Operations Manager

Role & responsibilities

To ensure smooth, safe, and efficient bus depot operations with high fleet availability, strong cost control, and superior stakeholder satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities:

Operational Excellence:

- Lead daily depot operations ensuring bus scheduling, allocation, and fleet readiness.

- Monitor and improve KPIs such as EPKM, KMPL, occupancy, On-Time Performance (OTP), and cost per KM.

- Supervise conductor & driver operations, rostering, discipline, safety and performance management.

- Lead route optimization and depot management including cash control, parking, ticketing, and dispatch.

Technical & System Management:

- Ensure strong understanding and monitoring of diesel/CNG/EV bus systems and charging infrastructure.

- Manage ITS (GPS, AFCS, CCTV, telematics, Chalo app dashboards) for real-time operations efficiency.

- Oversee preventive and breakdown maintenance, spares management, vendor SLAs and AMC performance.

Business, Finance & Revenue:

- Drive AOP execution focusing on revenue per bus, cost optimization, collection efficiency and profitability.

- Support budgeting, cost control, reconciliation, and commercial discipline across operations.

People & Leadership:

- Lead high-performance teams including Managers, Supervisors, Drivers, Conductors & Technical staff.

- Manage conflict resolution in unionized environments while maintaining discipline and morale.

- Execute structured coaching, training programs and performance evaluations using data.

Compliance & Safety:

- Ensure compliance with RTO norms, insurance, permits, fitness & regulatory standards.

- Lead safety measures, incident response, and root-cause analysis.

- Maintain adherence to labor laws including shift scheduling, OT management, and PF/ESI compliance.

Stakeholder & External Relations:

- Coordinate effectively with Municipal Corporations, Police, Traffic Department & Govt bodies.

- Build vendor relationships and manage external service contracts.

- Handle public feedback, escalations, and media/community communication professionally.

Required Skills & Competencies:

Functional Skills:

- Strong business orientation and understanding of operational levers.

- Proven expertise in Operations Planning, Execution, AOP Delivery & Team Leadership.

- Strong decision-making ability with analytical and data-driven approach.

- Strategic problem-solving and structured execution mindset.

Behavioral Competencies:

- High ownership and accountability

- Respectful and collaborative

- Courageous decision-making

- Coachable and growth-oriented

- Ability to influence stakeholders across levels

- On-ground aggressiveness towards solving operational challenges

Knowledge Requirements:

- Fleet operations, depot management & route planning

- ITS systems, dashboards, GPS, AFCS, telematics

- PPP model, tenders, revenue mgmt & commercial KPIs

- Breakdown & preventive maintenance systems

- Labor law compliance & safety frameworks

Experience & Qualification:

- 8-15 years of experience in transport, mobility, logistics, manufacturing, or large-scale field operations.

- Experience managing large distributed teams (200+ workforce) preferred.

- Exposure to EV ecosystem and smart mobility solutions is an advantage.

- Graduate / MBA / Engineering preferred.

Success Indicators:

- Improved fleet efficiency & reduction in operational costs

- High stakeholder satisfaction and stronger public perception

- Strong discipline, safety and compliance culture

- Delivering targets aligned with AOP