Customer Operations Manager, Student Accommodation

Job Purpose

Student Accommodation is part of the Hospitality and Accommodation Services directorate at the University of Birmingham and it provides accommodation for over 5000 students across three student villages for predominantly 1st year undergraduate and postgraduate students. The majority of student accommodation has been developed or refurbished in the past ten years at and investment in excess of £150m, with a further c200 bed spaces due to come into management this year.

The Customer Operations Manager will have responsibility for the delivery of the customer facing elements of accommodation service to all students, guests and visitors of the University of Birmingham. The role has been created to ensure that excellent and coordinated customer care is provided at all times across all three villages.

Reporting to the General Manager, you will lead a customer service team to ensure that students and other residents have a great residential experience. Specifically you will be responsible for ensuring that the reception and night teams are supported and developed to provide a highly efficient and seamless 24 hour service. You will also have responsibility for certain elements of the student experience in accommodation, including international students and resident students under the age of eighteen.

You will work alongside the General Manager and Deputy General Manager to form a senior management team which oversees all elements of the accommodation experience.

Person Specification

• • You will have management level experience, ideally within a residential or facilities environment.
• • Ideally you will have front of house experience within a service environment and experience of managing successful projects with limited guidance and educated to degree level or holding equivalent experience/qualifications.
• • You will be passionate about delivering the best residential experience for your residents/guests.
• • You will have experience in investigating and resolving problems that arise in a residential service environment, dealing with complaints and ensuring satisfactory resolution.
• • You will be competent in IT skills, have excellent literacy and numeracy and excellent spoken and written English.
• • You will have the ability to recognise future stars and a real ‘can do’ attitude and a desire to be ‘the best’ in what we do.
• • Your hours of work will be flexible and as required to meet the demands of a business that can have a changeable pattern across the year, including the occasional requirement to work night shifts to ensure a good understanding of their work and challenges.
• • You will also be required to be on call on a rota basis overnight and at weekends and to attend work to resolve or manage issues that can only be dealt with by a manager of your grade and seniority.