Senior Business Improvement Manager

Job content

The job in a nutshell

The Business Improvement Team is a critical arm of the Central Operations function, whose accountability involves the definition and execution of initiatives to drive hotel productivity and improve standards for customers.

You will lead the team accountable for the identification, proof of concept, trials and commercial validation of multi million pound productivity saving initiatives, defining a future operating model for the hotels and looking for ways to improve quality at a lower cost.

Once initiatives are identified and improvements are developed, the Change & Implementation team will implement, embed and sustain them, while you retain accountability for the benefits realisation.

What you’ll be doing:

• Building a pipeline of ideas and trials to deliver the annual and future years targets
• Trialling innovative ideas to simplify and automate the hotel operation
• Developing the problem definition through strong critical thinking skills and build the commercial case for all ideas prior to trial
• Testing the operational validity of the concept at a small scale before running full trials to prove the ideas will deliver the expected benefits
• Benchmarking better practices from industries beyond the boundaries of hospitality and reporting back “best in class” innovations to support the resolution of business challenges
• Creating, developing and optimising the hotel operating model to inform the strategic planning cycle and new product development roadmap
• Developing and analysing insight to benchmark and drive operational excellence (cost, time, quality)
• Providing metrics and tools to measure process quality and success in the programs / initiatives delivered
• Be the Operations expert and development lead for cross functional projects that will deliver significant value to our quality and low cost plans
• Working collaboratively with the Change Team you will be experienced in supporting the transition from idea to proof concept to scalable solution

Stakeholder management

• Internal: You will work strategically with other functions – Ops, Finance, People, Manpower Planning, Marketing (Product Team) and Technical Services when designing solutions. Including presentations to Board level and Regional Directors

• External: All hotel suppliers, including systems, linen, food and beverage, equipment, technology and maintenance

People

• Line management and development of a small team of business improvement professionals
• Matrix management of change team, field operations, IT and other support functions
• Lead plans to develop the lean skill set across the broader Central operations team
• Coordinating a broad range of stakeholders to deliver improvements into hotels

What we’ll expect from you

Essential:

• Track record of simple, pragmatic and robust delivery initiatives in a service or operational environment
• Passionate self-starter, decisive and able to move with speed to implement ideas
• An advanced understanding of design thinking principles and understand how these can be applied to unconventional scenarios
• Being able to apply abstract ideas to practical situations is key to this role. Testing the art of the possible becomes a business as usual task
• A working understanding of work study principles and MTM [methods-time-measurement]
• Qualified in Lean leadership (Minimum LCS 2A) and/or Six Sigma (Minimum Black Belt) with a proven track record within the service sector, but also highly customer centric
• Experience in building senior level internal and external relationships in dynamic organisations and in influencing cross-functional teams
• You will already have a strong supplier network and be able to work collaboratively with them to support Travelodge’s strategic objectives
• Proven track record in influencing stakeholders at all levels of the organisation
• Highly analytical skill set with aptitude for figures and data-driven argumentation, very good Excel skills are a must
• Evidence of ability to communicate effectively in short written form the issue and to the point

Desirable:

• Experience of multi-site operations
• We’re a Google company so a knowledge of the Google platform would be advantageous

At Travelodge, we believe that behaviours are just as important as the activities you carry out. The ones we look for in every colleague are:

I care about people

• I treat everyone in a way I would like to be treated
• I am easy to work with
• I have a can do attitude
• I care about the impact my work has on others

I pay attention to detail

• I do the little things that make a difference to our customers
• I work to brand standards
• I treat Travelodge time, equipment and stock as if it were my own

I drive for results

• I hit targets in my role and work at the right pace
• I take ownership of problems and try to fix them fast
• I look for ways to avoid future problems
• I look for ways to promote Travelodge

What you can expect from us

Culture

At Travelodge, we are warm, straightforward and optimistic. We have a big footprint in the UK, but still a small company feel and you can expect quality and value to be built in to everything we do. You’ll have the support of a close network of colleagues and managers, and every day is different here! We want you to bring your personality to work and we love our diversity.

Reward and recognition

It’s not just our customers we want to wake up with a smile on their face. As well as a competitive salary, being part of our hotel support centre means great holiday entitlements, pension contribution deals, being part of our bonus scheme, and a Thanks Card giving generous room and food discounts as well as friends and family rates.

Career and development

We want you to develop further with us at Travelodge and we’ll provide you a development plan to help you reach your goals. You can expect to have a full induction and training relevant to your role. We advertise all our vacancies internally, so you’ll have the opportunity to really develop your career with Travelodge.