Operations Manager
Ridgewood School, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN5 7UB18 days remaining to apply
Start date details
As soon as possible after appointment
Closing date
12 November 2025 at 11am
Date listed
24 October 2025
Job details
Job role
- Administration, HR, data and finance
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £47,181.00 - £53,460.00 Annually (FTE)
Operations Manager job summary
Post: Operations Manager - 37 hours per week, full time
Salary: Grade 10 (Salary £47,181 - £53,460)
To start: As soon as possible after appointment
The Operations Manager will provide strategic and operational leadership across all non-teaching functions of the school, ensuring the smooth and efficient running of administrative, financial, HR, and estates operations. This role will drive operational excellence for educational excellence, promoting best practice, compliance, and continuous improvement. Working collaboratively with the Headteacher, senior leadership team, Trust central teams, and site staff, the Operations Manager will ensure that resources, systems, and processes are effectively deployed, creating a safe, efficient, and welcoming environment that supports high-quality teaching and learning.
Key Focus Areas 2026
To work with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that systems for monitoring and reducing staff absence are appropriately implemented.
To work closely with our HR provider to ensure that all HR policies are followed.
To work closely with the Trust Estates Manager to deliver the estates management plan including the transition to the new build, the Post 16 refurbishment, refurbishment of remaining buildings, and general delivery of estates projects.
To support with the implementation of the new Trust-wide Management Information System (MIS)
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Operations
Lead the day-to-day operational management of the school, ensuring efficient administrative, front-of-house, and operational systems.
Take responsibility for catering provision, working with the Catering Manager to resolve day-to-day operational issues, whether provided externally or in-house.
Oversee planning and delivery of school events, open evenings, and parents’ evenings, ensuring smooth logistical and operational management.
Maintain operational oversight of all school systems, including office administration, reception, data management, IT, compliance, and statutory reporting.
Ensure effective deployment of resources, including staffing, materials, and central resources, to optimise efficiency and service delivery.
Develop, implement, and regularly review administrative systems and procedures to drive continuous improvement.
Work collaboratively with Trust central teams to implement Trust-wide policies, procedures, and operating standards at a local level.
Lead and develop performance management, training, and CPD for support staff.
Lead on all aspects of recruitment, induction, and probation for new teaching and support staff at a local level.
Support school-wide training initiatives and delivery of inset content as required.
Work collaboratively with Trust Finance, Catering, Estates, and IT teams to ensure procurement and contract management achieve value for money, resilience, and compliance.
Line manage the Executive Assistant and Site Manager, and undertake other senior leadership duties as determined by the Headteacher.
Human Resources
Lead on recruitment, induction and probation for all new starters (teaching and support staff), including interview arrangements, safer recruitment processes, and probationary reviews.
Ensure effective induction programmes for all new staff, including safeguarding, policies, procedures, and role-specific training.
Oversee the administration of payroll, ensuring staff are paid accurately and on time, working with the Trust Central Finance function and external payroll provider to resolve queries and discrepancies.
Manage staff absence, including conducting Return-to-Work Interviews and arranging Trigger/Attendance Review Meetings when necessary.
Work closely with the HR provider on employee relations, ensuring that disciplinary procedures, grievance handling, complaints management, and capability processes are carried out in line with Trust policies.
Lead and manage any complaints, ensuring all complaints are handled in accordance with Trust policy and statutory guidance.
Ensure systems are in place to monitor, record, and manage absence data and leave of absence in line with policy.
Support with performance management of non-teaching staff, including training managers and conducting reviews.
Manage referrals to Occupational Health where required.
Handle requests for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave, ensuring relevant documents are completed and processed.
Maintain accurate training records management (including safeguarding, data protection and safer recruitment training).
Ensure policy management is kept up to date, communicated effectively, and embedded in practice.
Estates Management
Lead school estates procurement, contract management, and value-for-money decisions in conjunction with the Trust Estates Manager, Site Manager, and Central Finance Team.
Ensure the school’s Capital Management Plan is implemented efficiently, on time, and in alignment with Trust priorities, under the guidance of the Trust Estates Manager.
Oversee all planned and reactive maintenance, ensuring the rolling maintenance plan is timely, cost-effective, and compliant with statutory and Trust requirements, working closely with the Site Manager on operational delivery.
Maintain oversight of an accurate asset register and asset management programme, collaborating with the Trust Estates Manager.
Lead specification, tendering, and management of all service contracts with external partners, ensuring compliance, value for money, and performance monitoring.
Provide strategic oversight for Health & Safety compliance, working with the Headteacher, Trust H&S Lead, and Site Manager, and under the guidance of the Trust Estates Manager, to ensure the safety of students, staff, and visitors.
Ensure compliance with statutory and Trust obligations across estates, including fire safety, asbestos management, legionella, electrical and gas safety, safeguarding-related facilities requirements, and other statutory inspections.
Maintain, monitor, and update the school compliance management system, ensuring all records are accurate, auditable, and accessible.
Ensure Health & Safety reports are produced for the Academy Governing Body (AGB) and other governance bodies as required.
Liaise with, and support, the Safeguarding Link Governor on any Health & Safety and site-related matters.
Oversee estates management, security, and the built environment to ensure a safe, efficient, and welcoming learning environment, coordinating operational delivery with the Site Manager.
Act as the primary operational link between the school and the Trust Estates Manager, providing advice, updates, and data to support MAT-wide estates strategy.
Finance
Maintain oversight of the school’s financial operations, ensuring effective management of resources and keeping the CFO, Headteacher, and Governors informed on key financial matters.
Keep an overview of the school’s budget position, monitoring income and expenditure, and liaising with the Headteacher and Central Finance Team to manage any variances.Support financial planning, forecasting, and reporting processes in collaboration with the CFO and Central Finance Team, ensuring that information is accurate and timely.
Maintain awareness of the preparation of year-end accounts and audits, supporting coordination between the school, Central Finance Team, and auditors as required.
Ensure that financial and procurement procedures are robust, compliant, and well understood by relevant staff.
Work collaboratively with Trust Central Teams (Finance, Estates, Catering, and IT) to oversee procurement and contract management, ensuring services and supplies deliver value for money and meet operational needs.
Maintain oversight of purchasing activity to ensure decisions reflect principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, in line with Trust policies and regulatory frameworks.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All posts are subject to an enhanced DBS check.
Applying for the job
This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on external website (opens in new tab)About Ridgewood School
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 19
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 1453 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 19
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Ridgewood School website
Staff and students at Ridgewood work hard every day to embody the school’s core values: Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. We are enjoying a trajectory of continued success and look forward to welcoming a successful applicant who can join us on our journey. We are incredibly proud of the progress we have made as a school, having laid strong foundations for further improvement going forward.
Our school motto, ‘Prepare for the road ahead’, represents our belief in preparing our staff and students for their future. We exemplify our motto not only in terms of academic achievement, but also in terms of the training, enrichment and experiences which make us all model citizens. Our school values underpin what we do and contribute to our ethos in everything we undertake as a school community. We set our standards high and do not compromise, because we believe in the best for everyone.
Never has there been a better time to join us. We are in the early stages of planning a multi-million-pound new build that will ensure that the staff and students benefit from 21st Century resources. We are regularly oversubscribed in Year 7 and our Post-16 provision is thriving.
School location
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