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The Clancy Group; Ninfield; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Clancy Xtras

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work scheme

Discounts for retailers

Job summary

The Clancy Group is seeking an experienced Contract Manager to lead our South East Water contract, driving repair and maintenance operations across Kent and Sussex. You will oversee a team of operational managers and supervisors, ensuring safe, compliant and customer-focused service delivery while balancing performance, productivity and commercial outcomes.

You will review performance, support incident resolution, allocate resources, and maintain strong client relationships to meet changing

Qualifications

• Significant contract or operational management experience within the water industry.
• Experience managing repair and maintenance, network operations or reactive service delivery workstreams.
• Proven track record of delivering strong safety, customer and commercial performance within a water utility environment.
• Experience leading managers and supervisors within a high-volume, field-based operation.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational managers and supervisors to deliver planned and reactive works safely, efficiently and to agreed service levels.
• Convert workload demand into clear daily and weekly operational plans.
• Ensure labour, plant, materials and supply chain resources are aligned to operational requirements, including emergency response.
• Drive performance against key contract KPIs covering safety, customer service, productivity, quality and cost.
• Use operational data and reporting to identify trends, challenge performance and deliver sustainable improvements.
• Build strong relationships with South East Water and other key stakeholders.
• Lead operational responses during incidents and support effective root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Manage budgets, productivity and contract performance to ensure efficient delivery.
• Champion a positive safety culture through visible leadership and regular site engagement.
• Develop managers, supervisors and operational teams to build capability and support future growth.

Skills

Contract management

Operational leadership

Stakeholder management

Budgeting

Safety culture

Job description

Competitive Salary + Electric Car or Allowance +Other Benefits

We Do What We Say!

That's why we need people like you, who thrive on delivering results, leading from the front and keeping promises to customers, clients and colleagues.

The Role...

We're looking for an experienced Contract Manager to join our South East Water contract, leading repair and maintenance operations across Kent and Sussex.

This is a fast-paced operational leadership role where you'll be responsible for delivering safe, compliant and customer-focused services while balancing performance, productivity and commercial outcomes. No two days are the same. One moment you'll be reviewing operational performance and recovery plans, the next you'll be supporting teams through operational incidents, working with the client to resolve challenges, or ensuring resources are in place to meet changing demand.

You’ll lead operational managers and supervisors across the contract, creating a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and excellent customer service, while ensuring our people get home safe every day.

If you enjoy leading high-performing teams, solving problems and making things happen, this is an opportunity to play a key role in one of the UK's most essential services.

Here are some of the activities you’ll be involved in...

• Leading operational managers and supervisors to deliver planned and reactive works safely, efficiently and to agreed service levels
• Converting workload demand into clear daily and weekly operational plans
• Ensuring labour, plant, materials and supply chain resources are aligned to operational requirements, including emergency response activity
• Driving performance against key contract KPIs covering safety, customer service, productivity, quality and cost
• Using operational data and reporting to identify trends, challenge performance and deliver sustainable improvements
• Building strong relationships with South East Water and other key stakeholders
• Leading operational responses during incidents and supporting effective root cause analysis and corrective actions
• Managing budgets, productivity and contract performance to ensure efficient delivery
• Championing a positive safety culture through visible leadership and regular site engagement
• Developing managers, supervisors and operational teams to build capability and support future growth

We’d love to hear from you if you can demonstrate...

• Significant contract or operational management experience within the water industry
• Experience managing repair and maintenance, network operations or reactive service delivery workstreams
• A proven track record of delivering strong safety, customer and commercial performance within a water utility environment
• Experience leading managers and supervisors within a high-volume, field-based operation
• Strong understanding of streetworks, operational risk management and performance-driven service delivery
• Commercial awareness, including budgeting, productivity, forecasting and cost control
• Excellent client and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build credibility at all levels
• The ability to interpret operational data, identify root causes and drive effective operational improvements

Our Favourite Candidate?

You’ll be a visible leader who enjoys being out with the teams, removing barriers and keeping operations moving.

You’ll bring energy, resilience and a calm head when things get busy. You’ll know how to balance customer expectations, operational priorities and commercial performance, while building strong relationships with both your teams and the client.

Most importantly, you'll understand that in repair and maintenance, customers depend on us to keep services running. You'll take pride in leading teams that deliver on their commitments, do the right thing and get the job done safely.

Because when we make a promise, we keep it.

Our Company

Every day we work smarter, greener and use our imaginations.

Our purpose at Clancy is simple - we make life better for everyone’s growing families. We play a vital role in providing fresh drinking water and power to millions of homes and businesses and so much more.

We are one of the biggest family owned construction businesses in the UK and we care about our people, our clients and the environment.

In addition to helping you reach your career goals, a competitive salary, pension, healthcare and holiday allowance starting at

24-26 days per annum, we also offer perks including Clancy Xtras, our employee benefits programme with discounts for numerous well-known retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Currys PC World and Vue Cinemas, cycle to work scheme as well as an Employee Assistance Programme.

Clancy is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. If you require any reasonable adjustments to be made for you to attend an interview, please do let us know and we will be happy to accommodate.

We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and Disability Confident Committed.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Contract Manager

Company: The Clancy Group Salary: Not specified Hours: Full-time Location: Ninfield, TN33 9NJ Job type: Permanent Posting date: 22 Sept 2026 Closing date: 22 Oct 2026