The Pilot Group - Sales Operations Manager

Central Manchester (10minutes walk from Victoria with free parking)

Hybrid working - 3 office days

£45,000 (DOE) + bonus

ESL connects the demand and supply of electrical components. As the world shifts to a more electric future, ESL helps customers procure their needs in this space by thinking and operating differently.

The company joins supply chains together in a simple and easy-to-deliver way. We operate globally offering fast deliveries and making things easy both for our customers and our suppliers, developing long-term relationships with them.

ESL is headquartered in Manchester and operates with a strong international presence. It was founded by two female entrepreneurs 19 years ago (both are still in the business), and the company has 75+ amazing people with brilliant skills.

The role - Sales Operations Manager

The Sales Admin Operations Manager leads the operational engine that is central to the business. Primarily supporting the commercial (Sales and Purchasing Teams) this team also connects to the shipping team, fulfilment and most importantly, our customers.

Working alongside so many teams with competing priorities, the admin operations team needs to function at the highest level, through a team of highly skilled and trained colleagues who are delivery and customer focused. We are looking for a Sales Admin Operations Manager to come in and deliver a root and branch review of how the team is functioning, implementing new ways of working to ensure both internal and external customers are receiving the highest service levels. This is not a ‘ticking over’ role, and will need someone experienced at wholesale process review and implementation of sustainable structural change.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Management

Lead, coach and develop the team to deliver high‑quality, relationship‑centric operational support.
Set clear expectations, provide regular feedback and manage performance effectively.
Build a positive, accountable, solution‑focused team culture with accountability and ownership being central.
Ensure team are skill not task orientated as well as understanding the importance of the task, role and skill in the positive relationship outcome.
Ensure strong collaboration with Sales, Purchasing, Shipping, Fulfilment, Finance and other departments.

Departmental Transformation

Deliver a root an branch review of the team function and structure, preparing and implementing a plan for new ways of working based on best practice and customer satisfaction. This will involve assessing everything from processes, training and team performance management through to approaches to recruitment.
Play a key role in future organisational changes, including the introduction of new CRM or service technologies.
Lead the team through change, ensuring strong communication, engagement and adoption.

Sales and Purchasing Process & Workflow Management

Oversee end‑to‑end administration processes, ensuring accuracy, consistency and efficiency for both Sales and Purchasing
Maintain and optimise workflows for inbound shipment management, internal and external customer updates and fulfilment.
Identify bottlenecks and implement improvements to streamline operations.
Manage escalations professionally, balancing commercial outcomes with supplier relationships

CRM Data

Oversee data entry, record maintenance and CRM hygiene, working closely with the CRM owner.
Ensure CRM processes support accurate forecasting, reporting and pipeline visibility.
Train and coach the team on CRM best practice and data standards ensuring the team understand the importance of why.
Use data and insight to identify trends, root causes and opportunities to improve service and reduce avoidable workload.

Reporting & Insights

Produce accurate operational and sales‑support reports (order status, fulfilment, pipeline hygiene, SLAs).
Provide insights to Sales and Operations leadership to support decision‑
Monitor KPIs and highlight trends, risks or opportunities for improvement.

Continuous Improvement & Initiative

Drive a culture of proactive problem‑solving, bringing solutions rather than just issues.
Regularly review processes and implement improvements to increase efficiency and accuracy.
Lead small operational projects to enhance systems, workflows or team capability.
Encourage innovation, resourcefulness and continuous learning within the team.

Essential

Proven experience in establishing/evolving Sales Admin Operations or a customer‑centric operational environment, ideally in a fast‑paced setting.
Strong people‑leadership skills with experience managing and developing teams
Experience leading teams through change and transformation.
A practical, hands‑on mindset with the credibility to lead operational and process improvement
Experience implementing or optimising CRM or customer service technology.
A structured, data‑led approach to performance management and service improvement.
Excellent stakeholder‑management skills with the ability to influence cross‑
Confident, resilient and a can-do attitude.

Desirable

Experience in supply chain, fulfilment or order‑processing environments.
Experience supporting commercial or sales admin teams.
Proven experience operating in multilingual environments across diverse international teams.

Recruitment Agencies;

The Pilot Group operates a strict PSL and will not accept any unsolicited CVs sent to any member, employee, representative or business unit of the Pilot Group. Any unsolicited introduction will be treated as a CV ‘sent in kind’ and as such The Pilot Group rejects all liability to pay any such fees for an unsolicited introduction.

Pilot Group Ltd

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Sales Operations Manager