Senior Operations Manager

Spencer Richardson; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car allowance

Performance incentive

Competitive salary

Job summary

Spencer Richardson is seeking a Senior Operations Manager to lead a multi-site network across the Midlands and South of England on a 6-month fixed-term contract. You will drive operational excellence, stabilise performance, and align workforce, customer satisfaction and financial outcomes.

You will partner with senior leadership to translate strategy into delivery, coach depot management teams, review performance metrics, and identify commercial improvement opportunities.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to lead across multiple depots and sites.
• Strong commercial acumen with responsibility for profitability.
• Experience leading large field-based workforces.
• Demonstrated KPI reporting and performance management.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership across multiple depot and operational locations.
• Drive consistency in standards, service delivery and customer experience.
• Ensure readiness across highways and infrastructure projects.
• Coach and develop depot management teams.
• Improve planning, mobilisation and workforce deployment.
• Drive revenue protection and efficient utilisation of resources.
• Monitor contract performance and profitability.
• Build strong relationships with clients and stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership across locations

Commercial awareness

P&L responsibility

KPI management

Stakeholder management

Safety compliance

Data-driven decision making

Multi-site management

Job description

Multi-Site Highways & Infrastructure Operations

6-Month Fixed-Term Contract Midlands / South UK Coverage Competitive Salary + Car Allowance + Performance Incentive

We're partnering with a leading infrastructure services business to appoint an experienced Senior Operations Manager to lead, centralise and stabilise a multi‑site operational network across the Midlands and South of England.

This is a high‑profile contract assignment for an accomplished operational leader who thrives in complex, field‑based environments and can quickly establish control, consistency and commercial focus across multiple locations.

Supporting a national network of depots, operational teams and client contracts, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring operational performance, workforce optimisation, customer satisfaction and financial performance remain aligned with business objectives.

Whilst initially offered as a 6-month Fixed-Term Contract, there is genuine potential for the role to become permanent for the right individual.

The Opportunity

Operating across a large geographical area, you'll be responsible for driving operational excellence, strengthening performance management disciplines and ensuring depot teams are delivering safe, efficient and commercially robust outcomes.

Working closely with senior leadership, you'll act as the bridge between strategy and delivery, ensuring operational plans translate into measurable business performance.

This is a role for someone equally comfortable reviewing depot performance metrics, engaging customers, supporting operational leaders and identifying commercial improvement opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Provide leadership across multiple depot and operational locations
• Drive consistency in operational standards, service delivery and customer experience
• Ensure operational readiness across highways and infrastructure projects
• Coach and develop depot management teams
• Improve planning, mobilisation and workforce deployment

Commercial Performance

• Drive revenue protection through effective resource utilisation
• Improve depot productivity and operational efficiency
• Reduce operational waste and unnecessary expenditure
• Monitor contract performance and profitability
• Identify opportunities to increase utilisation of plant, labour and operational resources
• Support commercial recovery plans where performance falls below target

Client & Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with key infrastructure and highways clients
• Support contract delivery teams in achieving service commitments
• Act as a senior escalation point for operational issues
• Contribute to customer retention and growth strategies

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Introduce greater operational controls and accountability
• Establish clear performance reporting and KPI management
• Drive a data‑led approach to decision making
• Improve health, safety and compliance performance
• Implement best practice and standardised operating procedures

What Success Looks Like

Within the first six months you will have:

• Improved operational consistency across the depot network
• Increased workforce and plant utilisation
• Enhanced commercial performance and margin delivery
• Strengthened leadership capability within local management teams
• Improved KPI performance across safety, service and productivity
• Delivered measurable operational efficiencies
• Established clear reporting and performance management disciplines

About You

We are interested in speaking with individuals who have operated in complex, multi‑site environments where operational performance and commercial outcomes are intrinsically linked

Within sectors such as:

• Highways
• Infrastructure
• Traffic Management
• Utilities
• Civil Engineering
• Rail Infrastructure
• Facilities Services

Experience Required

• Proven experience managing multiple operational locations
• Strong commercial awareness with P&L responsibility
• Experience leading large field‑based workforces
• Strong stakeholder and customer management skills
• Demonstrable success in driving operational improvement
• Strong understanding of KPI management and performance reporting
• Experience working within safety‑critical environments
• Ability to balance operational delivery with commercial performance

What's on Offer

• Performance‑related incentive
• Significant operational autonomy
• High‑profile leadership assignment
• Opportunity to influence long‑term business performance
• Potential pathway to a permanent senior leadership role