Head of Technical Operations

RGIT Australia; Guiseley; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days leave + bank holidays

Health and wellbeing programme

Hybrid working

Career progression

Job summary

United Gas & Power (UGP) seeks a Head of Technical Operations to lead Billing, Supply Point Administration, Revenue Protection, Siteworks, Settlement and Gas Shipping. You will shape the operating model, governance and improvement program for the department, reporting to the Operations and Compliance Director and serving on the SMT.

The role drives accuracy, risk management and customer outcomes while building the settlement function and leading a small team through change and growth.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading a technical or operational department.
• Proven ability to shape operating models, controls and performance frameworks.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior oversight of operating approach, priorities and performance framework.
• Lead the department through direct report, ensuring alignment to business objectives.
• Ensure billing accuracy, data integrity and risk management across the department.
• Shape settlement, gas shipping and data-flow governance to meet regulatory requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement, automation and control enhancements.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory awareness

Data integrity

Education

Relevant degree or professional qualification

Tools

Billing platforms

CRM systems

Job description

UGP is one of the UK's fastest-growing and highest-rated commercial energy suppliers. We are looking for a Head of Technical Operations to provide senior operational leadership and accountability for Billing, Supply Point Administration, Revenue Protection, Siteworks, Settlement and Gas Shipping. Reporting to the Operations and Compliance Director and serving on the Senior Management Team (SMT), the successful candidate will shape the operating model, controls, performance framework and improvement agenda for the department.

This is a Head of Department role. The role holder currently has one direct report, the Deputy Operations Manager, who leads day-to-day delivery across Billing, Supply Point Administration, Revenue Protection and Siteworks. The role holder will ensure the department has the capability, governance and discipline to deliver accurate billing, strong data integrity, compliant market participation, effective risk management and positive customer and commercial outcomes. This role will play a leading role in shaping the settlement function, including defining how it operates and building out the team over time.

Key Responsibilities:

Departmental accountability

• Provide senior oversight of the operating approach, delivery priorities and performance framework for the Technical Operations department.
• Lead through currently one direct report, the Deputy Operations Manager, setting clear standards, reviewing performance and ensuring each function stays aligned to business objectives.
• Hold senior accountability for billing accuracy, supply-point data integrity, settlement performance, metering delivery, revenue assurance and the operational aspects of the company's gas shipper obligations, including flow management, meter data integrity and SLC adherence.
• Ensure clear governance, controls, reporting and escalation routes are in place across all technical operations functions.
• Prioritise departmental activity based on regulatory risk, customer impact, commercial exposure, operational resilience and strategic value.
• Represent Technical Operations at SMT level, providing clear insight on performance, risks, dependencies, investment needs and improvement priorities.
• Continue to shape and evolve the departmental structure, adjusting roles, reporting lines and resourcing in response to changing volumes, risk and business priorities.
• Maintain senior relationships with third-party providers and agents across the department, ensuring relevant contracts, service levels and commercial arrangements are in place and regularly reviewed.
• Provide senior oversight of the billing operating approach, control environment and performance expectations required to deliver accurate, timely and compliant customer billing, delivered day-to-day through the Deputy Operations Manager.
• Ensure effective assurance is in place for billing exceptions, adjustments, rebills, credits, system changes and root-cause prevention.
• Use billing performance insight to drive improvements in accuracy, productivity, customer experience and regulatory confidence.
• Ensure billing practices comply with relevant regulatory standards, including back-billing rules, so customers are not billed beyond permitted timeframes.

Supply Point Administration

• Provide senior oversight of the governance and control framework for registrations, transfers, standing data, agent appointments and industry data flows.
• Ensure the department maintains accurate, complete and auditable supply-point data across internal and industry systems.
• Drive prevention of data-flow failures, registration exceptions and mismatches that could lead to delayed billing, customer detriment or compliance risk.
• Ensure registration and data-flow activity complies with industry regulations, meeting the obligations and timescales of each.

Revenue Protection

• Provide senior oversight of the revenue protection operating approach and risk appetite for identifying, investigating and recovering revenue leakage.
• Ensure investigation, evidence, estimation, recovery and escalation decisions are governed by clear controls and proportionate customer treatment.
• Maintain senior visibility of revenue exposure, recovery performance, compliance considerations and cross-functional dependencies.
• Ensure revenue protection activity complies with theft-of-energy legislation and Ofgem guidance, including fair treatment and safeguards for vulnerable customers.

