Operations Director in Basildon

Location: Basildon area, South Essex (office-based, five days a week)Salary: Up to £90,000 depending on experiencePackage: Performance-related bonus, share options for the right person, pension scheme and 22 days' holiday plus bank holidaysHours: 40 hours a week, full time, permanent

The Opportunity

Pursuit is partnering with a well-established specialist services business in the building compliance and property services sector. It delivers assessment, installation, maintenance, remedial and certification work for residential, commercial and property-sector clients across London, Essex and the South East.

The business has a strong reputation, a loyal client base and real momentum. It now needs an experienced commercial and operational leader to turn that momentum into structured, profitable and scalable growth. This is a senior, high-impact appointment. You'll report directly to an entrepreneurial Board and take full day-to-day responsibility for how the business performs, grows and runs.

The Board sets the vision. You'll make it happen.

The Role

You’ll lead the business across sales, operations, finance, people and systems. You’ll turn the Board’s objectives into clear plans, measurable targets and visible results. The aim is to build a business that is well managed, commercially disciplined and able to run without the directors’ routine involvement.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial growth and sales

• Own revenue targets and build a disciplined, measurable sales pipeline
• Improve conversion at every stage, from enquiry through quotation to order
• Grow repeat and recurring business with existing clients
• Open up new clients, sectors and routes to market, and reduce reliance on a small number of clients or one-off projects
• Make sure major opportunities are actively managed and followed through

Profitability and financial performance

• Take responsibility for gross margin, EBITDA and performance against budget
• Make sure work is priced correctly and expected margins are understood before work is committed
• Improve visibility of job-by-job profitability, and use it to shape pricing and operational decisions
• Identify and fix margin leakage, overspend and reworkControl overheads, and make sure any new spending or headcount is commercially justified
• Work closely with the finance function so that decisions rest on reliable numbers

Operations and delivery

• Keep clear oversight of live jobs, workload, capacity and priorities
• Make sure work is planned, resourced and scheduled well, and delivered to standard, on programme and within budget
• Spot project risks, delays and variations early, and act on them
• Use performance data to improve efficiency, productivity and service

People and leadership

• Put in place a clear organisational structure with defined roles, responsibilities and reporting lines
• Set objectives and KPIs, run regular performance reviews, and deal with underperformance fairly and promptly
• Establish a consistent management rhythm of team meetings, one-to-ones and reporting
• Build management capability so responsibility can be delegated as the business grows
• Create a culture of accountability, clear communication and delivery

Systems, suppliers and compliance

• Introduce the systems and processes needed to support growth, backed by sound business cases and well-managed implementation
• Build a reliable, competitive and well-assessed base of suppliers and subcontractors
• Maintain all accreditations, certifications, insurances and approvals
• Uphold high standards of health and safety, quality, data protection and regulatory compliance
• Make sure marketing activity supports the commercial strategy and delivers measurable return
• Board reporting and planning- Give the Board accurate, timely management information on revenue, margin, EBITDA, cash, debtors, pipeline, order book and job profitability
• Bring the Board solutions and recommendations, not just problems
• Help build the annual business plan and budget, and drive delivery against it throughout the year

About You

This role will suit you if:

• You have held a senior operational, general management or director-level role in a growing SME, with real responsibility for both commercial and operational performance
• You have a proven track record of growing revenue and improving profitability, and you can point to specific results
• You are fully comfortable with P&Ls, budgets, gross margin, EBITDA, cash flow and KPIs, and you use numbers to make decisions
• You have brought structure, process and accountability to a business that previously ran on the energy of its founders
• You can think strategically and still roll your sleeves up when the operation needs you
• You have built and led teams, and you are confident handling performance issues head-on
• You communicate with credibility at Board level and work well alongside entrepreneurial owners
• You come from construction, property services, building compliance, facilities management or another operational, project-based service business. This is a real advantage, though not essential

This role is probably not for you if your experience is mainly in large corporate environments with extensive support functions, if you prefer a purely strategic role away from day-to-day operations, or if you haven't yet held full accountability for commercial results.

Please note

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

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