Inverness City Manager

About Ember

We're building the future of public transport — convenient, connected, affordable and zero-emission. Our goal is to make it easier to get from A to B with Ember than it is with your own car.

We’ve already demonstrated that it's possible to use electric buses more intensively than anyone else in the world. This leads to a massive emissions reduction and is only possible because we control the full-stack and integrate it tightly together. That includes the tech platform, the charging infrastructure and the vehicles themselves. This also means we’re providing a much better passenger experience with innovative features like demand-responsive stops.

We’ve come a long way but we’re still operating on a micro scale, with three routes and 38 active buses. The challenge is to scale this 100x whilst staying lean, increasing efficiency and delivering an even better product experience. We’ve already successfully raised equity from some of Europe’s leading climate VCs and secured a large debt facility from our ethical banking partner so we’re looking for people who can help us take things to the next level.

The Role

We're looking for a leader to oversee the launch of brand new Ember Hubs in cities across Scotland as we grow and expand our network, and our next step is the opening of an Ember Hub in Inverness in the autumn of 2024.

A primary goal is that each of our new Hubs is genuinely industry-leading in every aspect, and we're looking for a candidate who possesses the right combination of qualities to make that happen. You won't do that alone, but you'll have the innate drive to lead the way in establishing and evolving processes that ensure the very highest of standards and experiences for our customers and our employees alike.

The role will touch all aspects of the business, building and working with the brand new team in Inverness while working closely with our existing Operations and Technical teams in Dundee, Aberdeen and at Ember's Edinburgh HQ. You'll be helping us to establish and refine the Ember Hub blueprint which we'll roll out in locations right across Scotland over the next 18 months.

You'll be very at home with taking lead responsibility for the day to day success of our 24/7 service in Inverness, and will possess a technical curiosity that helps you to play a key part in the growth story of a public transport company that has technology at its very heart.

Diversity and equality

At Ember, we support diversity across our team and customers. We work to ensure every employee feels respected and able to give their best, whether temporary, part-time or full-time. We’re happy to offer flexible working patterns where they make sense, are compassionate when it comes to time off and offer enhanced maternity and paternity leave.

Read more about our approach in our Equal Opportunities Policy.

What’s on offer

As well as a salary of up to £70,000 per annum, depending on your experience, you'll be eligible for share options through an EMI scheme.

How do I apply?

Apply using the form, providing a CV and a cover letter explaining why you're the one.

Responsibilities

Your core responsibilities will be to:

• Engage and build an industry-leading team of drivers and support staff, ensuring that the highest level of standards are maintained.
• Oversee the fundamentals of launching a new facility - from the set up of a working operations centre to establishing valuable relationships with key suppliers, local authorities and partner organisations within the industry.
• Provide hyper-care support post-launch and ongoing line management support of the teams as required. This means handling HR, shift assignment and cover, and supporting the team's ongoing development.
• Ensure that Ember deliver the best possible service in every sense. You’ll be responsible for implementing a high-quality 24/7 operation at the Hubs you launch, and ensuring that we delight our customers. This means ensuring our coaches run on time and in great condition, inside and out, with friendly and informative personnel at every customer touchpoint. You’ll work closely with our drivers, maintenance team and wider support staff, and will be prepared get your own hands dirty sometimes.

We also expect you to be flexible and proactive in helping the company to thrive. As a fast-growing company, it's inevitable that unexpected issues will come up and our success will be down to how you respond.

Requirements

We're looking for self-starting, humble, ambitious people who will enjoy the challenge of working in a fast-scaling company and embracing new technology. This is more important than your exact level of experience.

You will need to meet these basic requirements:

• A strong sense of what good really looks like whatever the topic, problem, or issue. After all, good is good.
• An instinct and curiosity that draws you to problems and drives you to find a solution, rather than hoping someone else picks it up
• A master of organisation – nothing is dropped or missed, but sometimes it’s put on the back-burner because it isn’t a priority and can be compartmentalised.
• Willingness to get hands on and back yourself to work through any problem, including those outside of your realm of expertise
• A natural calmness, resilience and flexibility in the face of the kind of unexpected challenges that will sometimes arise in a fast-growing organisation.
• Solid IT skills, including using spreadsheets and other online systems
• Flexibility to work late or early shifts at times, across any day of the week. In return, we'll try to make these as sociable as possible. You'll know your own priorities and can often set your own schedule.