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Tell us about your background and how you became the Operations Support Manager at Clearhill.
Before joining Clearhill, I was in a role where I managed 20 service engineers across Ireland. When an opening came up in Clearhill, I applied because I liked what they did. I started as an engineer to understand the needs of my new role, which allowed me to learn how to effectively manage our services.
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What has been the biggest accomplishment in your career?
My biggest accomplishment to date is being able to say that I manage a team across the UK and Ireland that looks after 2,000 machines and keeps everything running with minimal disruption.
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How do you manage your work-life balance?
Clearhill is a family-run business, so they understand the need to balance work with family or personal commitments. Our work schedule is flexible if needed, with an early finish every Friday – which is great! My wife and I work together to balance our time and plan our annual leave around the family – whether rugby or Gaelic practice, events, or time away.
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What advice would you give to someone looking to follow a similar career path?
Being willing to learn and adapt when following a similar career path as myself is key. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, as the skills we learn in other roles are transferable to your next one. With my sporting background, I have developed a good resilience and ability to push forward with change and take on new challenges confidently, which is important when managing people. Ultimately, believe in yourself and your ability to do the job, because if you don’t back yourself, why should anyone else?
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How has Clearhill’s lean culture affected your role?
Clearhill’s lean culture has provided us with a forum to discuss defects without fear of blame. This forum has also allowed the team to share ideas on improvements in our day-to-day work through sharing knowledge and experience. For my role specifically, the lean culture outlines processes to help manage the jobs in the field, meaning I don’t have to micromanage the team, allowing me to focus on the bigger picture.
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Why should shopping centres or grocery stores partner with Clearhill?
Shopping centres and grocery stores should partner with Clearhill because of our standards. We strive to keep our machines of top quality, cleaning them every visit and fixing them as soon as possible when an issue is reported. We have recently invested in 70 new, interactive kiddie rides that will attract the attention of the kids at the mall. When teamed with our FunHub app, we can bring additional value to our users by enhancing the consumer experience and increasing dwell time at the shopping centre. To keep things fresh, we aim to rotate our rides every 12-18 months, ensuring our offering continues to meet the needs of the space.
