Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), this role owns operational performance across all manufacturing activities, ensuring the business operates safely, efficiently, profitably and at scalable capacity while supporting continued growth, customer delivery performance, and operational excellence.
This role ensures the manufacturing function operates effectively, is scalable for growth, and supports the business through its next phase of expansion. The Head of Operations acts as both the senior operational lead for day-to-day manufacturing execution and a strategic operational partner to the wider Operations leadership team, providing leadership across operational performance, manufacturing capacity, workforce planning, continuous improvement, and operational development.]
The role leads operational management teams and is responsible for the effective running of core manufacturing operations, ensuring operational capability, delivery performance, quality standards, and manufacturing capacity remain aligned to commercial objectives, customer commitments, and long-term business growth.
The role acts as a key enabler of operational scalability, driving continuous improvement across systems, processes, productivity, and operational governance while maintaining high standards of safety, quality, efficiency, and workforce performance throughout all manufacturing operations.
Key Responsibilities
Manufacturing Operations & Operational Leadership
Ensure safe, efficient, and effective execution of manufacturing operations to achieve production, quality, delivery, and financial performance targets.
Provide leadership across all manufacturing and operational activities, including inbound materials and goods receiving, production planning and scheduling, fabrication, welding and assembly, yard and logistics operations, dispatch and transport coordination, and wider operational support functions.
Develop a high-performance operational culture focused on safety, ownership, accountability, quality, productivity, and continuous improvement during periods of rapid growth, changing workloads, and shifting customer demands.
Operational Strategy & Capacity Planning
Lead operational capacity planning to ensure labour, materials, equipment, and facilities are aligned to forecast demand, identifying and addressing operational constraints and production bottlenecks to improve throughput and resilience.
Support operational growth through manufacturing process improvement, workforce planning, facility utilisation, equipment investment, and operational infrastructure development.
Contribute to business planning, forecasting, growth strategy, and strategic investment decisions relating to plant, machinery, automation, technology, facilities, and operational expansion.
Production Planning, Delivery & Performance
Monitor and improve productivity and labour efficiency, throughput performance, schedule adherence, manufacturing lead times, rework and waste, equipment utilisation, and operational cost performance.
Lead structured operational review meetings to monitor manufacturing performance, risks, constraints, and improvement actions.
Ensure escalation and resolution of operational issues affecting safety, quality, delivery, or profitability.
Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence
Drive a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence across manufacturing operations, using data, performance metrics, and operational insights to improve productivity, quality, labour efficiency, throughput, cost performance, and workflow effectiveness.
Lead initiatives that enhance process stability, standardisation, operational discipline, digitalisation, and ERP optimisation while eliminating waste, reducing recurring issues, and supporting business growth.
Materials, Supply Chain & Dispatch Operations
Oversee operational coordination of inbound materials, internal material flow, storage, yard management, and dispatch activities to support production schedules and customer commitments.
Collaborate closely with procurement, planning, and project teams to manage operational risks relating to supply chain, inventory, and project delivery.
Leadership, Organisation & People Development
Lead and develop operational management teams, building a scalable structure with clear accountability, succession planning, and strong performance management to support business growth.
Drive employee engagement and alignment with business objectives, fostering a high-performance culture of collaboration, professionalism, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Oversee workforce planning and capability development across operations, partnering with the People team on recruitment, employee relations, and wider people development initiatives.
Financial & Commercial Performance
Support commercial and project teams with operational risk, manufacturing capability, and delivery planning, and provide input into pricing, workload, investment, and growth decisions.
Systems, Governance & Reporting
Ensure operational systems, reporting structures, manufacturing controls are robust, accurate and scalable to support informed decision-making and business performance visibility.
Establish clear reporting and governance processes for operational KPIs, delivery performance, productivity, quality, and labour efficiency.
Authorities, Interfaces & Reporting
Direct line management of the Manufacturing Manager, Senior Yard Operations Manager, Master Planner, with responsibility for all Manufacturing Management.
Retained Authority: Manufacturing operational performance, production execution and planning, operational labour allocation, manufacturing process governance, operational KPI management, Health & Safety leadership within manufacturing operations, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Key Interfaces: COO, SLT, Internal Head of Departments, Supply Chain Partners, Customers, External Contractors.
Health, Safety, Environment & Quality
Work collaboratively with the Head of HSE to: Monitor safety performance, Address trend and risks, ensuring compliance within related regulations, to support implementation of HSE initiatives
Skills, Knowledge & Attributes
Strong expertise in manufacturing operations, including production flow, capacity planning, workforce planning, and operational delivery.
Strong commercial acumen with the ability to improve cost control, margins, delivery performance, and overall business results.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at board, commercial, project, and operational levels.
Proven track record leading operational strategy, transformation, and performance improvement within scaling or multi-site manufacturing businesses, with demonstrable impact on productivity, efficiency, and delivery performance.
