Operations Manager in Bristol

At Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), we supply and maintain vital equipment and services for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Together, we deliver a vast range of essential defence programmes, and strive for what’s next. Because it helps keep our military at the top of their game and our nation safe – for today, and tomorrow.

We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of 28.97%, to help make work work for you.

To be considered, you must have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you’ve been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained, or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

As an Operations Manager you’ll work closely with industry and internal teams and be accountable for managing delivery, planning, and providing the required support. You’ll have considerable opportunity and responsibility, whilst demonstrating you are a proactive leader with a delivery focused approach. You’ll possess a continuous improvement mindset, and you’ll interpret and utilise management information and data to provide valuable business insights. You’ll encourage a culture of learning from experience, imaginative thinking and expanding mindsets, all in the pursuit of improved quality.

We champion flexible ways of working. Regular in‑person attendance is required (this is expected to be approximately 60% of your working week) to promote the benefits of face‑to‑face collaboration alongside flexibility of hours to support work‑life balance and business need. Initially, you may be expected to attend more frequently to familiarise yourselves with the site, the team, and your role. Please note other travel to alternative sites may also be required dependent on organisational requirements.

What you’ll be doing

• Responsible for the day‑to‑day management of the delivery of in‑service support within area of responsibility, according to the customer requirements, delivery plan, support solution, KPIs, governance and reporting requirements.
• Apply agreed governance arrangements for the delivery of the service, aligned with DE&S, Contract and Customer requirements.
• Responsible for monitoring and analysing data to track that customer KPIs are met, interprets data and management information to identify trends, risks and issues, and provides performance reports as required.
• Supports contract management activities including liaising with suppliers, monitoring and controlling performance against contractual obligations and agreed KPIs and Government Furnished Assets (GFA) management. Assists the drafting of contract requirements and supports the tender and evaluation process.
• Contributes to the development of Service Delivery Plans, delivery approaches and procurement strategies, and contributes to resource and cost forecasting.
• Contributes to resource management, inventory forecast, managing of actual spend and updating forecasts accordingly to ensure the integrated support meets customer requirements within budget, seeking guidance when required.
• Contributes to the management of risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies; effectively communicates changes with stakeholders.
• Responsible for the development of simple business cases, or assisting the development of higher complexity business cases, and manages assurance, endorsement and approvals through the appropriate channels.

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you’ll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Previous experience in an Operations Management role or associated discipline (Project Management, Supply Chain, Engineering, Business Management, Through Life Support), in a delivery environment.
• Evidence of stakeholder and relationship management.
• Evidence of managing contracts and suppliers.
• Evidence of participating in continuous improvement activities.
• Evidence of budget management, including approvals, actual spend and forecasts.

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Core Behaviour 1: Leadership
• Core Behaviour 2: Making Effective Decisions
• Technical Competence 1: Continuous Improvement for Optimised Support – Supervised Practitioner
• Technical Competence 2: Contract Management – Supervised Practitioner

Offered benefits

• 25 days’ annual leave +1 day a year up to 30 days, 8 bank holidays and a day off for the King’s birthday
• Flexible and hybrid working options
• Market‑leading average employer pension contribution of 28.97%
• Annual performance‑based bonus and recognition awards
• Access to specialist training and funded qualifications
• Support for progression
• Huge range of discounts
• Volunteering days
• Enhanced parental leave schemes

Improving innovation and enriching our culture, diversity of thought is vital to our success. So whether you’re looking for a new opportunity, a next step, or a helping hand as you return from a career break, bring your experiences and help deliver for the defence of tomorrow. Here you’ll find a supportive, family‑friendly organisation to be a part of – and if you need any assistance with your application, just let us know.