Permanent, part time: 20 hours per week, 5 days per week, Monday-Saturday (with a rotating day off). Typical hours are 6.30am-10.30am dependent on office requirements

Location:  East Oxford and Abingdon Delivery Offices

Looking for a new challenge? Do you enjoy leading a team? Our Operational Cover Manager position could be the role for you. If you have some prior people management experience and the ability to motivate and inspire a team then we’d love to hear from you.

What does the role involve?
At Royal Mail we have 1400 operational units around the country, all making sure that the mail is collected, sorted and delivered six days a week. Our Delivery Managers are integral to making sure our units run as smoothly as possible.  But, given that our operation is across six days and all managers only work five days what happens on their day off?  Well, that’s where our Cover Managers come in.  Dedicated to supporting a cluster of delivery offices, you’ll stand in for the Delivery Manager on their day off.  

This is a hands on role where you will be accountable for a team of postwomen and men, supporting your team as they prepare to deliver mail, by ensuring resources are in place. You will oversee key people, customer, efficiency and financial measures and making sure the unit remains as effective and efficient as possible.

The Cover Manager role is all about leading and managing a team of delivery post people, and you will be responsible for undertaking the tasks of the Manager who you are covering for. Working within a unionised environment, you will ensure your team understand the commercial and competitive market we are in and be customer focussed, open to new technology and flexible to change.

The Part Time Cover manager role is all about leading and managing a team of delivery post people while they work at the Delivery Office – the first part of their day.  Your day will start just before their day starts and you will finish as they go out on Delivery. You will cover the key tasks that that Delivery Manager would normally do during this part of the day.  It’s a challenge, but we’ll provide you with thorough training and support to ensure that you have all the skills and knowledge you need to succeed.

What skills and experience are we looking for?
First things first, we’re looking for a great manager. Maybe you’re working in retail, hospitality, FMCG or somewhere else entirely, what matters is your ability to motivate, inspire and lead a team. Maybe you’ve had a break from work and are thinking of getting back into management without working too many hours.

Hands-on, enthusiastic and resilient, you’re the perfect person to keep an operation running smoothly. You will have an eye for detail and be confident in efficiently managing resources – all with a view to ensuring your team is performing to its very best. 

You will have the ability to engage with your frontline team and lead changes within the offices. You will be flexible and be able to hit the ground running as you will cover a different role each day.

Where will I work?

The role is required to provide managerial cover for East Oxford and Abingdon Delivery Offices. You must have the ability to travel to the offices where you work where public transport may not be available.

About us
Five centuries in business has made Royal Mail more than a household name. We connect companies, customers and communities across the country, delivering a ‘one-price-goes-anywhere’, universal postal service to more than 29 million addresses across the UK.  

Our market is changing, and as one of the UK’s largest organisations we are focused on achieving our vision of being recognised as the best delivery company in the UK and across Europe. We want to be more commercial, flexible and efficient, and are employing our strong brand and a range of new products and services to achieve this.

Application process
If you are interested in applying, please complete your application online and submit your current CV.

During the application process you will be asked to answer some questions which relate directly to the skills required of a Cover Manager, and your application will be shortlisted based on your CV and responses to the questions.

On-line test
As part of the application process you may be required to complete a Numerical and Verbal Online test.  If this is the case you will receive an email to the email address you have provided which will contain a link to the tests.  You will have 48 hours to complete the tests from the date you receive the email and failure to do so will mean we will not be able to progress your application any further.  Note that the Numerical and Verbal online tests will be used as part of the selection process and as such you will need to pass both tests in order for your application to progress to the next steps.

If you consider yourself to have a disability, medical condition or other reason that would require reasonable adjustments for these tests, you will have an opportunity to advise of the need for this. Please see the details when you access the link to the tests. 

Assessment Process
If shortlisted, you will be required to attend an assessment day which will consist of an exercise and competency based interview.

Successful candidates will be required to attend a 4 week induction programme which will ensure they have the knowledge to get started in their new role.

To view the full job description, click here

We are an inclusive employer with equality, diversity and fairness at the heart of our values.  We welcome applications from individuals from all different backgrounds and are committed to promoting fair participation and equality of opportunity for all of our job applicants.

For more information on Royal Mail Group and our Values please click on the link (http://www.royalmailgroup.com/our-people).

Closing date: Wednesday 19th December  2018