Eight years ago, Nafras Ifthkar was working one or two casual cleaning shifts a week. Today, he leads OCS’s 24/7 cleaning operation at a major airline-catering facility in Melbourne.
A recent customer audit brought the scale of that progression into view. With his manager interstate, Nafras took responsibility for the audit himself.
“They looked closely at every part of the site and told us it looked exceptionally clean and tidy,” Nafras says. “They said they couldn’t expect anything more from a cleaning perspective. It was my first audit by myself, so I felt proud that the team and I had done a great job.”
Nafras arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka with his wife in March 2018, joining OCS first as a casual cleaner, fitting the available work around visa restrictions, before being offered a permanent part-time position in 2021.
He started with three days a week, increased to four and became a full-time Supervisor in August 2025. In April 2026, he was offered the Site Manager role at the Melbourne airline-catering facility.
The hardest part of the job in the early years, he says, was the night shifts.
“It took me a long time to adjust, but now I take it all in my stride,” he says with a grin. “Now I’m up at 4am – which is helpful with a new baby in the house!”
OCS has supported the airline-catering operator since 2012, providing specialist cleaning across seven Australian ports. The Melbourne site runs around the clock and supports airline catering within a tightly controlled food-production environment. Cleaning must meet strict hygiene, food safety and biosecurity requirements.
Nafras now manages 75 colleagues across the 24/7 roster. Each person brings different availability, working-hour limits and shift preferences. Bringing those requirements together is one of the hardest parts of his role.
With previous experience working in Sri Lanka in IT, he realised he could automate many of the functions in crafting rosters and now he says that makes life much easier to
manage – especially when it comes to keeping his staff happy and motivated with their shift allocations.
“I have always been grateful for the opportunity to try new things,” he says. “My managers have always encouraged me to innovate, and they’ve provided practical training and support. This has meant I’ve been able to gradually increase people management responsibilities.”
OCS has also provided formal manager training in workplace health and safety, psychosocial hazards, privacy, equal opportunities and respectful workplace conduct.
Nafras admits that people leadership has its own unique challenges. Some of the colleagues Nafras now manages once worked beside him as cleaners.
“I have to be fair to everybody,” he says. “The people who started with me knew me as their workmate. Moving from that relationship to being their manager wasn’t always easy, but I’m getting there.”
That growth has also been recognised by the leaders who have supported Nafras along the way including Victoria State Manager, Chaminie Wadduwage, “One of the things that stands out most about Nafras is his genuine passion for people and his determination to succeed. Throughout his time with OCS, he has embraced every opportunity to learn, develop, and take on greater responsibility. Watching him grow into a Contract Manager and lead a large team with confidence has been incredibly rewarding. His journey is a great example of what can be achieved through hard work, commitment, and a positive attitude.”
Nafras and his team have also changed how they approach the site. Their attention now extends beyond ‘bins and daily wipe-downs’ to edges, corners, ceilings and areas requiring planned deep cleaning. They work closely with the customer to address issues as they arise, with recent audit feedback recognising the improvement.
Nafras is now building a life in Melbourne with his wife, three-year-old daughter and baby son. At work, he has already set his next goal: responsibility for a portfolio of sites.
“The opportunities were there, but I also had to show what I could do,” he says. “I started here as a casual cleaner. Now I manage the site. My next step is growing my role to be a state manager.”
