Операційний менеджер, Business Operations, Workforce Manager

Business Operations & Workforce Manager

Field Service, Recruitment & Operational Cover

Remote, Ukraine | Long-term full-time contractor role | UK working hours

Gross monthly contractor fee: USD 3,000−3,800, with scope up to USD 4,000 for exceptional, directly relevant experience

About Bike Bubl and the role

Bike Bubl is a London field-service business whose teams deliver cleaning services using cargo bikes. Our remote operations team supports customer service, sales, field delivery, recruitment, software and equipment.

We are hiring a hands-on Business Operations & Workforce Manager to strengthen the systems that keep the service staffed, organised and resilient.

The role combines workforce and holiday planning, collaborative support recruitment, cleaner-hiring process improvement and peak-demand backup, onboarding and performance processes, operational documentation, continuity planning and concise management reporting. You will work closely with the Founder, Operations Lead and functional team members.

A distinctive part of the role is operational cover. After learning the business and completing a formal readiness assessment, you will provide temporary deputy cover when the Operations Lead is unavailable, coordinating defined service disruptions within clear decision limits. In normal weeks, your focus will be workforce capacity, recruitment and stronger operating systems rather than daily dispatch.

What you will do

• Maintain a forward view of staffing, holidays, absence, skills and peak-period demand.
• Identify likely coverage gaps early and bring practical options before they become emergencies.
• Lead support recruitment in partnership with the relevant Lead, from an approved vacancy through selection, onboarding and early quality review.
• Train and calibrate Leads to use structured interviews, scorecards and early-quality reviews consistently.
• Provide backup interviewing for cleaner recruitment during peak demand and help the Field Lead improve the process; the Field Lead remains the primary cleaner hirer and practical assessor.
• Improve onboarding, training, competence checks and performance administration.
• Document and test essential operational procedures, escalation routes and backup arrangements.
• Maintain accurate workforce, recruitment, training, incident and action records.
• Provide short management updates covering facts, actions, risks, recommendations and decisions required.
• Work with functional leads to reduce recurring operational problems.
• Once signed off, coordinate defined incidents when the Operations Lead is unavailable and ensure agreed follow-up improvements are completed.

What operational cover means

You will first learn how Bike Bubl operates, complete simulations and coordinate lower-risk situations with support. Once formally signed off, you may temporarily coordinate a serious service disruption when the Operations Lead is unavailable: confirming the facts, setting priorities, arranging available cover, assigning actions, communicating clearly, recording decisions and escalating matters outside your authority. The exact working and cover arrangements will be stated before appointment and will not create undefined standby.

Your first 90 days

• Month one: Learn the service, meet the team, review existing systems and understand how work is actually performed.
• Month two: Take ownership of the agreed workforce, recruitment and reporting rhythm; strengthen the most important coverage and documentation gaps; begin operational simulations.
• Around day 90: Complete a formal readiness assessment. Operational-cover responsibility is earned through demonstrated capability and is not granted automatically because 90 days have passed.

What success looks like after six months

• During an agreed absence of the Operations Lead, the business can operate for 10 consecutive working days without routine Founder intervention, while maintaining service stability, remaining broadly on track against agreed weekly and monthly targets and escalating material risks appropriately.
• Staffing, absence, peak-period and recruitment risks are visible early, with practical options, clear ownership and evidence about the quality of new hires.
• Critical functions have capable backup, clear access and escalation routes, and practical guidance that has been tested by another user.
• Recurring failures lead to completed improvements, management reporting stays concise and useful, and the role’s own essential work can be covered during a short absence.

We are looking for evidence that you have personally

• Coordinated a customer-facing, field, shift-based or other time-sensitive operation.
• Managed a situation in which absence or insufficient capacity threatened delivery.
• Made prioritisation decisions under pressure and communicated them calmly.
• Planned rotas, staffing, coverage or workforce capacity.
• Taken meaningful responsibility for recruiting or selecting frontline or operational staff.
• Built or improved an operational process that other people continued using.
• Maintained important records and recurring administration yourself.
• Used spreadsheets or operating data to identify problems and support decisions.
• Worked effectively without a large support department.
• Used advanced spoken and written English professionally.

