Contract Manager
£43,000 per annum
Location: Northern England (Travel across the Northern Trains network required, company Vehicle provided) Although this role is home based, there will be travelling to sites required.
Are you an experienced contract or operations manager who thrives on building strong client relationships, driving performance and delivering exceptional service?
At APCOA, we're looking for a proactive and commercially minded Contract Manager to lead the delivery of our Northern Trains contract. This is an exciting opportunity to take ownership of a high-profile operation, working closely with our client and internal teams to ensure outstanding service, operational excellence and continuous improvement across a diverse portfolio of sites.
If you're passionate about leadership, customer service and making a real impact, we'd love to hear from you.
What you'll be doing:
You will manage the day-to-day delivery of APCOA parking services across the Northern Trains estate, ensuring safe, reliable and contract-compliant operations across a geographically dispersed portfolio. The postholder will be the principal day-to-day operational contact for Northern Trains, maintain ownership of operational issues and use sound judgement to balance planned activity, reactive faults, client requests, reporting and commercial priorities.
This role requires practical technical confidence. The postholder will attend sites, assess and accurately record equipment issues, carry out safe first-line checks or basic recovery actions within their competence, and coordinate specialist engineering support where required.
You'll be responsible for:
- Plan and undertake regular visits to Northern Trains stations and car parks across Northern England, using a risk- and performance-based approach to prioritise activity.
- Inspect operational standards, asset condition, signage, cleanliness, customer journeys and compliance; record findings and drive actions to completion.
- Respond to faults involving parking payment equipment, CCTV, ANPR, barriers, access-control systems, intercoms, communications equipment and related car park technology.
- Complete safe first-line fault assessment and appropriate basic recovery actions within competence; capture accurate symptoms, evidence and asset details before escalation.
- Triage and log faults through the correct process, mobilise internal resources, suppliers or specialist engineers and retain ownership until service is restored and the record is closed.
- Establish, maintain and monitor PPM schedules and reactive maintenance activity, ensuring contractual timescales and asset availability targets are achieved.
- Maintain accurate asset, fault, maintenance and consumables records and identify recurring failure trends or opportunities to improve reliability
- .Act as APCOA’s principal contact for day-to-day Northern Trains operational queries, meetings and service issues; escalate material commercial, legal or strategic matters to the Director of Rail Services.
- Build trusted working relationships with Northern Trains stakeholders while setting clear expectations, communicating risk and maintaining professional boundaries under pressure.
- Monitor performance against contractual KPIs, SLAs, response times and local agreements; implement recovery plans where performance falls below target.
- Manage competing client priorities and multiple live issues across a wide geography, making timely decisions with limited day-to-day supervision.
- Support the investigation of complaints by reviewing records, evidence and relevant operational information, and provide clear responses or recommendations.
Coordinate internal and external stakeholders to deliver agreed actions and maintain a visible, accurate action log.
Reporting, insight and continuous improvement
- Produce accurate and timely operational reports, performance packs, action plans and management information for APCOA and Northern Trains.
- Analyse service, fault, maintenance, revenue and customer data to identify trends, root causes and priority improvements.
- Undertake operational and continuous-improvement audits and verify that corrective actions are embedded.
- Share best practice across the contract and recommend practical changes to processes, assets, suppliers or site standards.
- Maintain complete and auditable records in line with APCOA and client procedures.
- Monitor and control expenditure within the approved contract budget, delegated authority and APCOA financial procedures; challenge cost and act on variance.
- Support delivery of budgeted revenue, operating profit and cost-efficiency targets, providing forecasts or explanations as required.
- Check that invoices, purchase orders, supplier charges and revenue records are accurate and processed in accordance with Company procedures.
- Support appropriate commercial initiatives, tariff reviews, marketing activity or business-improvement opportunities where these align with client objectives and contractual governance.
- Complete required weekly, periodic and quarterly H&S inspections and ensure actions are recorded, assigned and closed.
- Complete and review risk assessments and associated documentation in accordance with APCOA and client requirements.
