Annual salary: up to £45,000.00 Service Manager Location: Milton Keynes Contract: Full Time, Permanent, Hybrid Role Salary: £45,000 Hours: Monday-Friday, 42.5 per week Mears Group is one of the UK’s leading housing and social care providers, maintaining over 700,000 social homes and managing around 11,000 properties for local and central government. With a workforce of over 5,400 employees and a national presence, Mears plays a vital role in supporting communities across the country About the role: We are looking for a Service Manager to oversee our out-of-hours Contact Centre Services across Milton Keynes and Rotherham. You will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Contact Service Centre, ensuring services are delivered in line with operational and commercial requirements across multiple contracts. The role involves building a high-performing team, maintaining strong working relationships with clients and stakeholders, and embedding a safe, customer-focused culture. You will also ensure compliance with Health and Safety regulations and that all staff complete mandatory training and learning requirements. Day-to-Day Duties: Provide effective leadership to the branch team, taking a proactive approach to mentoring and motivating staff by setting clear direction across contracts and leading by example. Create a high-performing culture and build professional, effective working relationships with Mears Housing Maintenance teams, clients and stakeholders, while embedding a safe and customer-focused service through a positive team ethos. Manage the day-to-day operations of the out-of-hours service, ensuring consistent and effective service delivery. Develop and maintain strong, sustainable relationships with key clients and stakeholders, ensuring high-quality customer engagement and involvement. Ensure the customer experience remains central to all activities, promoting efficient and productive service delivery for service users and clients. Monitor and maintain strategic and operational KPIs, ensuring all Service Level Agreements are met across multiple contracts. Role Criteria: Full UK driving license Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and challenge both internally and externally Strong understanding of relevant Health & Safety regulations Demonstrate knowledge of contract/project management principles Ability to act decisively in a pressurised environment while maintaining high service standards Experience delivering services to a range of clients Proficiency in MS Office Suite and scheduling software Experience in complaint handling, resolution and dispute management Desirable: Knowledge and understanding of current lettings legislation Understanding of contractual KPIs and performance monitoring Knowledge of customer service principles, customer engagement, and scrutiny groups Understanding of housing management-related issues, including local authorities, landlords, rents, tenancies and leases. Benefits we can offer you. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays Annual Mears Fun Day - Our annual Fun Day is organised as a massive thank you from the Executive team for all the hard work! Volunteering Leave - Mears supports employees to undertake paid volunteering in the community, in support of our social value commitment. Family friendly policies All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK, Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship. Candidates should be aware that all our roles are subject to relevant Background, Identity & Security checks before commencement of employment Apply below or to discuss your application further; contact: Olivia Elias (olivia.elias@mearsgroup.co.uk) If you need any help with your application process, we are here to support you. We will be accessible every step of the way. At Mears Group, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, we are a Disability Confident employer, valuing individuality and ensuring equal opportunities for all. We proudly support the Armed Forces Covenant and are honoured to have achieved the Gold Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) to coincide with this, we hold an Endorser Award for the Career Transition Partnership, recognising our commitment to veterans transitioning into civilian careers. In our continued effort to promote social mobility, we invite applicants to voluntarily share their background information during the application stages to help us better understand the diverse experiences of our candidates. This is to ensure we are committed to improving social mobility. We use the Social Mobility Index to assess and enhance opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds. These questions are optional and will not impact your ability to apply. We are the people behind the smile! At Mears we look for people who share our vision and values - to make a positive difference to the communities we serve. We do this by improving homes, improving communities and improving lives. We are proud of our business and the opportunities we provide to colleagues working across the UK. Our Values - Customers / Innovation / Teamwork / Responsibility