Head of Operations in Portsmouth

CTSEurope Ltd Containment Technology Services specialise in the design, construction and commissioning of Laboratory Containment Systems for handling pharmaceutical drug compounds. Our products are unique and award winning, including the Queens Award for Innovation and more recently the Kings Award for Business Enterprise. We are proud to base our operations, including manufacturing in Portsmouth. We successfully export our products to Pharmaceutical Research companies all over the world and are acknowledged by our customers as experts in our field. We are entering a period of growth and operational scaling, requiring stronger integration between design, engineering and manufacturing.

As a growing SME, the business is continuing to develop its systems, processes and leadership capability. The Head of Operations will have responsibility for leading the core functions of our business: Customer Delivery, Design Engineering, Production, Finance and Service, Sales and Support. The business is continuing to develop its operational systems and structure, and the successful candidate will be comfortable working in a hands-on environment, bringing structure, clarity and consistency as the business continues to grow.

The successful candidate will have excellent leadership skills with demonstrable experience of leading technical and commercially focused teams. They will have engineering-based manufacturing experience and a strong understanding of core manufacturing and business functions. They will be able to demonstrate the ability to influence, develop effective team members and have sound commercial acumen. We have excellent teams in place, and the successful candidate will be able to capitalise on the existing capabilities within the business while supporting the continued development of our people and help lead the cultural development of the company.

The role will be accountable for end-to-end performance across the business functions and ensure a coordinated approach to delivering the company’s objectives. This role requires a hands-on approach, with the ability to operate both strategically and at a practical level within the business.

Your skills

• You will demonstrate strong attention to detail and excellent organisational skills, and hold a recognised engineering/manufacturing qualification (MEng, BEng, MSc or BSc) or extensive experience within an Engineering/Manufacturing environment.
• You will have demonstrable experience of leading both technical and functional teams, with a good understanding of core business structures and commercial realities within production environments.
• An understanding of Design Engineering and Production planning is required.
• The leadership aspects of this role are critical. We are looking for someone with strong emotional as well as technical capability, with the ability to coach and develop teams while managing performance effectively.
• Role modelling behaviour is important, and we expect this individual to set the standard.

What success looks like (first 12-24 months):

• Improved on-time delivery.
• Reduced production bottlenecks.
• Better integration between design and manufacturing.
• Improved consistency and predictability of operational performance.
• Stronger operational visibility (KPIs, planning, reporting).
• Embedded strong behaviours in support of our Values across the organisation.
• Developed second-tier leadership and supporting development of colleagues.

Key responsibilities

• Team Management: Support the personal and professional development of team members, ensuring appropriate skill levels are in place. Foster a positive, accountable and high-performing workplace culture. Delegate effectively and appropriately. Provide support and guidance to team members. Conduct regular performance and development reviews. Demonstrate an empathetic and supportive leadership style. Contribute to the development of leadership capability across the wider business, sharing experience and best practice where appropriate.
• General Management: Responsibility to oversee the following functions and activities; Manufacturing operations to ensure production targets, quality standards and delivery deadlines are met. Production planning, scheduling and workflow to maximise efficiency and minimise downtime. Engineering design team workload and support key design decisions where required. Customer Delivery Operations Service, Sales and Support activities ensuring good relationships with customers and hosting customer visits and factory acceptance testing where necessary. Monitor KPIs, including productivity, waste, output and on-time delivery. Ensure effective coordination between production, design engineering, Service and Sales Support, Finance and customer delivery functions. Ensure core company processes are working effectively and supporting mechanisms such as the ERP and CRM system and implement company meeting structure. Work collaboratively with other functional managers to improve cross-functional performance and support the development of management capability across the business. Develop strategic plan to grow business from a £7M to a £10M business by 2030.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and implement process improvements to reduce cost and improve productivity and quality. Support and drive efficiency initiatives across operations across the business. Develop structured problem solving and root cause analysis approaches for operational issues.
• Quality and Safety: Ensure compliance with health and safety legislation and company procedures. Maintain quality systems and support ISO standards and continuous improvement. Ensure a strong safety culture is embedded across all activities. Ensure team members have the appropriate training and qualifications to undertake their roles.
• Other areas: Attend internal and external meetings and undertake offsite travel as required. Manage operational budgets and control costs effectively. Work closely with senior management to deliver business objectives.

Package and benefits

• Highly competitive Salary and package
• Company pension
• Health Insurance
• Rewards scheme
• Encourage and pay for professional development
• Core hours 08:00 - 16:30 Monday - Thursday, 08:00 - 14:00 Friday

Information about our recruitment Process

We do not use AI at any stage in our recruitment process. We anticipate that this will be a 3 stage process to include the following: Stage 1 Initial online conversation about your map to the role, aspirations and availability. Stage 2 A face to face on site interview and tour. Stage 3 Psychometric profile and final assessment to include presentation. Please note we do not use recruitment agencies.