The posting
About the Role
Outsource Ability is recruiting on behalf of one of our clients, a short-term rental management company. They manage properties for owners in the UK, Dubai and Cyprus and are adding new units every month. They are looking for an experienced Operations Manager.
The core objective of this role is to reduce the founder's day-to-day involvement in operations. You will lead the guest experience team and make sure every guest issue, cleaning job and maintenance job has a clear owner. You will take new properties from signed contract to live listing, and you will build the systems that stop recurring problems. Only genuinely critical issues should reach the founder. This is a management-level role with clear room to progress as the company grows.
Key Responsibilities
Guest Experience Team Leadership
- Lead the guest experience team, who report directly to you and handle guest communication, cleaner coordination and maintenance coordination.
- Hold a daily team meeting to review open tickets from the property management system.
- Make sure every ticket has a named owner, is progressing and is resolved on time, so that nothing is missed.
- Oversee the team's shift rota and make sure handovers between shifts are clean.
- Take a regular share of guest communication shifts yourself, so you keep first-hand knowledge of what the team is dealing with.
- Act as the escalation point for the team, for example when a cleaner does not arrive or a guest is locked out. Only escalate to the founder where it is critical.
Incident and Problem Management
- Identify repeated incidents, log them as problems, and drive the longer-term fix with cleaners, maintenance contractors and locksmiths.
- Track improvements and longer-term tasks in the ticketing system through to completion.
Systems and Continuous Improvement
- Spot where the team handles an issue inconsistently or incorrectly, and create the manual, instruction or process that prevents it happening again.
- Update guest-facing material, such as check-in guidebooks and access instructions, so common issues are prevented before they happen.
- Build and maintain standard operating procedures so the team can deliver consistent results across all properties.
Property Onboarding
- Manage new properties from signed contract to live listing on the booking platforms, and make sure no onboarding stalls or is forgotten.
- Prepare furnishing and set-up checklists for unfurnished properties, and support owners through completing them.
- Coordinate with third-party furnishing suppliers where the company provides a packaged furnishing service.
- Liaise with photographers, cleaners and other local contractors to arrange property shoots, set-up and preparation, so each property launches to a consistent standard.
- Oversee listing set-up on the booking platforms once photography and preparation are complete.
- Keep property owners updated throughout onboarding.
Reporting and Commercial Awareness
- Give the founder concise, structured updates on what is happening, what needs a decision and what has been resolved.
- Hold a weekly operations meeting with the founder and track agreed actions to completion.
- Keep track of which units and bookings are performing well commercially, and raise anything that affects revenue or cost.
- Work with the pricing and revenue team as it grows, so operational decisions reflect pricing priorities.
- Contribute to wider business discussions and take on new projects as the company grows.
Executive Support — Secondary
- Support the founder with diary management, travel arrangements and administrative tasks where required.
Systems
- Hospitable (channel and property management)
- PriceLabs (pricing)
- Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Agoda and direct booking website
- Google Workspace
- GoHighLevel (CRM)
Experience with every system is not essential, but you must be confident learning new technology.
What We're Looking For
Essential
- At least three years of experience in operations management, guest experience management or a team leadership role.
- Proven experience managing a team, including setting priorities and holding people accountable.
- Experience in short-term rentals, serviced accommodation, hospitality or property management.
- A systems mindset, with a track record of creating processes that prevent repeat problems.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to keep many tasks moving at once.
- Concise, structured written and verbal communication with senior leadership.
- Calm, practical judgement under pressure.
- Commercial awareness of what earns and what costs money in a business.
- A flexible, ownership-driven approach in a small, fast-growing company.
Advantageous
- Hands-on experience with Hospitable.
- Experience with PriceLabs or dynamic pricing tools.
- Experience onboarding properties or managing furnishing and set-up projects.
- An eye for interior presentation.
- Executive assistant experience.
- Basic financial reporting experience.
- Experience in a ticketing or incident-management environment.
Working Arrangements
- You will report directly to the founder.
- The guest experience team will report to you.
Remote Work Requirements
Applicants must:
- Be based in South Africa.
- Have a modern laptop or PC with an Intel i5 / AMD Ryzen 5 processor or equivalent and a minimum of 8GB RAM.
- Have a stable fibre internet connection with a minimum of 50 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload.
- Have a functional UPS, inverter or power station able to run their router and laptop for a minimum of 4 hours during load shedding.
- Have a professional noise-cancelling headset with a clear microphone.
- Have a quiet workspace suitable for calls and video meetings.
- Be available for the agreed hours during UK business times.
