Control Tower First Line Manager

Pay Rate: £40,000
Grade: M
Contract Type: Permanent (Full-Time)
Shift patterns: Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week
Location: Gatwick Airport


PLEASE NOTE: The role is based within an airport. You will be required to undergo a security/background check if you are to be successful for this position.

Think you know DHL? Think again! We're not just about delivering parcels. DHL Supply Chain is the world's leading logistics company, providing top-notch ground handling services at numerous UK airports. Join us in our mission to deliver excellence in aviation logistics!


A TYPICAL DAY MAY INVOLVE

  • Design, implement and manage accurate and efficient rosters across the operation, ensuring alignment with operational demand and service requirements
  • Proactively plan and coordinate daily and short-term resource requirements, ensuring all operational tasks are adequately covered.
  • Monitor and adjust resource allocation in real time to respond to changes in demand, absences, or operational disruption
  • Support the delivery of contractual performance targets by ensuring the optimum use of available resources.
  • Identify risks to service delivery (e.g. skill gaps, overtime dependency, coverage shortfalls) and implement effective mitigation plans.
  • Contribute to maintaining a consistent, high-quality service that meets customer expectations.
  • Act as the subject matter expert for planning and rostering systems (e.g. SITA), ensuring effective end-to-end utilisation.
  • Maintain high standards of data accuracy across all planning, rostering, and workforce systems.
  • Ensure correct allocation of skills and resources within systems to support operational delivery.
  • Produce and coordinate operational reports (internal and customer-facing) to support performance tracking.
  • Analyse workforce data to identify trends, including overtime drivers, absence patterns, and skill gaps.
  • Use data insights to recommend improvements to planning efficiency and resource utilisation.
  • Work closely with operational teams, training functions and site administration to align workforce planning with operational needs.
  • Support engagement with stakeholders by providing clear planning insight and guidance.
  • Contribute to building strong working relationships across departments to improve coordination and service delivery.
  • Ensure workforce planning is aligned with training requirements, onboarding activities, and compliance needs.
  • Support integration of new starters into rosters and operational plans.
  • Collaborate with training teams to ensure minimal operational impact from training activities.
  • Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, system utilisation and ways of working.
  • Support continuous improvement initiatives aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing cost, and enhancing service delivery.
  • Ensure planning activities are compliant with business rules, contractual agreements and regulatory requirements.


THIS ROLE WOULD SUIT PEOPLE WHO

  • Experience using workforce management or rostering systems (e.g. SITA or similar), including real-time resource allocation.
  • Experience in workforce planning, rostering, or scheduling within a fast-paced operational environment (e.g. logistics, aviation, ground handling, or similar).
  • Experience producing and interpreting reports to support decision-making and performance improvement (e.g. Excel, Power BI or similar tools).
  • Experience within an airport, aviation, or ground handling environment.
  • Are confident dealing with challenging situations
  • Work well within a team and have excellent communication skills


SECURITY PROCESS TO WORK WITHIN AVIATION AND TRAVEL AT DHL

To obtain a full airside ID, you must:

  • Be able to provide five years' address history
  • Be able to provide five years' reference history (employment/education/benefit claim/character)
  • Pass a pre-employment Drug and Alcohol test


WHY JOIN US?

  • Join our generous pension scheme and benefit from an 8% employer contribution, alongside a 4% employee contribution
  • Free confidential 24/7 GP consultations
  • Hundreds of retail and lifestyle discounts
  • Affordable loans, savings schemes and free mortgage advice
  • Visit https://careers.dhl.com/global/en/working-at-dhl-supply-chain to learn more


WHO WE ARE

We're the global leaders in supply chain management with 188,000 people in over 50 countries. Our expert teams work together to deliver for our customers across a range of industries including retail, automotive, healthcare and more.


BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

At DHL, we're all about creating a workplace where everyone's skills and experiences matter, and where you can be your true self every day.


As proud supporters of the Armed Forces Covenant, we value the skills and experience of ex-service personnel and are dedicated to helping our veterans find jobs.


#UKIDSCEJ

Back to blog

Other Jobs To Apply

No other job posts for this day.

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...