Oxford International College of Changzhou (CZOIC) is a co-educational international school, accepting Chinese and foreign students aged 4-18 with boarding options for students aged 8-18 (starting at age 6 as of September 2014). We follow the British National Curriculum and are an accredited Edexcel testing centre for IGCSEs and A-Levels. Our faculty are all certified teachers in their chosen subjects; almost all of our teachers are native English speakers from the UK, US and Canada, among other countries. We help students develop into confident, critically-thinking individuals to help them achieve entrance into the world’s top universities and equip them for success well into their careers.
Position Objectives
1. Provide facility management and logistical support services to internal and school community customers
2. Create a well-integrated, directed and motivated operations team to run day-to-day operational activities
3. Guarantee that fixed facilities meet OIC China standards, international school norms and PRC statutory regulations
Overview of Responsibilities
The Operations Manager oversees the organizational and day-to-day operational functions of the school, in coordination with the OIC Director of Operations (or equivalent) and the Principal, including:

• Management of facilities and equipment
• Maintenance
• Security
• Logistical support and sub-contracting
• Purchasing & inventory
• School uniform and educational resources
• Catering
• Cleaning
• Transportation
• School Reception
OPERATIONS
The Operations Manager ensures an efficient and effective school administration. He/she:
• ensures that the school’s technical infrastructure best supports school functions – reprographics, telephones, information communication technology (ICT), printers and peripherals;
• line-manages the administrative and ancillary staff day-to-day, in coordination with the Principal and respective functional managers (not including the Executive Assistant to the SLT who is line-managed by the Principal);
• oversees the development and maintenance of the school’s physical environment, including signage and billboards, and ensuring a high-quality learning environment;
• assures the school’s security, including access control, insurance, licences, health and safety.
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
• Prepare maintenance, renovation and construction schedules
• Provide day-to-day maintenance support for the facilities
• Compile a warranty book for all facility equipment

CHARGING SCHEDULES
• Creation of calendar for billing parents (school fees, uniform, textbooks, etc.)
• Information to the finance department concerning charging policy, discounts, scholarships and to the school Principal who informs parents
MAINTENANCE
• Regular inspections of the school premises and equipment to identify maintenance issues
• Management, where relevant, of maintenance staff and tasks
SECURITY
• Setting and maintaining standards appropriate to the security of the school
• Ensuring that security guards are well-trained and understand their duties – day and night
• Ensuring that security guards are smart in appearance and attitude
LOGISTICAL SUPPORT
• Allocate resources for logistical support as needed (school functions, PE, marketing, etc.)
• Review all contract vendor requirements and compliance standards
• Oversee management of all contract service vendors including, but not limited to; kitchen staff, security, cleaning and bussing
• Revise and renegotiate contract vendor agreements as necessary
PURCHASING
The Operations Manager ensures that teachers and students have the required books and equipment for effective teaching and learning and that administrators have the resources they require for effective discharge of their duties. He/she:
• oversees the entire purchasing cycle, from requisition to delivery;
• manages purchasing for the school, ensure all purchasing policy and procedures are followed;
• identifies a qualified list of suppliers for school products and services;
• requests competing bids for all products and services over a defined price;
• inspects delivery of products to ensure they match the purchase requirements;
• coordinates with the Finance Officer to ensure all purchases are added to the school asset register;
• informs the Finance Officer when all terms of purchase agreements have been satisfied so that payments can be released;
• delivers purchased items to the purchase requester;
• ensures the safe storage of books and equipment;
• oversees re-ordering procedures to ensure that stock is replenished before exhaustion;
• ensures the most cost-effective purchasing strategy, including delivery/carriage costs.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
• Ensure the best possible quality-price balance for all components of the school uniform, summer and winter
• Ensure appropriate stocks of uniform are maintained
• Ensure that the issue of uniform items to students is documented and that finance is informed
CATERING
The Operations Manager oversees all aspects of the school’s catering, including:
• overseeing the quality/quantity agreement with the caterers;
• sampling the catering to ensure the maintenance of quality standards;
• ensuring that the catering respects the school’s insistence on freshness, variety and healthy-eating standards;
• continually checking for standards of hygiene and food-storage practices, including legal samples;
• encouraging a drive towards the celebration of international cuisine through theme weeks/days;
• monitoring and overseeing the through-flow of students and the minimization of queuing times;
• continual encouragement and promotion of healthy eating strategies and dietary information;
• publication in advance of weekly menus in the cafeteria and through the school’s web-site.
CLEANING
The Operations Manager ensures a clean and tidy school environment:
• overseeing cleaning schedules to ensure that school facilities are clean at peak usage times and that cleaning does not conflict with teaching and learning (slippery floors, etc.);
• ensuring the use of disinfectant and hygienic cleaning practices;
• planning deep-cleaning during holiday periods;
• managing the boarding laundry function.

TRANSPORTATION

The Operations Manager:
• oversees the management and use of the school transportation;
• arranges transportation for school trips and excursions.

PLANNING AND ANALYSIS

The Operations Manager helps draft and formulate the OIC development plan setting the direction for the school’s development and geared toward operational excellence, ensuring that it reflects BE and OIC’s philosophy and objectives.

The Operations Manager:

- takes a leading part in physical planning, including the development and presentation of expansion programs, and recommends their adoption by the SLT.

- encourages perspective via comparisons with similar institutions, and external analyses and critiques. He/she remains abreast of trends and research in education, particularly those affecting private and international school operations in China.

- contributes to developing the OIC schools’ strategic planning.

PERSONNEL

The Operations Manager:

- helps define the operational staff positions needed to implement OIC’s development plans. Together with the Human Resources department, he/she coordinates the recruitment of highly effective operational staff.

- coordinates with the Finance and Human Resource departments on operational issues.

- monitors productivity and develops performance and evaluation systems allowing identifying over- and underperforming operational staff. He/she helps set guidelines for the evaluations, recruitment and advancement of the operational staff.

- helps establish productive working conditions, discipline, training and development programmes for administration staff members. He/she designs and implements professional development strategies that address the individually identified needs of all.

INTERACTION WITH THIRD PARTIES

The Operations Manager assists the school’s involvement with the community, and increases the school’s profile in the community. He/she assists in marketing the school and programmes, including contributing ideas and participating in promotional and educational events. He/she may be required to represent the school to the student and parent community, as deemed necessary by the SLT.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Operations Manager:

- receives in-house training;
- participates in externally-provided professional development;
- meets both formally and informally with the Headteacher and SLT members as required;
- participates in staff professional reviews and target-setting relating to renewal of post.

OTHER

The Operations Manager:

- provides strong, effective leadership that motivates and promotes team-building and creates a positive work environment.

- must be able to work under significant time and operational pressures, and be able to coordinate a variety of projects simultaneously.

- must establish and maintain standards commensurate with a top-rank international school

- must exercise judgment and discretion in handling sensitive and confidential issues.

As with all schools in an international environment, these responsibilities must be executed with cultural sensitivity and a comfort with uncertainty. They will require the demonstration of strong hands-on leadership, time management and decision making ability.