Support Services Director in Stockport

OCU has a new opportunity for a Support Services Director to join us in the transformation and growth across the business. The Support Services Director plays a pivotal leadership role in ensuring the organisation operates smoothly, efficiently, and strategically across all non‑core operational functions. This role exists to enable excellence ensuring teams have the infrastructure, resources, systems, and environment they need to perform at their best. With responsibility spanning facilities, property, call centres, security, IT‑enabled operations, and customer service, the Support Services Director ensures the organisation’s foundations are robust, responsive, and aligned to strategic goals. By fostering strong collaboration and clear accountability, this role allows operational and frontline teams to focus on delivering outstanding outcomes without being hindered by operational challenges.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Leadership, Management & Coordination: Provide strategic and operational leadership across multiple support functions, ensuring alignment, compliance, and efficiency, including Property Management, Facilities Management, Site Security, and National Operating Centre (NOC). Ensure all departments operate smoothly, efficiently, and in full compliance with internal policies, contractual obligations, and regulatory requirements.
• Customer Service Excellence: Develop, implement, and continuously improve customer service protocols across all service channels. Ensure consistent, high‑quality customer experiences supported by clear processes, training, and performance monitoring. Use customer insight and data to drive service innovation and improvement.
• People & Performance Management: Lead the recruitment, development, and performance management of support services staff. Build a high‑performing, motivated, and customer‑focused team culture. Ensure teams understand and meet contractual and client performance measures, intervening early where performance falls below expectations. Implement recovery plans to address underperformance and restore service levels.
• Financial & Contract Management: Develop and administer departmental budgets, ensuring effective resource allocation and cost efficiency. Negotiate, manage, and monitor contracts with external suppliers and service providers to ensure value for money and service excellence.
• Data, Reporting & Continuous Improvement: Implement and maintain comprehensive data reporting systems to track operational and customer service performance. Analyse performance metrics to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities. Ensure reporting meets client requirements, contractual obligations, and agreed deadlines.
• Interdepartmental Collaboration: Act as a key partner to other department heads, ensuring support services are embedded within organisational planning and strategy. Facilitate collaboration that removes barriers, improves workflows, and enhances organisational effectiveness.
• Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity: Lead the development and coordination of disaster, incident recovery, and business continuity plans. Ensure preparedness across support services to minimise disruption during emergencies and critical incidents.

What Success Looks Like

• Support functions operate seamlessly, proactively, and cost‑effectively.
• Teams feel supported, clear on expectations, and empowered to perform.
• Customers experience consistent, high‑quality service.
• The organisation’s infrastructure, systems, and services actively enable strategic growth.
• OCU values are clearly demonstrated in leadership behaviour and decision‑making.

The successful candidate will bring a strong background in leading complex support functions within a large, asset‑intensive organisation, ideally within utilities, infrastructure, engineering, or a similarly regulated environment.

Essential Experience

• Proven senior leadership experience managing and overseeing multiple support operational service functions within a large, geographically dispersed organisation.
• Extensive experience overseeing property and facilities management across operational depots, offices, and critical infrastructure sites, including compliance with health, safety, and environmental standards.
• Strong experience in site security and critical infrastructure protection, including access control, risk assessment, and incident response coordination.
• Demonstrated leadership of customer service operations / call centres.
• Experience overseeing or working closely with a National Operating Centre (NOC) or equivalent 24/7 operational control function supporting incident management, escalation, and service restoration activities.
• Proven track record in marketing, communications, and stakeholder engagement, including internal communications, customer notifications, and issue or incident‑related messaging in high‑profile environments.
• Experience leading business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency response planning within safety‑critical or 24/7 operational environments.

Values & Inclusion

At OCU, our values guide everything we do: integrity, collaboration, respect, innovation, and unity. They shape how we work with clients, communities, and each other. We believe inclusion is more than a principle—it’s the foundation of our success. By embracing equity and ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive, we create a workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and everyone feels they belong. Together, we build stronger teams, deliver better outcomes, and grow in ways that reflect the communities we serve.

If you are invited to progress in the recruitment process, let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments to support you. Any information you share will be treated confidentially and will only be used to support you during the recruitment process.