2nd Line Operations Manager

Location: Leeds Hybrid

Salary: 60000

About us

At Arbor were on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better.

We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesnt mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day.

Our MIS and School Management Tools are already making a difference in over 7000 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff turning data into clear actionable insights and supporting happier working days.

At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today arent just about efficiency outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education everyday: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work as well as learn.

About the role

We are looking for a 2nd Line Operations Manager to own the customer experience for 2nd Line Support.

This role will manager coach and develop a team of managers leading the 2nd Line Support function as well as be responsible for our problem and incident management process along with the corresponding SLAs and work closely with other Support Operations Managers and our Product and Engineering Teams to ensure we provide the best experience for our customers.

Core responsibilities

• Line manage and coach 2nd line Team Leads and a Delivery Manager delivering monthly 1-1s termly performance reviews and individual development plans to ensure the success of the team
• Implement best practices across the 2nd Line team aligned with ITIL to reduce the number of incidents and problems per school and improve mean time to repair
• Own performance against incident SLAs ensuring to always champion our customers
• Drive a strong relationship between 2nd Line Support and the Product and Engineering teams working collaboratively on incident and problem management
• Represent the Customer Team during major incidents and produce customer facing Post-mortems for sign off by the Head of Support
• Own the 2nd Line strategy for hiring training quality checking and monitoring performance
• Use data to identify opportunities to improve processes and reduce incoming tickets within Support
• Act as an escalation point for customers where needed and ensure complaints are resolved within SLAs and the customer is satisfied with the resolution
• Produce some daily weekly and monthly reporting and MI for the Head of Support
• Work collaboratively with Resource Planning to assist with forecasting and team right sizing
• Carry out regular quality calibrations with Team Leads on a sample of tickets giving regular constructive feedback and coaching
• Lead all second stage interviews for new 2nd Line Analysts
• Contribute to Customer Team & Support Team planning putting forward any ideas to streamline process and reduce costs
• Identify where customers may be at risk following the risk process to produce clear mitigation plans when needed
• Produce recommendations for improving the customer experience and own the implementation and delivery of any initiatives at 2nd Line working closely with Customer Operations where necessary
• Help with managing other teams within Support should the need arise due to absence etc.
• Consistently represent and work in line with company values
• Resolve or refer queries to relevant stakeholders across Arbor as necessary

About you

Were looking for a practical and proactive Designer who has experience turning complex requirements into intuitive elegant solutions that solve real user problems. Beyond that wed love to see:

• 5 years experience as a team lead in a 2nd line or service delivery function
• Experience working in B2B SaaS and understanding of cloud based architecture
• ITIL qualified with demonstrable experience of effective incident and problem management
• Able to motivate other leaders of varied levels of knowledge and background
• Demonstrable experience managing the customer facing response to major incidents
• An outstanding communicator with the ability to disseminate information clearly and effectively with stakeholders of all levels
• Experience setting clear goals/objectives for both individuals and teams
• Confident reporting achievements and challenges faced within the team to the wider business
• Can demonstrate strong commercial awareness
• Passionate commitment to providing high quality customer service

What we offer

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working passionate people in a role where youll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:

• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness lunch n learns manager training mental health first aid training and much more!
• 32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company wide days given over Easter Summer & Christmas
• Life Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary
• Comprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service Mental health support Counselling and personalised Health Checks
• Private Dental Insurance with Bupa
• Salary sacrifice Pension provided by Scottish Widows
• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay
• 5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!
• Access to services such as Calm and Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching)
• All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you
• Social committees that plan team office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success
• Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses upskilling resources professional memberships etc)
• Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year

Interview process

1. Phone screen
2. 1st stage interview
3. 2nd stage with presentation

We are committed to a fair and comfortable recruitment process so if you require any reasonable adjustments during your application or interview process please reach out to a member of the team at .

Our commitment is also backed by our partnership with Neurodiversity Consultancy Lexxic who provide us with training support and advice.

Arbor Education is an equal opportunities organisation

Our goal is for Arbor to be a workplace which represents celebrates and supports people from all backgrounds and which gives them the tools they need to thrive - whatever their ambitions may be so we support and promote diversity and equality and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

Refer a friend

Know someone else who would be good for this role You can refer a friend family member or colleague if they are offered a role with Arbor we will say thank you with a voucher valued up to 200! Simply email:

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.