Fleet Operations Manager at Bemil Nigeria Limited

About the Role

• We are seeking a highly experienced and hands-on Fleet Manager to oversee the management, maintenance, availability, and operational readiness of the company’s fleet across 29 states in Nigeria.
• This is a critical operational role for an individual who has a deep understanding of fleet management and vehicle maintenance, particularly armored vehicles, trucks, vans, and other commercial vehicles.
• The ideal candidate should be genuinely passionate about vehicles and fleet operations, highly detail-oriented, technically knowledgeable, and committed to maintaining vehicles to a high standard. You should be the type of person who notices unusual vehicle behavior, poor maintenance practices, recurring faults, unnecessary costs, and operational risks before they become major problems.
• The successful candidate will provide central oversight of the entire fleet while working closely with regional and branch teams, drivers, mechanics, vendors, Operations, CIT, Procurement, Finance, and Management to ensure that every vehicle is safe, compliant, reliable, properly maintained, and available when required.

What you’ll be doing

• Provide overall management and operational oversight of Bemil’s fleet across 29 states.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all vehicles, including armored vehicles, CIT vehicles, trucks, vans, utility vehicles, and other company vehicles.
• Monitor fleet availability, utilization, downtime, mileage, fuel consumption, maintenance history, and vehicle condition.
• Ensure vehicles are available and fit for operational deployment at all times.
• Establish and enforce consistent fleet management standards across all branches and locations.
• Conduct regular inspections and audits of fleet operations across locations.
• Identify operational and maintenance risks and take proactive action before they affect service delivery.
• Develop clear escalation procedures for vehicle breakdowns, accidents, defects, and other fleet-related incidents.
• Ensure proper handover and documentation when vehicles are transferred between locations.
• Develop and enforce preventive and scheduled maintenance programmes for the entire fleet.
• Ensure vehicles receive proper servicing rather than simply responding to breakdowns.
• Review maintenance reports, job cards, inspection reports, quotations, and invoices before work is approved or closed.
• Develop maintenance schedules and ensure branches comply with them.
• Ensure vehicles returning from major repairs are properly inspected and road-tested before deployment.
• Establish a high standard for the appearance, cleanliness, mechanical condition, safety, and overall presentation of every company vehicle.
• Drive a culture where preventive maintenance is prioritised over reactive repairs.
• Develop and monitor fleet maintenance budgets and operating costs.
• Monitor fuel consumption, repairs, spare parts, tyres, servicing, and other fleet-related expenses.
• Prevent waste, duplicate repairs, unnecessary parts replacement, and unauthorised expenditure.
• Ensure all vehicles have valid registration, insurance, roadworthiness certification, permits, and other required documentation.
• Implement effective fleet tracking and monitoring systems.
• Monitor vehicle movement, utilisation, mileage, fuel consumption, and other relevant data.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree, HND, or equivalent qualification in Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Transport Management, Fleet Management, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years relevant experience in fleet management, vehicle maintenance, transport operations, or a related field.
• Strong technical knowledge of vehicle maintenance and diagnostics.
• Excellent communication skills
• Experience managing armoured vehicles, trucks, CIT vehicles, commercial vehicles, or similar heavy-use fleets.
• Highly detail-oriented and able to identify issues that others may overlook.
• Strong understanding of preventive and predictive maintenance.
• Passionate about vehicle condition, reliability, safety, and operational excellence.
• Significant experience managing large-scale, multi-location fleets.
• Strong knowledge of vehicle diagnostics, maintenance systems, spare parts, workshop management, and vehicle lifecycle management.
• Experience with fleet management or vehicle tracking software is highly desirable.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Excel and fleet reporting.
• Professional certifications in fleet, transport, automotive, or operations management will be an advantage.
• Experience in the security, Cash-in-Transit, logistics, transportation, construction, or other asset-intensive industries will be an advantage.
• Have excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Have strong negotiation and vendor-management skills.

Success in this role will be measured by:

• High fleet availability and operational readiness.
• Reduction in avoidable vehicle breakdowns and downtime.
• Preventive maintenance completed within schedule.
• Improved vehicle lifespan and reliability.
• Reduction in recurring mechanical faults.
• Effective control of maintenance and fleet operating costs.
• Workshop and vendor performance.
• Accurate and timely fleet reporting.
• Compliance with vehicle documentation and safety requirements.
• Improved overall condition and standard of the fleet across all locations.