resolution with Account Owners.

4) Procurement-to-Pay & Vendor Management

• Map and enforce the procurement-to-pay cycle in line with Finance (supplier selection, due diligence, POs, GRNs, 3-way match).
• Negotiate and manage vendors (platforms/LMS, venues, printing, travel, translators, catering); maintain approved vendor list and SLAs.
• Monitor vendor performance and cost-to-serve; drive savings without compromising quality.
• Establish a robust Vendor Sourcing Strategy, including market scouting for niche providers, evaluating new technologies/partners (e.g., AI translation tools, specialised remote proctoring), and maintaining a pipeline of pre-vetted alternatives.
• Develop a tiered Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) framework (Strategic, Tactical, Commodity) to foster stronger partnerships and secure preferential terms/dedicated support for mission-critical services.
• Lead regular business reviews with strategic vendors to align roadmaps, drive co-innovation, and ensure vendor capabilities scale ahead of organisational demand.

5) SOPs, Quality Assurance & Compliance

• Design, document, and audit SOPs across operations; embed continuous improvement (Lean, Kaizen).
• Implement QMS checklists for each delivery phase; conduct after-action reviews and publish corrective/preventive actions (CAPA).
• Ensure compliance with CPD requirements, NDAs, data protection, and internal policies.

6) Capacity, Workforce & Scheduling

• Build capacity models for instructors and internal teams; plan utilisation within constraints (class size 30–35; concurrency ≤5).
• Monitor load balancing, overtime risks, and succession/backup plans; maintain an instructor/SME bench.
• Coordinate with HR for hiring plans based on demand forecasts.

7) Data, Systems & Digitisation

• Own the operational data model and single source of truth (CRM LMS Finance/ERP HRIS).
• Define and govern data standards (naming, IDs, metadata); ensure timely, accurate reporting dashboards.
• Oversee tooling: project management (e.g., Asana/Jira), CRM (e.g., HubSpot/Salesforce), LMS (e.g., Moodle/Canvas), Finance (e.g., Xero/QuickBooks), BI (e.g., Power BI/Tableau), and cloud productivity (Google Workspace/Microsoft 365).

8) Risk, Business Continuity & Security

• Maintain operational risk register (capacity, instructor no-show, platform outages, vendor failure).
• Define business continuity playbooks: failover instructors, rescheduling protocols, platform redundancy, and communications templates.
• Coordinate with Legal/Compliance on contracts, NDAs, data handling, and incident response.

9) Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Serve as primary liaison for operational matters with the CEO and function heads.
• Provide weekly executive dashboards and monthly operations reviews with insights and actions.

Engage key clients during delivery on escalations, SLAs, and acceptance.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business/Management, or related discipline.
• 7–10 years' experience in service operations, preferably in executive education, training, or professional services/consulting across MENA/UK contexts.
• Proven leadership of multi-stakeholder delivery environments (remote-first teams).
• Demonstrable experience building SOPs, capacity models, and running cross-functional cadences.
• Fluency in English;