Operations Manager - Social Housing - Retrofit

Prosper Recruitment are working in partnership with a leading retrofit decarbonisation provider in the built environment sector who specialises in sustainable building and energy efficiency solutions for commercial, public, and residential projects. Founded to advance low-carbon construction practices, it combines technical expertise with practical delivery to help clients reduce energy use, improve indoor environmental quality, and lower operating costs over the building lifecycle.

Company Overview:

Key services include energy performance optimisation, decarbonisation strategies, building physics modelling, green retrofit design, and the specification and delivery of low-impact materials and systems. This firm also offers project management, commissioning, and performance verification to ensure that sustainability targets are achieved in practice, not just on paper. Our clients team brings a range of competencies in retrofit and new build projects, passive design, renewables integration, and system optimisations for both existing stock and new developments.

Market focus spans public sector bodies, private developers, housing associations, and facilities management partners across the UK. Projects typically emphasise retrofit of older buildings to meet current energy and carbon targets, while new builds are designed to achieve high performance through efficient envelopes, low-carbon systems, and adaptable flexibility for future upgrades.

The firm prides itself on a collaborative ethos, strong technical leadership, and a track record of delivering measurable outcomes reducing energy consumption, lowering carbon footprints, and enhancing occupant comfort. Looking ahead, the company aims to expand its portfolio of high-impact, low-carbon projects and has recently won new clients and have projects starting in Leeds, Barnsley, Leicester and Derbyshire and are expanding further across the East Midlands so they are looking to recruit an Operations Manager for the East Midlands.

Key Responsibilities:

• Regional delivery leadership: oversee multiple active projects concurrently, ensuring on-time, on-budget, and compliant delivery from inception through handover and post-occupancy assurance.
• Health and safety: champion a strong safety culture; ensure compliance with UK health and safety regulations and industry standards; lead investigations and drive lessons learned.
• Quality and performance: implement and maintain quality assurance processes; verify adherence to technical specifications, building regulations, and sustainability targets; coordinate commissioning and performance verification.
• Project management: develop and maintain robust project plans, resource plans, procurement strategies, risk registers, change control, and earned value reporting.
• Commercial stewardship: own regional P&L, manage subcontractor and supplier performance, drive value engineering, monitor costs, and ensure accurate financial reporting and forecasting.
• Stakeholder engagement: build and sustain relationships with clients, facilities teams, consultants, contractors, and internal teams; ensure clear communication and high customer satisfaction.
• Sustainability outcomes: implement decarbonisation and energy-efficiency strategies; track and report energy savings, carbon reductions, and environmental metrics.
• People leadership: recruit, mentor, and develop regional delivery teams; foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Operational excellence: standardise and refine processes for risk management, quality assurance, document control, supply chain management, and project handover.

Requirements:

• Experience: minimum 5-7 years in operations leadership within the social housing sector, energy retrofit, or related sustainability sectors; proven track record delivering retrofit and/or refurbishment schemes.
• Regional exposure: strong knowledge of the target region's market, regulatory environment, supply chain, and contractor base.
• Technical competence: solid understanding of energy efficiency measures, decarbonisation strategies, and sustainable construction practices.
• Project controls: strong capabilities in scheduling, budgeting, risk management, procurement, subcontractor management, change control, and reporting.
• People management: experience leading multidisciplinary teams; strong coaching, performance management, and conflict resolution skills.
• Stakeholder management: excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building abilities; able to influence at all organisational levels.
• Compliance and quality: robust knowledge of UK health and safety regulations (e.g., CDM), quality management systems, and relevant building regulations; commitment to continuous improvement and regulatory compliance.
• Flexibility and travel: willingness to travel regionally to sites within the East Midlands as required.

Qualifications (preferred):

• Degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Architecture, Sustainable Development, or a related field.
• Relevant professional membership or certification (e.g., CIOB, RICS, CIBSE, NEBOSH).

Package:

Competitive basic + car allowance + bonus + pension.