Senior Operations Controller

Senior Operations Controller

Location: Albert Road, Bristol
Salary: £49,500 per annum
Hours: 45 hours per week, Monday–Friday, 06:00-15:30

At Bristol Waste Company, what we do matters. We keep Bristol and the surrounding areas clean, safe and moving. Working in partnership with the council, we support the city’s sustainability goals while delivering high‑quality, value‑for‑money services. Our commercial operations are growing, and we’re looking for people who share our values and want to grow with us.

The Senior Operations Controller will provide high-level oversight of the day-to-day operation across recycling and refuse, ancillary and commercial collections, overseeing the tracking and communication with collection crews and supporting Supervisors and Charge hands to maintain safe, efficient, and compliant service delivery. The post holder will monitor operational performance throughout the day, coordinating resources and service recovery actions to ensure the smooth running and completion of all scheduled work.

A key element of the role is clear, timely communication with Operational Managers on emerging issues, risks, and priorities, working collaboratively to resolve problems and achieve daily completion targets.

• Lead the operational control function for collections services, providing oversight, support, and escalation for Supervisors and Charge hands across the services.
• Coordinate daily service delivery to ensure completion of scheduled rounds, managing competing priorities, disruption, and changes in real time.
• Monitor and support resource planning (staffing, vehicles, and spare capacity) to maintain adequate cover, considering absences, busy periods, and unplanned events.
• Provide senior-level decision making for service recovery, including reallocation of crews, route changes, contingency arrangements, and authorisation of additional resources where agreed.
• Support Operational Managers with vehicle provision and fleet issues, including breakdown coordination, allocation of spares and liaison with workshop/fleet teams.
• Provide real-time performance insight to the management team, highlighting risks, exceptions and trends, and recommending actions to achieve daily completion targets and KPIs, working to a right first-time approach.
• Manage and prioritise day-to-day service enquiries and operational activities, ensuring appropriate responses, accurate record keeping and timely updates to relevant stakeholders.
• Oversee compliance administration for Driver’s Hours and tachograph processes (receipt, logging, filing, and monitoring), escalating potential compliance concerns promptly to managers.
• Coach and develop Supervisors and Charge hands, supporting consistent standards, clear communication, accurate system uses and effective shift handovers.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by identifying process/system issues, proposing solutions, and supporting implementation of agreed changes.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with BWC colleagues, Bristol City Council, and other partners/community groups, always representing the control function professionally.
• Direct line management of a Chargehand team.

• Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills, confident in giving clear instructions and handling challenging conversations professionally.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear updates, reports, and accurate records.
• Highly organised, able to work under pressure, manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills, taking ownership of issues and applying practical, customer-focused solutions.
• Competent in Microsoft Office applications, including word processing and spreadsheets.
• Working knowledge of transport/fleet compliance, including Driver’s Hours and tachograph requirements, with the confidence to elevate concerns appropriately.
• Confident user of waste management, routing and/or fleet software systems and monitoring tools; able to interpret performance data and translate into actions.
• Understanding of…