Central Operations Manager

About The Role

Central Operations Manager

Department - Central Operations

Location - 3 days in the office (Wolverhampton) 2 days at home

Our Values

GSF Car Parts is built on strong relationships, teamwork and a genuine commitment to customer service. As one of the UK's leading automotive parts distributors, we expect every team member to put customers and colleagues first, work collaboratively across branches and support functions, and take pride in supporting the business's continued growth. The Central Operations Manager will be expected to embody these values by championing service excellence, building trusted relationships across the network, and fostering a collaborative, growth-focused team culture.

About You

Role Purpose

The Central Operations Manager is responsible for leading the day to day delivery of Central Operations, ensuring consistent support across the branch network and wider business. The role acts as the operational hub between branches, support functions and senior leadership, driving service excellence, process compliance, communication effectiveness and operational efficiency.

The Central Operations Manager provides leadership to the Central Operations team, owns operational governance and performance, and ensures that service requests, escalations, projects and communications are managed effectively. The role is critical in maintaining business continuity, improving processes and delivering a high quality internal customer experience.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Lead the day to day operation of the Central Operations function.
• Ensure all operational activities are delivered in line with agreed service levels and business priorities.
• Act as the primary escalation point for operational issues and branch support requirements.
• Drive operational consistency across the branch network through standard processes and governance.
• Monitor service performance and take corrective action where required.
• Ensure operational risks are identified, managed and escalated appropriately.

Team Management

• Recruit, develop, coach and performance manage the Central Operations team.
• Create a high performing culture focused on service, productivity and accuracy.
• Conduct regular one to ones, development reviews and team meetings.
• Ensure team workload is managed effectively and resources are aligned to business demand.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.

Branch and Stakeholder Support

• Build strong working relationships with Branch Managers, Regional Sales Managers, Divisional Directors and support functions.
• Ensure branches receive timely, accurate and consistent support.
• Act as a central point of coordination for operational issues, incidents and business critical communications.
• Support the implementation of operational initiatives and change programmes.

Process Improvement and Governance

• Review and improve operational processes to remove complexity and increase efficiency.
• Identify opportunities for automation and standardisation.
• Implement controls, audit trails and governance frameworks to ensure compliance.
• Maintain and review standard operating procedures and process documentation.
• Ensure regulatory, company and operational policies are followed.

Communications and Coordination

• Oversee the delivery of operational communications across the business.
• Ensure key updates are clear, consistent and delivered through the appropriate channels.
• Coordinate operational calendars, action plans and business activities.
• Support the management of business incidents and cross functional responses.

Performance Management and Reporting

• Monitor operational KPIs, service levels and performance metrics.
• Produce regular management reports and insights for senior stakeholders.
• Analyse trends and identify opportunities to improve service delivery.
• Use data to support informed decision making and resource planning.

Business Improvement and Projects

• Lead operational improvement initiatives and transformation projects.
• Support the implementation of new systems, technology and service models.
• Work with stakeholders to improve customer experience and operational effectiveness.
• Ensure projects are delivered on time and achieve intended outcomes.

Key Performance Indicators

• SLA achievement
• Query resolution times
• Escalation volumes
• Process compliance levels
• Team productivity and quality measures
• Operational cost efficiencies
• Project delivery milestones
• Audit and governance compliance

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Proven experience in an operational management role.
• Experience leading teams in a fast paced environment.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience managing competing priorities and operational escalations.
• Excellent analytical and problem solving abilities.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel, and operational reporting tools.
• The successful candidate must be able to perform VLOOKUPs and create pivot tables in Excel.
• Ability to drive continuous improvement and change initiatives.

Desirable

• Experience within automotive aftermarket, logistics, retail or multi site operations.
• Knowledge of service desk or workflow management systems.

Personal Attributes

• Customer focused and service driven.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Organised and highly resilient.
• Commercially aware.
• Proactive and solution orientated.
• Influential communicator.
• Calm under pressure.
• Committed to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Success in the Role

A successful Central Operations Manager will create a highly effective operational support function that delivers excellent service to branches, maintains strong governance, drives operational efficiency and enables the wider business to perform at its best.

About Us

At GSF Car Parts, we're not just supplying car parts, we're driving the future of the automotive aftermarket.

As the UK's fastest-growing motor factor, we've achieved more than 25% year-on-year growth for three consecutive years and continue to expand at an unrivalled pace. With over 215 branches nationwide and a state-of-the-art 500,000 sq ft National Distribution Centre, we're building a business that keeps thousands of workshops moving every day.

But what really sets us apart is our people.

We're a business that invests boldly, embraces innovation and empowers our teams to make a real difference. From industry-leading digital tools like Mastercat to our nationwide Servicesure garage network and partnerships with over 70 OE-quality brands, we're constantly challenging the status quo and finding better ways to serve our customers.

We're ambitious about where we're going and equally ambitious for the people who join us. Whether you're looking to develop your skills, progress your career or help shape the future of our industry, we'd love to hear from you.

This is an exciting time to join GSF Car Parts.

Make an impact. Grow with us. Do yourself proud.