Delivery & Operations Director

Location: London (with nationwide travel required)

Role Type: Delivery and Operations Director

Report to: Managing Director

Our client is seeking a highly experienced Delivery & Operations Director for a leading UK fit‑out business operating across premium retail environments. The organisation exists to simplify a complex, multi‑stakeholder fit‑out process and deliver high‑quality retail spaces that are operationally safe, snag‑free, and aligned with design intent for some of the UK’s most aspirational brands. The Delivery & Operations Director will play a critical role in translating this mission into consistent, scalable, and commercially successful project delivery across the UK.

CORE VALUES

• Integrity & Trust: Building strong relationships through transparency, respect, reliability, and ethical conduct.
• Client‑Centric Approach: Actively listening, collaborating, and adapting delivery solutions to meet client and project requirements.
• Passion for Perfection: Maintaining a relentless focus on quality and brand‑aligned delivery outcomes.
• Sustainability & Responsibility: Ensuring environmentally responsible practices and materials are embedded without compromising quality or performance.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Delivery & Operations Director is accountable for the end‑to‑end performance of the delivery function across the business. This includes ownership of operational leadership, project execution, and commercial outcomes. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the role leads the Project Management function and ensures that service development outputs are effectively embedded into live delivery. The role exists to ensure all projects are delivered safely, on time, on budget, and to a consistently high standard, while driving predictable and profitable operational performance.

ROLE CONTEXT

This role sits at the intersection of service development and operational delivery. The Service Development Director is responsible for designing and evolving systems, tools, processes, and governance frameworks. The Delivery & Operations Director is responsible for ensuring those systems are implemented effectively in live project environments and deliver measurable performance outcomes. The role also provides critical operational feedback into system development to ensure continuous improvement is grounded in real delivery and commercial performance.

CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES

The Delivery & Operations Director will be responsible for:

• Delivery Performance Ownership: Full accountability for live project performance, ensuring delivery on time, on budget, snag‑free, and compliant.
• Commercial Performance & Control: Ownership of margin delivery, cost control, pricing integrity, and variation recovery across all projects.
• Leadership of Delivery Team: Direct leadership of Project Managers, including performance management, capability development, standards setting, and recruitment.
• Operational Integration: Ensuring full adoption of systems, tools, and processes developed by the Service Development function.
• Risk & Governance: Ownership of compliance, health & safety, and structured risk management across all project activity.
• Client Delivery & Reputation Management: Maintaining strong client relationships and safeguarding the organisation’s delivery reputation.
• Capacity & Resource Planning: Aligning delivery resources with pipeline demand and supporting bid and workload planning decisions.
• Technical Escalation Ownership: Acting as the final escalation point for complex operational, technical, and commercial delivery decisions.

SUCCESS METRICS

Success in the role will be measured by:

• Delivery reliability (on‑time, snag‑free project completion)
• Commercial performance (margin achievement and variation recovery)
• Operational scalability (ability to scale delivery without loss of control or quality)
• Client satisfaction and repeat business performance

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

The Delivery & Operations Director will report directly to the Managing Director. Direct reports include:

• Service Development Director
• Project Managers
• Project Operations Coordinator

Indirect oversight includes:

• Site delivery teams

DECISION‑MAKING & AUTHORITY

The Delivery & Operations Director holds final authority over all operational processes impacting delivery performance, commercial outcomes, and risk management. While the Service Development function is responsible for designing systems and processes, all operational changes require approval from the Delivery & Operations Director prior to implementation to ensure alignment with live delivery performance and business priorities.

Authority over:

• Project acceptance decisions
• Commercial and margin decisions
• Resource allocation
• Escalation resolution

Final accountability applies across:

• Project performance
• Margin
• Programme Risk

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

Our client is seeking a senior delivery leader with extensive experience in construction or retail fit‑out environments. The ideal candidate will have:

• Proven experience managing multi‑project portfolios
• Strong commercial and financial acumen
• Demonstrated ability to scale delivery teams and systems
• A track record of operational excellence in complex environments