Assistant Manager / Workshop Controller

Job title: Assistant Manager / Workshop Controller

Department: Activate Accident Repair

Hours: 45 hours per week, Monday - Friday, Saturday as required

Location: AAR Manchester, 4 Canary Way, Swinton, Manchester, M27 8AW

We’re looking for a Assistant Manager / Workshop Controller to join our team, and play a key role at Activate Accident Repair Manchester.

Activate Group is a growing UK business approaching 1,000+ team members nationwide. This is an exciting opportunity to build a long-term career with a company that values its people and offers genuine development and progression opportunities.

Role overview

Assist the Bodyshop Manager to oversee all aspects of the Bodyshop, ensuring customer service level agreements (SLAs) and site key performance indicators (KPIs) are met while maximising profitability. Ensure service and repairs are carried out effectively and accurately to achieve the highest possible standards for technical quality within the Bodyshop.

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including bank holidays)
• Bonus Scheme
• Personal health cash plan – claim back the cost of things like dentist and optical check ups
• Enhanced maternity / paternity / adoption / shared parental pay
• Life assurance: three times basic salary
• Free breakfasts and fruit
• Birthday surprise for everybody!

Key responsibilities

• Assist with planning resource and equipment levels around budgets and financial plans.
• Establish and maintain control of consistent workflow within the Bodyshop through effective capacity planning
• Adhere to operational workshop loading system in line with company policy/procedures, ensuring all targets and deadlines are met or addressed
• Regularly and consistently review site KPI performance to identify areas of potential shortfall against plan, delivery of average repair cost target, CSI targets and customer service scores
• Manage customer complaints from initial contact through to conclusion. To carry out any root cause analysis on each complaint, identifying and implementing any actions required
• Promote good communication throughout all areas of responsibility, develop and foster a pro-active attitude through regular, open and honest communication that supports the achievement of Company objectives
• Implement operational workshop loading system in line with company policy/procedures, ensuring all targets and deadlines are met or addressed.
• Liaise with office logistics staff to monitor the number of vehicles coming into the site for repair.
• Optimum utilisation of resources within area of responsibility as set out in targets.
• Awareness and compliance with Health and Safety requirements in the workshop, and responsibility of personal protection equipment worn by the staff in the areas of responsibility.
• Responsible for notification of potential Health and Safety risk to the people who may be directly affected by the risk.
• Monitor and control workshop output and efficiencies.
• Verbal explanation of the repair procedure and process to the workshop and customers and variable levels of understanding.
• Implement the use of workshop equipment when allocating tasks.
• Ability to value a vehicle at a market value in order to determine the repairable economics of a damaged vehicle.
• Adhere to material wastage targets.
• Ensure no customer vehicle or contents is damaged/lost while vehicles under repair.

Skills and experience

• Ability to negotiate effectively with third parties.
• Ability to discuss and negotiate agreeable solutions to customer problems.
• Strong attention to detail.
• An understanding of the repair industry, vehicle legislation and trade practices.
• Knowledge of all aspects of Health and Safety including an understanding of the provisions of E.P.A. and Risk Assessment.
• Computer literate.
• Leadership and coaching attributes.
• Knowledge of repair process.
• Vehicle construction knowledge.
• The ability to work under pressure.

What We Offer

• Supportive and professional working environment
• Opportunity to grow with a dynamic and ambitious company
• Career development and progression opportunities

What you can expect from us

At Activate Group, we want everyone to have the tools and support they need to do their best work. We’re an innovative business that continuously reviews and improves our systems, processes and ways of working, making sure they support our teams to do their jobs effectively.

Every role at Activate Group is aligned to our wider business vision and purpose – making someone’s bad day better. You’ll understand how your role contributes to the bigger picture and how your work helps deliver excellent outcomes for customer and partners.

We believe work should be enjoyable. We make time to celebrate success, recognise achievements and bring people together at team events and company-wide celebrations. We’ll also support your ongoing development through regular feedback and career planning.

Whether you’re based in one of our contact centres in Halifax, Peterborough or Huddersfield, working at an Activate Accident Repair (AAR) site, or working from home, you’ll be part of a supportive culture where people are encouraged to succeed.

A bit about us

Activate Group is a fast-growing business approaching 1,000 team members nationwide.

We work with some of the UK’s largest fleets and insurance companies, supporting drivers that have been involved in road incidents through our contact centres in Halifax, Peterborough and Huddersfield.

We manage every step of the repair journey - repairing vehicles at our own Activate Accident Repair (AAR) body shops, as well as through a UK-wide network of trusted independent repair partners.

We also work with the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturers, supporting their approved repair programmes, and deliver innovative technology solutions to fleets, vehicle repair centres and dealerships.

Our purpose & values

Our purpose underpins everything we do: Make someone’s bad day better

Our values define how we work with our team members, customers and suppliers:

• Make it happen – Be accountable. Take the initiative, work fast, and do a great job.
• Strive for better – Be bold. Challenge the norm - make small improvements often.
• Win together – Be a team player. Win together, learn together, respect each other.