Head Of Operations

Unite Students has a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Operations to join us in London.

Reporting to the Group Operations Director, the Head of Operations leads a divisional team of Regional General Managers and Regional Business Partners to deliver Unite Students` purpose: creating a Home for Success for students.

They are responsible for creating and executing appropriate divisional business strategies, as well as contributing to, and implementing wider business initiatives; they will develop key stakeholder and third-party relationships and maintain full control over their budgets.

They have full accountability for the end-to-end performance of their division; priorities include customer experience, employee engagement, safety, compliance, and net operating income. As a critical link to our Higher Education (HE) partners, the Head of Operations must also effectively balance the needs of Unite Students alongside the best outcomes for our partners whilst informing our overall city strategies to improve rental performance, asset performance and wider business growth.

As a member of the Operations Leadership Forum, they represent the views of the operational teams, our students, and key stakeholders.

What You`ll Be Doing

• Inputs into the creation of the operations strategy aligned to overall business objectives and translates this strategy into a divisional plan to meet performance expectations.
• Drives a performance culture that is obsessed about delivering the right outcomes for students, shareholders, and colleagues setting regional targets and KPIs (key performance indicators) to deliver the expected divisional performance in line with their balanced scorecard that forms the operations metrics.
• Builds and develops key external stakeholder relationships (especially with university partners) anticipating the needs of Higher Education and other sector bodies, helping to inform the business of potential risks, changing trends and providing market intelligence.
• Makes sure there is adherence to the Group Health and Safety policy and promotes a strong culture where Health and Safety and the welfare of staff and customers is of paramount importance.
• Acts as the ultimate brand ambassador, ensuring that Unite Students property and service standards are always being met, without exception, creating an environment where students feel safe, welcome, and comfortable.
• They use data and insights to understand performance and work with their teams to agree strategies that will lead to improved results, holding them, as well as supporting functions accountable to deliver agreed action plans.
• Manages their operating budgets efficiently, they ensure staffing is in line with our principles and focuses on productivity of their teams. Remaining budgets are used to deliver the best outcomes for our students` experience.
• Leads talent development within the division, encouraging performance management, considers succession plans and supports personal development of themselves and others, aligning with the Academy on group or individual needs.
• Recognises, celebrates and rewards teams and individuals that achieve exceptional results.
• They influence the prioritisation of capital investment and `behave as a customer would`, holding estates and projects teams accountable for their overall delivery against a plan, in a way that is both safe and sympathetic to the student experience whilst achieving good quality outcomes.

What We`re Looking for in You

• Operations experience - has extensive experience in a senior, multi-site management role.
• Matrix experience - management experience within a support function of a matrix organisation preferred.
• Inspirational - has the ability to uplift and encourage others to exceptional levels of performance
• Performance driven - is data literate and objective, able to use insights to drive accountability within teams and deliver results.
• Stakeholders - demonstrates strong people leadership skills and is seen to have the ability to engage senior leaders, including directors and executives.
• Communication - is clear in communication with key internal and external stakeholders and across a range of job families and grades.
• Property management - demonstrable knowledge of building management, driving profitability whilst maintaining the highest standards

What You`ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days`paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 100 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with 74,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.

Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are.

People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.

Room for Everyone

We`re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what`s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.

We are US.