Operations Director

Caterlink is the education sector catering specialist. For over 20 years, the Company has delivered fresh food solutions to pupils and staff at Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and Colleges across the UK. The company caters more than 1,000,000 meals a week. Our “Fresh Food Policy” is the foundation of our success and growth in the market coupled with a desire to truly deliver on the promises we make to our clients and support our site-based teams.

We are currently recruiting for an experienced Operations Director for our schools catering business in our northern region.

This role will cover a broad geographic area including the North, Middlesbrough to Derby along the M1 corridor and Bradford and Hull via the M62 corridor. The portfolio consists of approximately 180 schools with a £20M turnover, spanning primary, secondary, and college settings.

As Operations Director, you will be responsible for delivering against our KPIs – Health & Safety, Retention, Quality, and Finance. You will be expected to have the confidence and credibility to lead your teams, create strong client relationships, and demonstrate strong commercial awareness.

You should be able to evidence your ability to support and develop a growing team, encouraging them to succeed while driving performance and achieving business objectives. You will remain calm, focused, and resilient, demonstrating leadership and strength appropriate for a senior director role.

If you are passionate about People, Perception, Passion, and Pride, and are driven to grow and shape a successful business, this could be the opportunity you are looking for.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE:

• Background in client relationships and have a proven record in building and motivating teams, to meet key business targets.
• Successful progressive background in contract catering and hospitality.
• Strategic thinking and critical reasoning skills to set and implement the business strategy across the operations teams.
• Well-developed leadership skills, achieving results through others, building loyalty and a sense of belonging in the team.
• Exceptional communication skills (written/spoken/presentation) at all levels, both internally and externally. 
• Commercially astute with a service delivery focus

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU:

• Competitive salary + performance related bonus
• Company Car / Car Allowance
• Private Health Care for your family with BUPA
• 33 Days holiday inclusive of bank holidays
• You will be eligible to join our Workplace Pension Scheme with Aviva
• Death in Service benefit
• Bespoke training and development
• A range of discounts and benefits available from high street shops to holidays and cinemas
• As our core business is mainly in term time, the school breaks do enable the opportunity to catch up and plan for the next term, which isn’t always a luxury in a business operating 52 weeks of the year