Head of Operations & Performance
Location: Hybrid – Farnborough, Hampshire, with office attendance according to business needs
Salary: £55,000–£70,000, depending on experience, plus performance-related bonus
Contract: Full-time, permanent
Reporting to: Founder and Managing Director
About UK HGV
UK HGV is a successful and ambitious driver-training business generating approximately £2.2 million in annual turnover, with a team of 12 and consistent month-on-month growth.
We have built a strong commercial operation and believe the company has the potential to become significantly larger. We are now investing in the systems, leadership structure and operational foundations needed to support the next stage of growth.
Our current transformation programme includes rebuilding our Salesforce customer journey, migrating communications to Twilio, developing AI-supported booking and customer-service automation, improving lead allocation and sales performance, strengthening financial workflows and establishing clearer accountability throughout the company.
We are now looking for an exceptional Head of Operations & Performance to work directly alongside the Founder and help turn this vision into structured, measurable execution.
The opportunity
This is not a traditional back-office operations position.
You will become the Founder’s principal operational partner, helping to prioritise opportunities, coordinate the team and external specialists, establish company-wide accountability and ensure important projects are implemented properly and completed.
The Founder will continue to lead the company’s vision, commercial direction and growth strategy. You will create the structure, operating rhythm and performance management needed to turn that direction into results.
This is an opportunity to play a significant role in scaling an established and profitable business, while helping to build an operating model that could eventually support further companies and acquisitions.
Key responsibilities
You will:
- Work directly with the Founder to convert ideas, opportunities and business priorities into clear plans, owners and deadlines.
- Create and maintain one company-wide operational and development plan.
- Establish an effective weekly management rhythm across the business.
- Coordinate sales, customer service, bookings, finance and external technical partners.
- Ensure decisions and projects progress through to tested and verified completion.
- Introduce clear departmental responsibilities, service standards and accountability.
- Identify operational bottlenecks, commercial leakage and opportunities to improve performance.
- Build and maintain practical processes and standard operating procedures.
- Support managers in improving team performance, communication and execution.
- Produce concise management reporting, highlighting results, risks, blockers and decisions required from the Founder.
- Develop the company’s operational structure as it continues to grow.
Performance and KPI ownership
A major part of the role will be creating accurate and useful performance visibility across the company.
You will establish and oversee KPIs covering areas such as:
- Revenue, sales and gross-profit performance
- Advertising expenditure and lead volumes
- Cost per lead and customer acquisition cost
- Marketing performance by channel
- Speed to first contact and lead-contact rates
- Lead-to-sale conversion by source and salesperson
- Customer-service response and resolution times
- Booking volumes and customer journey progression
- Payment performance and operational exceptions
- Staff performance, capacity and productivity
- Project delivery against agreed deadlines
You will not necessarily be expected to personally run advertising campaigns or configure technical systems. However, you will be expected to understand the relevant performance data, challenge internal and external specialists, and ensure marketing, sales and operations work together profitably.
Systems and transformation
You will help lead and coordinate a substantial programme of systems and process development, including:
- Salesforce customer-journey development
- Twilio telephony and messaging
- Customer-service case management
- Booking and support automation
- AI-assisted customer communication
- Lead allocation and remarketing
- Management dashboards and reporting
- Finance and payment workflows
You do not need to be a Salesforce developer or technical engineer. You must, however, be confident managing technical specialists, defining business requirements, challenging proposed solutions and ensuring completed work genuinely meets the company’s needs.
About you
You will ideally have:
- Significant experience leading operations within a founder-led SME or scaling service business.
- Experience working in a company with approximately £1 million–£10 million in turnover.
- A strong record of turning ambitious plans into completed operational improvements.
- Experience managing people across multiple departments or functions.
- Strong commercial judgement and confidence working with sales, marketing and financial data.
- Experience establishing KPIs, management reporting and accountability.
- Experience leading cross-functional systems, CRM, automation or process-improvement projects.
- The confidence to challenge the Founder constructively while remaining aligned with the company’s direction.
- The ability to move comfortably between strategic planning and detailed hands-on execution.
- Excellent organisation, communication and follow-through.
- A strong sense of personal ownership and urgency.
Previous experience in HGV training is not required. Experience in a high-volume service, training, education, recruitment, automotive or customer-journey-led business may be advantageous.
The person we are looking for
You may be a Head of Operations, Senior Operations Manager, Business Operations Lead or experienced operational leader ready to take broader ownership within an ambitious business.
You will enjoy bringing order to complexity, building strong teams, improving commercial performance and making things happen.
This position will suit someone who wants to become instrumental in a company’s growth—not someone looking only to advise from the sidelines or delegate execution to others.
What we offer
- Salary of £55,000–£70,000, depending on experience.
- Performance-related bonus linked to agreed company and operational outcomes.
- A direct working relationship with the Founder and Managing Director.
- Genuine influence over the company’s future operating model.
- The opportunity to build a leadership function rather than inherit a rigid corporate structure.
- Significant scope for professional progression as the company grows.
- A hybrid working arrangement with regular attendance at our Farnborough office according to business needs.
How to apply
Please submit your CV together with a short covering note explaining:
- The most relevant founder-led or scaling business you have worked within.
- An operational problem or stalled project you personally took ownership of and completed.
- A measurable improvement you delivered in revenue, profitability, efficiency, customer service or team performance.
- Your salary expectations, notice period and availability for work in Farnborough.
Applicants must have the right to work in the United Kingdom.
Pay: £55,000.00-£70,000.00 per year
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Farnborough GU14 7NA
