Operations Manager

RecruitME; Scotland; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

RecruitME is seeking an experienced Operations Manager for an Energy from Waste (EfW) plant in Scotland. You will lead operational teams, drive safety and environmental compliance, and deliver improvements in availability and efficiency.

You will report to the Plant Manager and collaborate with the Maintenance Manager to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient plant operations, cost control and project delivery.

Qualifications

• We’re keen to hear from confident operational leaders who combine technical understanding with a practical, supportive approach to managing people.
• Proven experience managing teams within waste management or a continuous process environment.
• Relevant operational knowledge of steam-to-energy processes and high-pressure boiler systems.
• An engineering qualification relevant to the waste or power industry, or equivalent experience.
• NEBOSH or IOSH Managing Safely.
• Experience developing people, managing performance and delivering operational improvements.
• A strong understanding of safety, environmental compliance and plant performance.
• Experience in energy from waste, power generation, biomass, chemical processing or other heavy process industries could provide a relevant background, alongside the required steam and boiler systems knowledge.
• HV Senior Authorised Person status, BOAS, boiler water treatment, Legionella awareness, confined space training and knowledge of PUWER, LOLER and CDM regulations would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Leading, coaching and developing shift leaders, plant operators, drivers and MRF teams.
• Managing day-to-day operations, production performance and material flows into and out of the site.
• Driving a proactive safety culture and overseeing the effective use of the Permit to Work system.
• Maintaining compliance with environmental permits, relevant ISO standards and safe working procedures.
• Managing operational budgets and monitoring technical, financial and production KPIs.
• Working with maintenance teams to minimise downtime, improve plant availability and support outages.
• Leading operational improvements, site projects and cost-saving initiatives.
• Overseeing risk assessments, work instructions, inspections and the timely completion of corrective actions.
• Investigating incidents and near misses, using findings to improve safety and performance.
• Taking responsibility for the wider plant in the absence of the Plant Manager and Maintenance Manager.

Skills

Team leadership

Waste management

Continuous process operations

Safety culture

People development

Education

Engineering qualification relevant to waste/power industry

NEBOSH or IOSH Managing Safely

Tools

High-pressure boiler systems

Permit to Work system

Job description

Are you an experienced Operations Manager with a background in energy from waste, power generation, waste management or continuous process operations?

RecruitME is recruiting an Operations Manager, taking responsibility for operations across an Energy from Waste (EfW) plant.

Reporting to the Plant Manager, you’ll lead the operations teams, improve plant performance and maintain high standards of safety and environmental compliance. This is a senior site leadership role with scope to develop people, strengthen operational processes and deliver measurable improvements in availability and efficiency.

The role

You’ll work closely with the Plant Manager and Maintenance Manager to keep the facilities operating safely, reliably and efficiently. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading, coaching and developing shift leaders, plant operators, drivers and MRF teams.
• Managing day-to-day operations, production performance and material flows into and out of the site.
• Driving a proactive safety culture and overseeing the effective use of the Permit to Work system.
• Maintaining compliance with environmental permits, relevant ISO standards and safe working procedures.
• Managing operational budgets and monitoring technical, financial and production KPIs.
• Working with maintenance teams to minimise downtime, improve plant availability and support outages.
• Leading operational improvements, site projects and cost-saving initiatives.
• Overseeing risk assessments, work instructions, inspections and the timely completion of corrective actions.
• Investigating incidents and near misses, using findings to improve safety and performance.
• Taking responsibility for the wider plant in the absence of the Plant Manager and Maintenance Manager.

What we’re looking for

We’re keen to hear from confident operational leaders who combine technical understanding with a practical, supportive approach to managing people.

You’ll need:

• Proven experience managing teams within waste management or a continuous process environment.
• Relevant operational knowledge of steam-to-energy processes and high-pressure boiler systems.
• An engineering qualification relevant to the waste or power industry, or equivalent experience.
• NEBOSH or IOSH Managing Safely.
• Experience developing people, managing performance and delivering operational improvements.
• A strong understanding of safety, environmental compliance and plant performance.

Experience in energy from waste, power generation, biomass, chemical processing or other heavy process industries could provide a relevant background, alongside the required steam and boiler systems knowledge.

Additional experience welcomed

HV Senior Authorised Person status, BOAS, boiler water treatment, Legionella awareness, confined space training and knowledge of PUWER, LOLER and CDM regulations would be advantageous.

Why consider this opportunity?

• Salary up to £75,000.
• Senior responsibility across both EfW and recycling operations.
• The opportunity to shape team development, safety culture and plant performance.
• A broad remit covering operations, budgets, compliance and improvement projects.