Student Operations Manager

About OES

OES is a global education services partner, working with universities, employers, and industry bodies to deliver market-leading online learning solutions. Our purpose is to enhance lives through education, and our vision is to be the world's most impactful enabler of education. We are a values-led organisation that empowers our people to make a meaningful impact every day. Through collaboration, innovation, and a student-focused approach, we create engaging learning experiences while supporting our teams to grow, develop, and thrive in a culture that embraces change and continuous improvement.

The Opportunity:
We have an exciting opportunity for a motivated and people-focused  Student Operations Manager  to join our Operations Team, based in  Birmingham City Centre. We're seeking a strategic and commercially minded person to lead and evolve our Student Operations function for one of our major University Partners. This is an exciting opportunity to drive operational excellence within a growing education business, shaping the way we support students throughout their entire learning journey. Reporting to the Director of Academic and Operations, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for student administration, support services, engagement, retention, progression, and student funding. As a key leader within the business, you will play a critical role in delivering an outstanding student experience while ensuring operational effectiveness and compliance. This role goes beyond day-to-day operations management. You will be responsible for identifying opportunities to streamline and improve processes, developing scalable operating models, enhancing systems and technology capabilities, and using data-driven insights to inform decision-making and improve business performance. Your leadership will help drive continuous improvement, support organisational growth, and ensure students receive an exceptional experience from enrolment through to graduation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop a high-performing Student Operations team across administration, support and funding services.
• Drive operational excellence through process redesign, automation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Oversee student lifecycle activities including enrolment, progression, retention, re-engagement and completion.
• Partner closely with Technology teams to optimise systems, workflows and Salesforce capabilities.
• Use operational data and insights to influence strategy, improve performance and enhance student outcomes.
• Manage service delivery against SLAs, KPIs and regulatory requirements.
• Build strong relationships with university partners and key internal stakeholders.
• Support organisational growth through the development of scalable and sustainable operational models.

About you:

You are an experienced operations leader who thrives in complex service environments and enjoys creating structure, efficiency and measurable outcomes.

You'll bring:

• Significant leadership experience within student services, student operations, higher education, online education, or a similarly complex customer-focused environment
• Proven success transforming operational processes and implementing scalable operating models.
• Strong experience partnering with technology teams to improve systems, reporting and CRM platforms such as Salesforce.
• Excellent commercial acumen and the ability to use data to drive decision making and business improvements.
• Deep understanding of customer or student lifecycle management, retention and service excellence.
• Experience leading high-performing teams and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills.

What’s in it for you?

At OES, we're transforming lives through education. You'll join a high-performing, values-led organisation where your work directly influences business decisions, drives meaningful outcomes, and supports some of the world's leading education providers. If you enjoy working with smart people, solving complex challenges, and making a genuine impact, you'll thrive here.

Along with joining a passionate, energetic and highly skilled team, this role will allow you to gain exposure to many growth and development opportunities. OES offers a hybrid, approach to work, where we work 2 days from our office in Birmingham, and the rest from home (or wherever you choose!). Ultimately, you will be joining a values-driven, collaborative business where your creativity and innovation will be nurtured and celebrated.

We pride ourselves on being a 'People First' employer and if you join the OES Team, you will benefit from:

• Global organisation focused on growth with lots of opportunities for our employees
• Engaging & vibrant organisational culture
• 35 hour working week, within a flexible working environment
• OES values driven recruitment principles
• Career-life fit – health & wellbeing focus
• 25 days of annual leave + Bank holidays
• Purchased leave scheme
• OES strategy reflects respect, honesty & diversity
• Continuous improvement through challenging & meaningful work
• Study assistance and leave for eligible employees
• High growth industry & strong partner/shareholder backing
• Genuine focus on student success
• Global mentoring program
• We are proud to support the Living the Wage movement

If you're motivated by helping others, thrive on achieving results, and enjoy creating positive experiences, we'd love to hear from you. Apply now by submitting your CV and Cover Letter

At OES, we are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, where we encourage candidates of any nationality, age, background, disability, and gender identity to apply. If you feel aligned to the role and would like to further explore your suitability, we welcome your application and would love to consider your fit for the role at OES.

The Role