Experience in cleaning operations is not required. Relevant backgrounds may include facilities, logistics, care, security, hospitality, BPO, field service or another time-sensitive customer operation.

The working style required

This is a hands-on operations role with substantial workforce and recruitment responsibility. There are no assumed direct reports initially, so it suits someone comfortable moving between accurate records, detailed operational work, practical problem-solving and clear senior communication.

Working arrangement

• Long-term, full-time contractor engagement based in Ukraine.
• Reliable availability during 09:30—18:00 UK time.
• After certification, temporary operational-cover responsibility during the normal working window and occasional pre-agreed early-morning, evening or reduced-weekend periods when the Operations Lead is unavailable.
• Occasional pre-agreed early-morning, evening or weekend cover after certification is included in the monthly fee. This is not an undefined on-call arrangement.
• Monthly contractor fee of USD 3,000−3,800, with scope up to USD 4,000 for exceptional, directly relevant experience.
• No employees or contractors initially report directly to you. You will nevertheless lead recruitment and workforce processes collaboratively with functional Leads.
• Reports to the Founder/Director and works closely with the Operations Lead and functional team members.

Selection process

All candidates submit the same concise application details and evidence answers below. Most shortlisted candidates then follow this route:

1. 20-minute verification call.
2. 65-minute structured interview.
3. Paid fictional operational exercise and structured discussion.
4. Two evidence-based references for the preferred finalist.
5. Expectations discussion and written offer.

Where an application already provides exceptional, directly comparable evidence, we may invite the candidate to one 75-minute combined interview. Its first 10 minutes cover the same mandatory screening checks, followed by the same 65-minute structured interview used for other shortlisted candidates.

We normally provide an update within three working days of an interview.

How to apply

Apply through this job board with your CV and numbered answers to the 10 practical questions and two evidence questions below. Please label the two evidence answers separately and keep within the stated word limits. A traditional covering letter is not required.

Specific examples matter more than polished writing. Please make your own actions and decisions clear while acknowledging other people’s contribution. Shortlisted candidates should be ready to discuss every example live.

Practical details

1. Where are you currently based, and what time zone do you normally work in?
2. What is your notice period and earliest realistic start date?
3. Is the advertised monthly contractor-fee range workable? If not, what would you require?
4. Can you provide reliable availability during 09:30—18:00 UK time?
5. After certification, are you willing to provide temporary operational cover during the normal working window and occasional pre-agreed early-morning, evening or reduced-weekend periods when the Operations Lead is unavailable, within written authority limits?
6. Have you personally coordinated a frontline, field, shift-based or other time-sensitive customer operation? Yes / No
7. Have you personally taken part in recruiting or selecting frontline or operational staff? Yes / No
8. Are you comfortable personally maintaining staffing, recruitment, training, incident and action records? Yes / No
9. Briefly describe how you currently use spoken and written English professionally.
10. Briefly describe your normal remote-working setup and your fallback for a power, internet or communication failure.

1. Live operational incident — maximum 180 words

Describe one real incident in a customer-facing operation where staff absence, insufficient capacity or another failure put delivery at risk. Explain:

• the type and scale of the operation;
• what happened and what was at risk;
• what you did first;
• the decisions you personally made;
• what you escalated and why;
• the outcome; and
• any lasting change made afterwards.

2. Workforce and recruitment — maximum 170 words

Describe one frontline or operational vacancy that created, or could have created, a service-capacity gap. Explain:

• the role and hiring volume;
• how delivery was protected while the vacancy was open;
• the recruitment and selection stages you personally owned;
• how candidates were assessed;
• time to fill and time to effective performance, where known;
• any early evidence of quality or retention; and
• which parts were owned by recruiters, managers or other colleagues.