Work Experience Office jobs in Mullingar, County Westmeath

Role at a glance

Forus Training is looking for an Operations Manager to run the systems, contracts and processes behind our courses, so learners have a great experience and the business runs smoothly, compliantly and profitably.

About Forus Training and the role

Forus Training is a QQI-accredited further education and training provider based in Mullingar. For more than 25 years we have helped learners across Ireland build skills, qualifications and confidence through online, live online and classroom courses in Special Needs Assistance, Early Learning and Care, Health and Social Care, Agriculture, Horticulture and Business, working with individual learners, employers and public funders.

The Operations Manager keeps the engine of the business running: the systems our staff use, the contracts and suppliers we depend on, the learner journey from first enquiry to certification, and the grants and tenders that fund much of our work. You will own our CRM and training management systems, improve customer and learner satisfaction, and work alongside Finance, IT and Marketing to grow what works.

What you will do

Run day-to-day operations

• Oversee course delivery end to end: Programme Coordinators handle scheduling, venues, trainer allocation, learner materials and logistics for online, live online and classroom courses; you understand the whole process from start to finish, check it runs as planned, and lead improvements.
• Maintain standard operating procedures for each stage of the learner journey and keep them current.
• Support Quality Assurance with QQI requirements, learner records, certification timelines and audits.
• Oversee health and safety, venue risk assessments and data protection (GDPR) in day-to-day operations.
• Track operational measures such as enrolments, completion, certification and response times, and report them monthly.
• Contribute to building and maintaining the company's balanced scorecard: help define the operational, customer and learner measures, gather the data, and use the results to drive improvements.

Own our core business systems

• Act as business owner of HubSpot (CRM) and Administrate (training management system): data quality, pipelines, forms, course templates, user access and reporting.
• Build a standard way to onboard and offboard staff and trainers on every system they need, including accounts, permissions, training and removal of access when they leave.
• Keep a register of every system we use, who owns it, who has access and what it costs.
• Work with the Head of IT on improvements, integrations and automation, and test changes before they go live.

Manage contracts and suppliers

• Keep a contracts register covering insurance, software (HubSpot, Administrate, Phorest and others), venues, website and other suppliers.
• Manage renewals, review value and terms before each renewal, and negotiate where needed.
• Lead insurance renewals with our brokers, including learner protection insurance for QQI programmes, and supply certificates to clients and venues.
• Make sure every contract has an owner, a renewal date and a signed copy on file.

Improve customer satisfaction and the learner experience

• Measure customer and learner satisfaction through surveys, reviews, feedback and complaints, and report trends.
• Find the causes of poor experiences and lead changes that fix them, from enquiry and enrolment through to certification.
• Handle escalated operational complaints and make sure lessons are fed back into how we work.
• Make it easy for learners to enrol, pay, get support and complete their course.

Grow what sells, with Marketing

• Use HubSpot and enrolment data to show which courses, channels and audiences convert best.
• Work with Marketing on campaigns, course pages and lead follow-up, and make sure operations can deliver what marketing sells.
• Feed learner and customer insight into new course ideas and improvements.

Grants and tenders

• Find suitable grants and tenders, and coordinate applications and bids with Finance and programme teams.
• Manage awarded grants and contracts: reporting, compliance, claims and deadlines.
• Keep a calendar of funding opportunities and submission dates.

Work across the business

• Work closely with Finance on budgets, supplier costs, contract spend, grant claims and smooth processes from booking to invoicing.
• Work with the Head of IT on systems, access and security.
• Work with HR on onboarding and offboarding of staff and trainers.
• Work with the Knowledge and Process Manager to map, document and standardise processes, and keep our knowledge bank accurate and up to date.

What you will bring

Essential

• At least five years' operations experience, including at least two in a management role, ideally in education, training or another service business.
• Hands-on ownership of a CRM (HubSpot strongly preferred) and confidence managing data, pipelines, forms, users and reports.
• Experience managing supplier contracts and renewals, including insurance and software.
• A track record of improving customer or user experience using feedback and data.
• Experience setting up processes and checklists that others follow, such as system onboarding.
• Strong organisation, follow-through and attention to detail across many moving parts.
• Clear communication and the ability to work well with finance, IT, marketing and delivery teams.
• The right to work in Ireland and the ability to attend our Mullingar office regularly.

Useful but not essential

• Experience in Irish further education and training, including QQI quality assurance.
• Experience with Administrate or another training management or learning system.
• Experience writing or managing grant applications and public tenders.
• Knowledge of learner protection, GDPR and health and safety requirements.
• Experience with automation tools such as Zapier or n8n.
• A project management or process improvement qualification.

Who will thrive here

You are practical, organised and customer-minded, with real attention to detail. You enjoy a bit of chaos: you are at your best when there are lots of moving parts, and you get satisfaction from pulling them together into something that runs smoothly. You like to know how everything fits together, you fix root causes rather than symptoms, and you enjoy making things easier for colleagues and learners.

What we offer and how to apply

What we offer

• A central role with real ownership across systems, contracts, learner experience and growth.
• Hybrid working, attend our Mullingar office once a week
• The chance to shape how an established Irish education business operates and grows.
• Purposeful work that helps people build their futures through education.

How to apply

Please send your CV and a short note on why the role interests you, and one process or system you have improved, to opportunities@forustraining.ie. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Equal opportunity

Forus Training is committed to an inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and can provide reasonable accommodations during recruitment. If you meet most, but not every, requirement and believe you could contribute strongly, we encourage you to apply.

Pay: €45,760.00 per year

Benefits:

• Employee assistance program

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Mullingar, County Westmeath