Contract Manager Transport Operations

Contract Manager Transport Operations

Location: Barnsley, S75
Salary: £60,000
Working Hours: 48 hours per week - Monday - Friday

The Opportunity

We are supporting a leading logistics business in the search for an experienced Contract Manager to take ownership of a busy transport depot based in Barnsley.

This is a hands-on operational and commercially focused role, offering the opportunity to manage the day-to-day performance of a key customer contract while leading a team, driving service excellence and protecting contract profitability.

The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring the depot operates safely, efficiently and effectively, while building strong relationships with customers, employees and suppliers.

The Role

As Contract Manager, you will have full operational and commercial responsibility for the depot, ensuring customer expectations are consistently met while maintaining strong cost control and compliance standards.

This role requires a visible and proactive leader who is comfortable working closely with drivers, operational teams and customers, while also having the commercial awareness to improve performance and maximise contract margin.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing the daily transport operation and service delivery of the depot.
• Taking ownership of operational performance, customer satisfaction and contract KPIs.
• Leading, motivating and developing transport teams to achieve high standards of performance and engagement.
• Building and maintaining strong customer relationships through regular communication and a customer-first approach.
• Working closely with customers to understand their requirements, quality standards and operational expectations.
• Managing operational issues, service failures and corrective actions to protect customer relationships.
• Monitoring and controlling operational costs, including driver hours, expenses, fuel, vehicle damage and supplier expenditure.
• Ensuring accurate capture of additional and recoverable costs to support contract profitability.
• Managing subcontractors and suppliers to ensure cost-effective and high-quality service delivery.
• Ensuring compliance with transport legislation, including driver hours, tachograph requirements, working time directives and operating licence obligations.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency and business performance.

About You

We are looking for an experienced Transport Contract Manager, Depot Manager or Transport Operations Manager who thrives in a fast-paced operational environment.

You will ideally have:

• Proven experience managing a transport operation, depot or dedicated customer contract.
• A strong understanding of transport operations, compliance and service delivery.
• Experience leading and developing operational teams.
• A hands-on management style with the ability to get involved in the detail when required.
• Strong commercial awareness, with experience managing costs, budgets and contract performance.

WR Logistics are a leading recruitment partner for the logistics and supply chain industry, recruiting across the UK, Europe, and the USA for permanent opportunities.

WR Logistics is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy