Operations Lead - Water Treatment Equipment

SOCOTEC UK Limited; Thame; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy firm seeks an Operational Lead for their Water Treatment Equipment business in Thame, England. The successful candidate will manage operations nationwide, ensuring customer service and profit targets are met. The role requires strong leadership skills, a relevant degree, and at least 5 years of experience in the water treatment sector. Benefits include competitive salary, holiday entitlement, an electric car scheme, and other employee rewards.

Benefits

25 days holiday with the opportunity to buy more

Electric car scheme

Employee benefits and discounts app

Enhanced company pension

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years' relevant experience in water treatment operations.
• Strong leadership and motivational skills.
• Ability to develop and implement business strategies.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations of the Water Equipment business.
• Ensure high levels of customer service and achieve revenue targets.
• Lead, motivate, and develop staff for performance improvements.

Skills

Leadership and people management

Collaboration

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent qualification

Tools

Orderwise operating system

Job description

Operational Lead – Water Treatment Equipment

Do you have experience in water treatment operations and want to develop your career further? Based in Thame, we are seeking a skilled professional to lead and develop our Water Treatment Equipment business, overseeing nationwide operations and supporting the integration between our equipment and consultancy services.

The tasks you will undertake will include (but are not limited to):

• Managing the day-to-day operations of the Water Equipment business across the UK
• Ensuring high levels of customer service, efficient utilisation of fee‑earning staff and achievement of revenue and profit targets
• Overseeing fee‑earning activity, day rates, invoicing, and timely query resolution
• Reviewing monthly Profit & Loss accounts and supporting business forecasts and KPIs
• Acting as the first point of contact for the Business Unit Director and providing operational support
• Assisting in the development and implementation of business strategies and policies
• Reviewing and improving operational procedures to increase productivity, efficiency and quality
• Leading, motivating, recruiting and developing staff, carrying out performance reviews and setting training plans
• Ensuring all training records are maintained and up to date
• Managing headcount in line with budget requirements
• Prioritising your own workload and that of your team to meet customer requirements in a timely and cost‑effective manner
• Attending and contributing to company meetings as required
• Working safely and following SOCOTEC’s Integrated Management System procedures

To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate:

• Strong leadership, motivational and people‑management skills
• Excellent communication skills at all levels
• Ability to work collaboratively with other departments
• High level of organisation, attention to detail and flexibility
• A proactive, enthusiastic approach to work
• Relevant degree or equivalent qualification (ideally Engineering)
• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience

It is desirable, that you also have some or all of the following:

• A leadership or people‑management qualification
• Experience managing medium to large projects (£100k+)
• A working knowledge of the Orderwise operating system
• Extensive knowledge of water pre‑treatment equipment

What’s in it for you?

As well as a competitive salary depending on experience, which can increase as you develop and grow in the role, we can offer you a wide range of benefits including 25 days holiday with the opportunity to buy more, an electric car scheme (where applicable), employee recognition schemes, family friendly support, employee benefits and discounts app, employee assistance programmes, and enhanced company pension.

SOCOTEC UK are proud to be Disability Confident accredited.

About Water Consultancy and Equipment

Our Water Consultancy team provide services such as statutory water hygiene tasks, chemical and microbiological analysis of various systems such as cooling towers, domestic water systems and closed heating/chilled closed circuits. Our Water Equipment Engineers manufacture our own equipment in house that is fully supported with CAD schematics / Revit files. We supply our clients with equipment such as reverse osmosis units, water softeners and water filtration services, among many others. In this area, SOCOTEC UK is BIM level 2 compliant.

Why SOCOTEC?

Here at SOCOTEC UK, we have over 2,000 colleagues across our divisions delivering world‑class services to our customers. We have several business streams that provides an unrivalled range of testing, inspection, and certification and advisory services throughout the UK, and we deliver excellence to our customers by recruiting and retaining the very best industry talent.

At SOCOTEC, we believe that a driven, inspired and challenged team is the key to success. We promote inclusivity, encourage individuality and have a zero‑tolerance policy to discrimination, with the aim that every single member of our team will thrive both in and out of the workplace.

We invest in our people. We push you to grow and we want you to progress. We believe in continued development and the pursuit of ambition. Our open and friendly office space promotes a culture of teamwork and provides the opportunity to ask, listen and learn from those around you. With a young, dynamic and exciting workplace, we are constantly striving, as a team, to develop and succeed.

Think you’ve got what it takes to add value to our success? We would love to hear from you and look forward to receiving your application.

Building a safer and more sustainable world is the core mission we set out to achieve at SOCOTEC, it is at the heart of everything that we do. We are committed to acting as a key player in society, investing in innovative solutions to ensure social and environmental concerns are at the forefront of all of our business operations.