Operations Manager

Wessex Water Services; West of England; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 20%

Career progression

25 days holiday rising to 28

Holiday buy/sell up to 5 days

Healthcare package

Life assurance up to 8x salary

Electric car salary sacrifice

Retail discounts

Volunteering day

Enhanced family leave

Wellbeing platform

Mental health support

£1,000 referral fee

Job summary

Wessex Water is seeking an Operations Manager to lead the Avonmouth WRC site in the Bioresources team. You will oversee sludge treatment and biogas plants, manage day-to-day operations, and ensure compliance with H&S and environmental regulations.

The role includes budget ownership, performance coaching, and cross-team collaboration to drive the site’s strategic targets. Strong people management, project leadership, and data-driven decision-making are essential.

Qualifications

• Minimum degree in engineering or a relevant scientific discipline.
• Background in operation of sewage and sludge treatment processes and biogas plants.
• High-level understanding of process safety concepts and principles.
• Knowledge of H&S regulations such as DSEAR and COSHH.
• UK driving licence.

Responsibilities

• Lead operations at Avonmouth WRC, managing day-to-day site operations for compliance with H&S and environmental regulations.
• Oversee sewage, sludge treatment processes and biogas production plant ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Line-manage site operations team including one-to-ones, development, HR issues and performance.
• Ensure adherence to health and safety policies and promote a safety-first culture.
• Chair regular H&S meetings and prepare process safety reports.
• Collaborate with other teams for knowledge sharing and advice.
• Deliver agreed commercial outputs for the site and support the Bioresources strategy.

Skills

People management

Operations management

Project management

Data analysis

Communication

Education

Degree in engineering or science

Tools

Amulet

Prism

SCADA

Qlikview

Microsoft Office

Job description

Are you an analytical thinker with strong people management skills? Do you have a background in the operation of sewage and sludge treatment processes and biogas plants? If so, we have an opportunity to join the team as an Operations Manager.

What you'll do

You will be working in our Bioresources team, operating all sludge treatment centres with biogas production plants at Wessex Water. As the Operations Manager, you will lead operations at Avonmouth WRC, where you will manage the day-to-day operation of the site to ensure compliance with health and safety (H&S) and environmental regulations.

Your role will involve:

• maintaining compliance with COMAH regulations
• overseeing sewage and sludge treatment processes and biogas production plant, ensuring compliance is maintained (UWWTD, OSM, IED, BAS, etc)
• line managing the site's operations team, including their one-to-ones, development, HR related issues, training requirements and managing performance
• ensuring all health and safety policies, procedures and best practices are adhered to
• promoting a safety-first culture amongst teams, including chairing regular H&S meetings and preparing process safety reports
• liaising closely with other teams within the business to gain advice and knowledge sharing
• leading the largest Sludge Treatment Centre at Wessex Water
• delivering agreed commercial outputs for the site
• supporting the overall Bioresources strategy as part of the leadership team.

Additionally, you will have the financial ownership of your site. You will set the site OPEX budget and monitor the running OPEX to ensure budgetary targets are met each year. You'll liaise regularly with the finance teams and Investment Engineers to review OPEX and capital maintenance performance against budget.

What you'll need

You will have strong people management skills and operational experience with the ability to lead a safety-first team. You will have excellent organisational and planning skills with previous experience in project management. You will also have effective communication, persuading and influencing skills and the ability to make clear, evidence-based decisions.

In addition, you will have:

• a minimum of a degree in a relevant engineering or scientific discipline
• a strong background in the operation of sewage and sludge treatment processes as well as biogas plants
• a high-level understanding of process safety concepts and principles, such as hazard awareness, hazard identification and risk assessment, management of change, safe systems of work and human factors
• a good understanding of H&S regulations such as DSEAR and COSHH
• an understanding of changes and trends in workplace safety culture
• knowledge of wastewater, waste and environmental regulations such as UWWTD, IED and BAS
• proficiency in the analysis of numerical data for decision-making and reporting
• proficiency with data reporting systems (Amulet, Prism, SCADA, Qlikview, etc)
• proficiency in the use of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
• a clean UK driving licence.

It would also be desirable, but not essential, to have:

• DSEAR qualification (eg, CompEx) or prepared to receive training
• occupational H&S qualification (eg, IOSH or NEBOSH) or prepared to receive training
• continual professional development through a professional body (eg, IChemE, IOSH or CIWEM) is preferred.

What you'll receive

• A combined pension contribution of up to 20%.
• Career progression and professional development opportunities.
• 25 days' holiday rising to 28 with length of service.
• The opportunity to sell up to five days of holiday every year.
• The opportunity to buy up to ten days of holiday each year (subject to conditions).
• A healthcare package that allows you to claim back healthcare costs.
• Life assurance of up to eight times your salary.
• The opportunity to lease a new electric car through salary sacrifice (subject to conditions).
• Cashback and discounts from more than 3,000 retailers.
• One paid volunteering day each year.
• Enhanced family leave and pay arrangements.
• Access to an interactive health and wellbeing platform.
• Support from trained mental health first aiders.
• A £1,000 referral fee if you recommend someone who is successfully recruited by us.

Who we are

YTL UK is part of the international YTL Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The UK companies include:

• Wessex Water - one of the top-performing water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, serving 2.9 million people across the South West
• YTL Developments - a major UK developer currently redeveloping a 450-acre former airfield into an award-winning, exciting mix of houses, apartments, schools, commercial space, restaurants and hotels, to make a truly sustainable new community
• YTL Construction UK - a top 20 UK contractor providing fully integrated services to infrastructure, residential, commercial, industry, energy and environmental sectors
• YTL Live - the development and operation of an entertainment complex that includes a 20,000 capacity arena, conferencing and exhibition space
• plus a number of other retail, environmental and specialist businesses.

Our people tell us that YTL UK is a great place to work, which is why so many of them stay with us! You will have a unique opportunity to develop and progress your career within such a diverse group.

We are passionate about diversity and inclusion - with that in mind, all applicants are welcome. We are delighted to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and are a Disability Confident Employer.

If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, please inform a member of our Recruitment team.