- Investigate incidents, accidents and occurrences within authority, ensuring timely reporting, corrective action and appropriate escalation.
- Promote safe working at all times, including lone working, driving, contractor control and work at railway or other safety-critical locations.
- Maintain applicable APCOA quality, environmental, data-protection, security and compliance standards and keep abreast of relevant legislative or contractual changes.
- Respect APCOA and client confidentiality at all times.
- Work collaboratively with the APCOA Rail Services and CPS teams and the wider Finance, HR, L&D, Customer Service, IT, Business Development, Risk and H&S functions.
- Coordinate contractors and suppliers, clarify deliverables and verify service completion and quality.
- Provide practical support and direction to colleagues involved in contract delivery and, where applicable, supervise or coordinate a small field team.
- Plan personal workload and travel efficiently, remaining responsive to urgent operational requirements.
About you:
We're looking for someone who combines operational expertise with excellent relationship management skills.
You'll ideally have:
- Substantial experience in a field-based, multi-site contract, operations, service-delivery or maintenance-support role.
- Practical experience supporting technical equipment or operational assets. Suitable experience may come from parking equipment, CCTV/ANPR, security or access control, EV charging, ticketing, telecoms, vending/payment equipment, facilities plant or a comparable environment.
- Experience assessing or triaging equipment faults, managing reactive maintenance and coordinating contractors, suppliers or specialist engineers through to resolution.
- Client-facing responsibility for service delivery, including monitoring KPIs or SLAs and implementing recovery action.
- Evidence of independently prioritising competing operational issues across a large geographic area while maintaining accurate records and communication.
- Experience producing operational reports and using performance data to identify trends and actions.
- Experience of budget monitoring, expenditure control or cost management.
- Experience applying H&S requirements in an operational or field environment.
- Parking, rail or wider transport-sector experience.
- Direct experience of parking payment systems, CCTV, ANPR, barriers, access control, intercoms or related communications equipment.
- Experience establishing or managing PPM schedules and technical asset records.
- Experience working at railway or other safety-critical locations.
- Experience coordinating or supervising a small field team.
- Experience supporting commercial improvement, revenue assurance, tariff reviews or customer-experience initiatives.
- Practical and technically curious, with a methodical approach to diagnosis and problem-solving.
- Self-motivated and comfortable working alone for significant periods, while contributing positively to a small team.
- Calm and credible with demanding clients; able to communicate risk, challenge constructively and agree priorities.
- Highly organised, able to balance planned work, reactive issues, travel and reporting without losing ownership of actions.
- Commercially aware, numerate and able to make proportionate decisions within delegated authority.
- Clear, concise written and verbal communicator, confident presenting operational information to clients and management.
- Resilient, safety-conscious and willing to be visible at sites in varied operational conditions.
- Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook; able to learn APCOA and client systems quickly.
- Full UK driving licence - essential.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively across Northern England, with occasional overnight stays where operationally required is essential.
- Relevant operational, technical or management experience may be accepted in place of a specified academic qualification.
- IOSH Managing Safely, or willingness to obtain the qualification within an agreed period - desirable.
Why join APCOA?
At APCOA, we're proud to be Europe's leading parking and mobility services provider. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we're committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive, develop and make a difference.
In return, you'll enjoy:
- Competitive salary £43,000 per annum.
- Discretionary Bonus opportunity.
- 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays.
- Pension scheme.
- Employee benefits and discounts.
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities.
- A supportive, collaborative working environment.
Ready to make an impact?
If you're an experienced manager with a passion for operational excellence, customer service and building lasting client partnerships, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply today and help shape the future of parking and mobility services across the Northern Trains network with APCOA.
We are focused on ensuring APCOA is a fair place to work regardless of age, race, gender, disability or level in the organisation. We offer a motivating work environment where successes are shared. With challenging projects and an atmosphere of fostering and support, staff have the opportunities to fulfil their potential while aiming for excellence in every aspect of their work.
