Service Manager — AC Installation & Repair

About the Company:

OctoLife is a startup founded by serial entrepreneurs with a mission to build the world’s most efficient and sustainable cooling products. In a rapidly warming world, OctoLife is on a mission to democratise access to cooling solutions to 5 billion residents of the developing world. This is one the biggest challenges facing humanity, and core to OctoLife’s existence. Headquartered in Bangalore, the R&D and product development of Octolife is based out of Gurugram.

Role summary

The Service Manager (SM) will own all after-sales service delivery for the Air Conditioner category in the region. You will manage a mixed supply of technicians — direct (in-house) teams and third-party partners — to ensure safe, timely, and high-quality AC installations, repairs, gas refills and preventive maintenance. This role combines field operations, vendor management, quality control, workforce development, and customer SLA ownership to deliver outstanding customer experience and strong business outcomes.

Key responsibilities

Operational leadership

• Own day-to-day service delivery: installations, corrective repairs, gas refills, preventive maintenance and warranty jobs.
• Plan technician rostering, zone coverage, and capacity to meet demand peaks while controlling turnaround time (TAT).
• Define and manage service SLAs (e.g., response time, first-time-fix rate, installation completion time) and ensure adherence.

Workforce management

• Recruit, onboard, and retain in-house technicians; build capability through technical and soft-skills training (both classroom and ride-alongs).
• Source, audit, and manage third-party technician partners — performance onboarding, periodic audits, and contract compliance. 
• Create field performance scorecards and implement incentive/penalty mechanisms to drive quality and productivity.

Quality, safety & compliance

• Implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for installations and repairs (safety checks, pre/post handover checklist, customer sign-off).
• Conduct regular quality audits, ride-alongs and mystery checks; ensure safety protocols and regulatory compliance (gas handling, electrical safety).
• Manage customer escalations with root-cause analysis and corrective action plans.

Inventory & spares management

• Manage regional spares inventory (critical parts, consumables) to maintain optimal stock levels and minimize delays.
• Work with the supply chain to forecast spares demand, reduce stockouts and control inventory carrying cost.

Vendor & stakeholder management

• Negotiate and manage SLAs, rates and payment terms with third-party partners.
• Collaborate with customer service, sales, operations, and product teams to optimize service packages, warranty terms and field processes.

Data & process improvement

• Track KPIs, analyze trends (repeat complaints, failure modes) to improve first-time-fix, TAT and CSAT.
• Build & maintain dashboards and weekly/monthly reports for leadership.

Qualifications & experience

• Graduate; Diploma/BE in Mechanical/Electrical desirable. MBA or equivalent is an advantage.

• 6–10+ years

  experience in field/service operations, ideally in HVAC, consumer durables, home services (installation & repair) or platform service companies.
• 2-3 years of experience with organised Room Air Conditioner service is a Must.
• Demonstrated track record managing in-house technicians / third-party service partners or both across a city/cluster.
• Strong people-management experience: recruiting, training, performance management and field coaching.
• Good understanding of HVAC/AC systems, installation best practices, common fault diagnostics and safe gas handling.

You should apply if:

✓ You want to do the absolute best work in your life!

✓ You want to work on a tough problem that deserves solving.

✓ You are obsessed with doing better, at everything you do.

✓ You want an environment that challenges you every day.

✓ You want to be respected in ways that truly matter.

✓ You are curious, inventive, creative, action oriented.

✓ You value fairness, meritocracy, inclusiveness.