Manager, Operations - Real Estate & Not-for-Profit

Description

Gregory & Appel is an independent, Indianapolis-based insurance agency with deep roots, a strong reputation, and a team that believes work should be both meaningful and enjoyable. We're growing, we're always looking for great people, and we'd love to have you be a part of what's next!

The Manager, Operations is responsible for leading and developing an internal service team while ensuring consistent, efficient, high-quality execution across the organization. This role provides day-to-day leadership and operational oversight, balancing people development, workload management, process excellence, performance accountability, and business objectives. The Manager, Operations partners closely with Producers, Account Executives, Account Managers, Senior Account Managers, and all levels of G&A leadership to ensure teams have the structure, resources, processes, and support necessary to deliver an exceptional employee and client experience. This role serves as a key connection point between frontline teams and the G&A, Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and Executive Leadership Team (ELT), translating organizational priorities into clear expectations and actionable plans for the team.

The Manager, Operations serves as a strong people leader who builds accountable, collaborative, high-performing teams through clear expectations, meaningful coaching, ongoing development, effective workload management, and consistent performance management.

Practice Area Focus: This Manager, Operations will lead service teams supporting Real Estate and Not-for-Profit clients. Real Estate accounts often involve large property schedules, multiple locations, and contract and lender requirements, while Not-for-Profit clients rely on a service team that understands their mission, governance structures, and budget sensitivity. The ideal leader brings strong process discipline and the ability to help a team deliver both detailed, technical service and a thoughtful, relationship-focused client experience.

Success in the Role

Success in the Manager, Operations role is demonstrated by a high-performing, well-supported, and accountable team; consistent and efficient execution of operational processes; effective workload and resource management; measurable improvement in team performance and service delivery; strong employee development, growth and retention; and successful execution of organizational priorities.

The Manager, Operations should ultimately create a team and operating environment that can perform consistently and effectively without requiring the leader to personally execute the work.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership & Development

• •Lead, coach, and develop direct reports, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, professionalism, and continuous improvement.
• •Establish clear roles, responsibilities, expectations, and performance standards for team members.
• •Maintain a meaningful and consistent cadence of 1:1 meetings with each direct report, generally weekly or biweekly, focused on priorities, performance, development, obstacles, and support.
• •Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, mentoring, and recognition to strengthen individual and team performance.
• •Conduct formal performance reviews/reflections and develop and maintain Individual Development Plans (IDPs) as appropriate.
• •Address performance concerns promptly and effectively, including setting expectations, providing coaching and corrective feedback, and administering formal performance management when necessary.
• •Support career pathing and professional development, helping employees understand opportunities for growth and the skills required for advancement.
• •Identify training needs and ensure team members receive appropriate technical, operational, and professional development.
• •Evaluate staffing and resource needs based on workload, capacity, business growth, and service requirements.
• •Recruit, hire, onboard, and develop high-performing team members aligned with organizational needs and culture.
• •Foster a positive team environment that reflects G&A's Core Values and expectations for professionalism, behavior and collaboration.

Operational Leadership & Workload Management

• •Oversee the day-to-day operations of the assigned team or department, ensuring work is completed accurately, efficiently, and within established service standards and timelines.
• •Monitor and balance workloads and capacity across the team to ensure appropriate resource allocation and consistent service delivery.
• •Establish and maintain disciplined processes and workflows that promote efficiency, consistency, quality, and scalability.
• •Identify bottlenecks, backlogs, rework, and inefficiencies and take appropriate action to improve operational performance.
• •Ensure team members follow established processes, procedures, documentation standards, and agency management system requirements.
• •Conduct and/or oversee audits and quality assurance activities to promote accuracy, compliance, operational discipline, and service excellence.
• •Establish appropriate metrics and scorecards to measure team performance, productivity, quality, workload, service levels, and other key operational indicators.
• •Review metrics regularly, identify trends and opportunities, and hold team members accountable for achieving established expectations.
• •Provide backup support to Senior Account Managers (SAMs), Account Managers (AMs), or other team members when needed to maintain service continuity.
• •Ensure appropriate coverage and continuity of operations during periods of high workload, employee absence, or other business needs.
• •Oversee the accurate maintenance of property schedules and statements of values, and the timely handling of certificates, additional insured requests, and lender and contract insurance requirements for Real Estate clients.
• •Ensure effective service for habitational, commercial, and mixed-use property portfolios, including coordination of renewals, property inspections, and claims activity with carriers and clients.
• •Support Not-for-Profit clients with coverages such as property, general liability, directors and officers, management liability, and volunteer and event exposures, with an understanding of board reporting and grant or funder insurance requirements.
• •Maintain a service approach that is responsive to budget-conscious clients while helping them understand coverage, risk, and renewal strategy.

Leadership Alignment & Collaboration

• •Execute and operationalize the vision, priorities, and initiatives established by G&A's Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• •Translate organizational goals into clear team priorities, expectations, and action plans.
• •Serve as a conduit between frontline teams and G&A leadership, communicating effectively in all directions—up, down, and peer-to-peer.
• •Escalate issues, risks, resource constraints, and opportunities appropriately and in a timely manner.
• •Serve as a collaborative business partner to Producers, Account Executives, Account Managers, Corporate Service functions, and all of G&A's leadership.
• •Partner with other leaders to improve cross-functional processes, communication, workflow, and the overall employee and client experience.
• •Act as an escalation point for complex operational, service, or team-related issues and work collaboratively toward effective resolution.
• •Provide backup and support to other leaders or teams when appropriate and aligned with business needs.

Performance & Accountability

• •Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable for results, behaviors, service standards, and adherence to established processes.
• •Utilize operational metrics, scorecards, quality audits, and other data to assess performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
• •Regularly communicate performance expectations and results with the team.
• •Recognize strong performance and address performanc