Siteworks

• Provide senior oversight of the siteworks operating model and service approach for metering activity, field appointments, technical faults and agent performance.
• Ensure metering agents and field-service partners are governed through clear service levels, technical standards, commercial controls and performance review.
• Ensure siteworks activity supports accurate billing, settlement, safety, customer communications and fair treatment of vulnerable customers.
• Ensure metering and field activity, through third parties, complies with relevant gas and electrical safety regulations and metering codes of practice, including agent adherence to required technical standards.

Settlement

• Provide senior oversight of the settlement control framework, ensuring settlement inputs, validations, reconciliations and submissions are accurate, complete and timely.
• Maintain senior visibility of settlement risk, volume exceptions, reconciliation differences, financial exposure and assurance activity.
• Work with Commercial and Finance to improve settlement insight, variance management and the accuracy of financial and operational reporting.
• Ensure settlement activity complies with the Elexon-administered Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), the Uniform Network Code (UNC) for gas, and other relevant industry settlement rules.
• Note that the Settlement Manager role does not yet exist: play a leading part in shaping and establishing this function, including defining its structure, ways of working and resourcing as it develops.

Gas Shipping

• Provide senior oversight that gas shipping obligations are effectively managed and that the department consistently meets its SLAs and obligations as a gas shipper, with the EMC process kept fit for purpose.
• Maintain meter data integrity across the gas shipping process and ensure adherence to relevant Licence Conditions (SLCs) and the Uniform Network Code (UNC) governing gas shipper operations.
• Ensure gas shipping data and processes are properly integrated with billing, settlement and supply point administration to prevent discrepancies and industry exceptions.
• Provide senior oversight of gas shipping risk and performance, escalating material issues to the Operations and Compliance Director where relevant.

Quality, people leadership and continuous improvement

• Lead through the Deputy Operations Manager and set expectations for decision-making, ownership, delivery standards and escalation discipline.
• Build a resilient departmental structure with the right capability, capacity, succession planning, documentation and cross-training.
• Provide senior oversight of departmental KPIs, controls, risk reporting and improvement plans, ensuring clear visibility for the Operations and Compliance Director and SMT.
• Influence cross-functional priorities to improve end-to-end outcomes.
• Sponsor continuous improvement, automation and control enhancements that reduce risk, improve productivity and support business growth.
• Create a culture of accountability, technical excellence, regulatory awareness, collaboration and evidence-based decision-making.

The Individual

The ideal candidate will be an experienced Head of Department or senior operational leader with a track record of leading complex technical or industry functions through managers and specialists. They will be comfortable setting clear direction, shaping operating models, managing risk and controls, influencing senior stakeholders and translating performance insight into action. They will combine commercial judgement, regulatory awareness and strong people leadership with the discipline needed to run accurate, resilient and scalable operations.

Essential experience and capability

• Significant experience leading a technical, operational or industry-facing department with accountability for performance, controls, risk and service outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead through managers or technical leads, including setting direction, building capability and creating clear accountability.
• Strong understanding of billing, supply-point administration, metering, revenue assurance or settlement, with sufficient breadth to provide credible departmental leadership.
• Experience designing, governing and improving control frameworks for data quality, exceptions, reconciliations, audit trails and operational risk.
• Ability to use KPIs, management information, assurance findings and root-cause analysis to shape priorities and improve business outcomes.
• Excellent senior stakeholder management and communication skills, with the confidence to influence priorities, challenge constructively and present clear recommendations.
• Experience in the electricity or gas market and familiarity with relevant industry codes, settlement arrangements, the operational side of gas shipper obligations and data flows.
• Experience with energy billing platforms, CRM systems, industry interfaces or operational automation.
• Direct experience of revenue protection, metering siteworks, or settlement assurance.
• A relevant professional qualification or degree, or significant related experience.
• Experience supporting structured change, process improvement or operational governance across customer-facing teams.

Join the Team

• Competitive salary, based on experience
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• Career progression and scope to grow with an ambitious, fast-moving business
• Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, with hybrid working
• Health and wellbeing programme
• Collaborative and supportive working environment

Company Overview

United Gas & Power (UGP), is a business energy supplier based in Yorkshire that truly puts customer service at the heart of its organisation. We supply businesses across the UK and handle the entire end-to-end switching process to make your switch as hassle free as possible.