Facilities Management Helpdesk Deputy Manager (Whitbread Contract)
Job Title: Facilities Management Helpdesk Deputy Manager (Whitbread Contract)
Location: Milton Keynes
Ostara Systems is looking to recruit an experienced Helpdesk Deputy Manager for an office-based role in Milton Keynes to support the delivery of a high-performing 24/7 Facilities Management Helpdesk, servicing over 1,400 Whitbread sites (Premier Inn, Beefeater, and other brands).
The successful candidate will drive a customer-centric Helpdesk service, leading a team responsible for critical reactive maintenance support, performance, and administration to keep our client’s operations running smoothly.
This is a hands-on, office-based leadership role, working closely with the client and internal teams to strengthen relationships, manage escalations, and ensure we consistently exceed expectations within a fast-paced and demanding FM environment.
Overview of Duties:
1. Help to determine call centre strategies by conducting needs assessments, performance reviews, capacity planning, and cost/benefit analysis. Identify and evaluate appropriate technologies.
2. Maintain and improve call centre operations by monitoring system and call performance. Identify and resolve problems. Prepare and complete action plans. Complete system audits and analysis. Manage system and process improvement and quality assurance programs.
3. Meet call centre financial objectives by estimating requirements. Analyse cost variances to budget. Initiate corrective actions.
4. Prepare call centre performance reports by collating, analysing, and summarizing data and trends.
5. Lead escalation management, ensuring urgent and high-risk jobs are prioritised, resolved, and communicated effectively to senior stakeholders.
6. Support out-of-hours operations by overseeing weekend and evening performance and being a key point of contact for major incidents.
7. Continuously assess contract delivery performance and implement improvement strategies in line with client feedback and evolving needs.
Responsibilities:
1. Delivery of services in line with contract KPI’s/SLA’s.
2. Managing the daily running of the call centre, including effective resource planning, and implementing call centre strategies and operations.
3. Ensuring all relevant communications, records, and data are maintained.
4. Development of client relationships to ensure retention of contract and future opportunities.
5. Liaising with supervisors, team leaders, operatives, and third parties to gather information and resolve issues.
6. Monitoring call quality, tracking performance, identifying areas for improvement, and conducting performance reviews to ensure staff development and training needs are met. This includes coaching and motivating.
7. Attendance at regular meetings with both internal management and the client.
8. Coordinating staff recruitment, including writing vacancy advertisements and interviewing potential candidates.
9. Organising staffing, including shift patterns and the number of staff required to meet demand.
10. Handling the more complex customer complaints or enquiries. Ownership of escalation procedures, ensuring high-risk or business-critical issues are promptly resolved and communicated clearly to both the client and internal stakeholders.
11. Monitoring contractor performance, highlighting repeated failures, and working with the client and contractors to address issues.
12. Supporting the Helpdesk Manager with resource planning to manage peaks in demand, particularly during seasonal pressures and project rollouts.
13. Proactively identifying service risks and leading incident reviews to prevent recurrence.
Requirements:
1. Previous experience within a similar role (within the same sector would be beneficial).
2. Strong customer focus and excellent telephone manner.
3. Ability to work well in teams.
4. Leadership skills and the ability to motivate and develop staff.
5. Desire to help others work towards targets and develop their skills.
6. Confidence and a good business sense.
7. Ability to set, meet, and exceed targets.
8. Focused and self-motivated approach to work.
9. A good understanding of why kindness matters.
10. Ability to manage change.
11. Proven experience managing escalations and high-priority incidents (within a Facilities Management environment preferred).
12. Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience working directly with senior client representatives in high-pressure situations.
13. A calm, solutions-focused approach to problem-solving, particularly during out-of-hours operations.
14. Experience of working on large, multi-site contracts with complex operational demands (desirable).
Comprehensive benefits package, including pension, healthcare, and death in service following successful completion of a probation period.
Opportunities for progression within a growing business.
Comprehensive training and development plans, including leadership coaching.
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