Operations Manager

Operations Manager, Birmingham Depot

Location: Birmingham (on-site)

Salary: £46,000 to £52,000, depending on experience

Contract: Full-time, permanent

About the role

Our client is an established name in industrial products and recycled materials. They need a practical, visible Operations Manager to run their Birmingham depot, a busy outdoor yard and processing site supplying both local and group customers.

This is a role for someone who prefers the yard to the desk. You’ll spend much of your day on site, leading a team of around 25 staff, yard and production operatives and admin staff, and working as the Site Leads right hand.

The business has a strong record of promoting from within, so there is a genuine route into senior depot or general management for the right person.

What you’ll be doing

• Running the depot day to day, from material coming in to processing to going out
• Coordinating collections, drivers and vehicle movements so inbound and outbound loads stay on plan
• Working alongside the yard/production supervisor to keep things moving, particularly when plans change
• Walking the site regularly to check loads, equipment and housekeeping
• Covering for the General Manager during leave or absence, including local commercial decisions within agreed limits

The workforce combines long-serving employees with newer joiners. You’ll need to respect the experience in the team while challenging constructively when standards slip.

Key responsibilities

Operational leadership

• Set and own the daily plan covering collections, tipping and processing, and load-outs
• Deploy drivers, yard staff and admin so the right people are in the right place at the right time
• Keep yard layout, stock locations and loading bays under control to prevent bottlenecks

Transport and yard coordination

• Work with the transport team to schedule collections and deliveries around processing capacity and customer needs
• Respond quickly to delays, breakdowns and absences, reprioritising drivers and loads to protect service and cost

People management

• Lead a varied team with a wide spread of backgrounds and lengths of service
• Set clear expectations, give regular feedback and address performance or conduct issues promptly
• Foster a culture that suits a tough industrial setting while keeping standards and procedures front of mind

Health, safety, compliance and standards

• Drive a strong safety culture covering traffic management, housekeeping, equipment use and PPE
• Make sure procedures are understood and followed, and the site is always ready for audit
• Support the environmental and waste compliance requirements that apply to the depot

Commercial awareness

• Handle everyday commercial conversations when covering for the GM, such as straightforward pricing with local customers within agreed frameworks
• Monitor site cost drivers (overtime, vehicle utilisation, waste, rework) and support improvement initiatives

About you

• Proven operational leadership in a relevant setting, such as recycling, waste management, MRF/transfer stations, or heavy industry or manufacturing with yard-based operations
• A track record of being hands-on and present in the operation rather than managing from spreadsheets and emails
• Experience leading mixed teams of drivers, yard/production staff and administrators, ideally 15 to 30 people
• A strong health and safety mindset, and experience holding standards in demanding industrial environments
• The confidence to deputise for your manager, make sound decisions and represent the site to colleagues and local customers
• Good organisation, able to juggle collections, processing and outbound loads without losing the detail
• A direct, clear communication style that earns respect from long-serving staff and brings newer starters with you
• A continuous improvement outlook, spotting small gains and seeing them through

Candidates from distribution or warehouse-only backgrounds may be considered if they can show clear success in tough, outdoor, yard-based operations rather than purely indoor DCs.

Why join?

• Real ownership of a live, complex depot, not just one part of the process
• A business with a strong record of internal progression across depots and group roles
• The chance to work closely with an experienced General Manager and a senior team who understand the sector and value hands-on operators
• Scope to shape culture and standards at a key site

If you’re an operations leader who thrives in real-world industrial environments and wants to run a busy depot from end to end, we’d like to hear from you.