Operational Excellence, Technology and Transformation Associate

Buro Happold; Bath; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Income protection

Car allowance

25 days holiday

Company pension

Flexible benefits

Wellbeing programmes

Learning and development

Job summary

Buro Happold is seeking an Associate / Associate Director of Operational Excellence, Technology & Transformation to redefine how engineering work is delivered worldwide. Hybrid role based in Bath or London, partnering with senior leaders to drive practical, scalable change using AI, automation and smarter processes.

Lead high-impact initiatives from discovery to implementation, ensuring commercial viability and alignment with engineering excellence across the global business.

Qualifications

• Significant engineering, operational or business transformation leadership experience.
• Experience in process improvement, operational excellence and transformation programmes.
• Ability to simplify complex challenges into practical, scalable solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management with credibility to influence senior leaders.
• Experience delivering change from concept through pilot to adoption.
• Interest in emerging technologies and practical AI, automation and digital tools.
• Excellent communication, facilitation and collaborative leadership skills.
• Curious mindset with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic operational improvement and transformation initiatives across the business.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities.
• Apply systems thinking and engineering expertise to improve workflows and delivery.
• Explore and implement opportunities for AI, automation and digital enablement.
• Facilitate workshops and discovery sessions with stakeholders.
• Develop business cases, pilots and proof-of-concepts to test approaches.
• Define success measures and evaluate operational impact.
• Drive adoption and embed sustainable change across teams and regions.
• Support greater consistency, efficiency and collaboration across the group.

Skills

Transformation leadership

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

Systems thinking

AI & automation

Digital transformation

Change management

Communication

Facilitation

Innovation

Job description

Join us to transform engineering delivery through technology, innovation and smarter ways of working.

This person can be based in Bath or London on a hybrid working model.

At Buro Happold, we're committed to creating a more sustainable, resilient and equitable world. As our business continues to evolve, we're seeking an exceptional Associate / Associate Director, Operational Excellence, Technology & Transformation to help redefine how engineering work is delivered across our global business.

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced engineering leader who combines operational expertise with a passion for technology, innovation and continuous improvement. Working at the intersection of engineering delivery, business strategy, AI and digital transformation, you'll help drive meaningful change that improves the way we work, collaborate and deliver for our clients.

About The Role

Joining our global Operational Excellence team, you'll work closely with senior business leaders to identify opportunities to improve engineering delivery through smarter processes, better ways of working, and the effective application of technology, data, automation and AI.

You’ll lead high-profile transformation initiatives from discovery through to implementation, helping shape practical solutions to complex operational challenges while ensuring they remain commercially viable, scalable and aligned with our engineering excellence.

A key initial focus will be leading an important business-wide initiative exploring how engineering projects can move beyond traditional time and fee-based planning towards a more task and outcome-based approach, creating the foundations for greater consistency, collaboration and future AI-enabled optimisation.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading strategic operational improvement and transformation initiatives across the business.
• Working with senior stakeholders to identify business challenges and opportunities.
• Applying systems thinking and engineering expertise to improve workflows, processes and delivery performance.
• Exploring and implementing opportunities for AI, automation and digital enablement.
• Facilitating workshops, stakeholder engagement sessions and discovery exercises.
• Developing business cases, pilots and proof-of-concepts to test new approaches.
• Defining success measures and evaluating operational impact.
• Driving adoption and embedding sustainable change across teams and regions.
• Supporting greater consistency, efficiency and collaboration across our global business.

What We Are Looking For

• Significant engineering, operational or business transformation leadership experience.
• A strong understanding of how engineering projects are planned, governed, resourced and delivered.
• Experience in process improvement, operational excellence, business analysis or transformation programmes.
• The ability to simplify complex challenges and turn ideas into practical, scalable solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the credibility to influence senior leaders.
• Experience delivering change from concept through pilot and adoption.
• An interest in emerging technologies and practical applications of AI, automation and digital tools.
• Excellent communication, facilitation and collaborative leadership skills.
• A naturally curious mindset with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.

Why Join Buro Happold

At Buro Happold, we believe in creating a better, more sustainable world. You’ll be part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and excellence. We offer a supportive environment where your contributions make a real difference.

What we Offer You

• Hybrid working arrangements.
• Attractive salary and benefits package including, private medical insurance, life assurance and income protection.
• 10% Car allowance.
• Holiday entitlement of 25 days per annum (exclusive of bank holidays) and flexible holiday arrangements.
• Generous company pension scheme.
• Flexible benefits including cycle scheme, dental insurance, optical cover, travel insurance, season ticket loans, and corporate discounts.
• Enhanced parenthood leave policies.
• 3pm finish on the last Friday of the month.
• A strong commitment to your continuous development. Whatever stage in your career, we have a learning and development programme that will enable and empower you.
• Entitlement to two memberships to professional bodies or subscriptions.
• A commitment to your wellbeing through a comprehensive employee assistance programme and wellbeing activities. A supportive and inclusive environment that will welcome you through social and outreach activities from the Young Employees Forum to mentoring.
• An international culture that wherever your career takes you at Buro Happold, you won’t be far from the exceptional.

Buro Happold values individual's flexible approaches to working patterns as an important part of the way you work and achieve balance. We welcome applications from those who are seeking flexibility in their careers.

Our exceptional portfolio of projects is the result of the diversity of thought, identities, backgrounds and experiences that shape us. Appreciating each other’s differences is key, we want employees to feel they don’t have to mask elements of their identity to thrive.

We are working to change the lack of representation of marginalised groups in the built environment and are particularly keen to hear from anyone who feels they are underrepresented in the industry. We have much to learn from one another. Embracing difference allows us to develop the most innovative and elegant solutions.