Operations Director

SARIA UK; Doncaster; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading operations firm in the UK is seeking an experienced Operations Director to lead strategic operational functions across multiple sites. This role requires strong operational leadership, P&L ownership, and the ability to drive continuous improvement and change management. The ideal candidate has 5-10 years of senior leadership experience and a degree-level qualification or above. Joining this position offers significant autonomy and the chance to influence a forward-thinking organization.

Benefits

High-impact leadership role

Commitment to innovation and investment

Collaborative leadership team

Qualifications

• 5-10 years senior leadership experience within a comparably sized or larger organisation.
• Strong operational and/or engineering experience.
• A proven track record of delivering operational change.

Responsibilities

• Lead and implement the strategic direction for all operational functions.
• Provide credible and influential leadership across the business.
• Drive a structured schedule of operational reviews to monitor KPIs.

Skills

Operational leadership

P&L ownership

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Continuous improvement

Education

Degree-level qualification or above

Job description

Location: Based in Doncaster with National coverage

Salary: Executive Pay + Benefits

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Are you a strategic and inspirational operational leader with the drive to elevate performance across a complex, multi-site business? We’re seeking an exceptional Operations Director who can shape our operational strategy, optimise plant and asset performance, and lead a high‑performing team through the next stage of our journey. This is a rare opportunity to take full operational ownership across a forward‑thinking organisation where your impact will be immediate, visible, and highly valued.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead and implement the strategic direction for all operational functions, ensuring sustainable and efficient performance.
• Identify opportunities to diversify and optimise plant, machinery, and equipment aligned with long‑term strategic goals.
• Provide credible and influential leadership across the business, taking full P&L ownership and ensuring delivery of business plans and budgets.
• Drive a structured schedule of operational reviews to monitor KPIs, performance metrics, and budget adherence across all business units.
• Establish, manage and monitor CapEx and OpEx budgets for all factories, ensuring full oversight of operational projects.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring best practices and regulatory compliance are consistently applied.
• Maintain strong compliance focus across safety, quality, environment, and energy, and manage relationships with relevant regulatory bodies.
• Enhance asset efficiency to maximise output, performance, and profitability.
• Build, motivate and develop a high‑performing operations team, promoting collaboration, accountability, and excellence.
• Set ambitious but achievable targets for improvements in plant efficiency, without compromising quality or safety.
• Partner with international colleagues and stakeholders to support global operational alignment and cross‑border strategic initiatives.
• Review and optimise existing systems, controls, processes, and maintenance strategies to improve reliability and plant performance.

What You’ll Bring

• 5-10 years senior leadership experience within a comparably sized or larger organisation.
• Strong operational and/or engineering experience, ideally supported by a degree‑level qualification or above.
• A proven track record of delivering operational change to improve performance, efficiency and profitability.
• Strong P&L ownership experience with clear evidence of improving performance metrics.
• A charismatic, empowering leadership style that motivates and inspires teams through exceptional communication and stakeholder management.
• The ability to work independently and travel frequently across the UK, with occasional international travel.
• An analytical mindset with the ability to interpret complex data and make informed, commercially sound decisions.
• A results‑driven approach, with a genuine passion for exceeding targets and driving continuous improvement.

Why join us?

• A high‑impact leadership role with genuine strategic influence.
• An organisation committed to innovation, investment, and continuous improvement.
• The chance to shape and modernise operations across multiple sites.
• A collaborative leadership team and a culture where your ideas will be heard, and acted on.
• Significant autonomy to deliver meaningful, measurable change.

If you’re an ambitious, forward‑thinking operations leader ready to take ownership of a pivotal business function, we’d love to hear from you.