Discipline Operations Director - Industry, Defence and Security

Leeds, England, United Kingdom

12/26/2024

Job Description

What if you could do the kind of work the world needs?

At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.

Responsibilities

Reporting to Senior Operations Director (SOD), the Discipline Operations Director is, along with other key individuals a member of the Discipline Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and is responsible for:

• Leadership in assisting in the delivery of the strategic plan and budgets relating to people, projects and clients for the Discipline and wider Business Unit(s). Lead on operational improvements generating improved operating margin and together with the HOD, SLT colleagues and Discipline Financial Controller take responsibility for budget setting and delivery.
• Assisting the HoD and Discipline SLT with Client engagement and added value across significant and/or difficult projects and with key client relationships.
• Driving Ethics and Compliance, aligned to WSP’s core values.
• Driving Health and Safety, with a commitment to a zero-harm culture.
• Exhibiting and demonstrating behaviours and attitudes in accordance with WSP core values through effective team working with effective and transparent team working.
• Providing visible leadership and direction with a focus on the operational excellence pillar and budget performance.
• Engaging with others and supports the SLT to develop a culture of client-centric operational excellence and innovation in project delivery to differentiate and raise market profile. Support in providing co-ordination within the discipline to ensure sharing of best practice, innovation, project delivery and operational skills.
• Working with relevant senior colleagues, the Discipline Operations Director is responsible for contributing to the budget delivery and leading on the operational delivery.
• Structuring, challenging and developing business performance to exceed expectations.
• Project delivery excellence, exceeding Client expectations of performance and outcome
• Supporting and constructively challenging leaders in delivering their full responsibilities
• Acting as a partner and delegate/proxy for the HOD with regard to Operational Matters.
• Managing the Discipline operational structure (including Management Services support functions) and approach to deliver their accountability for the operational excellence pillar and budget performance to deliver budget targets.
• Implementing inclusive action plans to deliver market leading Operational, SHEQ and budget performance.
• Ensuring plans in Simplification, and Operational Process are developed and deliver enhanced value to clients and to WSP.
• Directly engaging in decisions and bid winning strategies on High Risk/ Important prospects including market benchmarks, competitor knowledge and positive commercial strategies.
• Promoting a culture of inclusive operational excellence, delivering synergies and improvements including the sharing and embedding of project delivery and operational best practice across the discipline.
• Establishing strong and positive relationships with discipline leaders, teams and project leaders.
  
  

Operational Excellence

• Coordination of annual Discipline budget and Quarterly Business Reviews.
• Overseeing discipline budget preparation and delivery working towards stretch targets, with key shared metrics being Net Revenue, Operating Margin, EBITDA and DSO.
• Ensuring pipeline accuracy and overview of financial forecasts
• Identifying, managing, and resolving financial and commercial risk across respective discipline
• Developing and implementing the operating margin improvement plan
• Compliance and governance of monthly project review process.
• Management of working capital across disciplines.
• Focus on maximising operational performance from our complimentary resource centres.
• Develops and manages risk and opportunity registers for the discipline.
• Delivery – of a personal utilisation target of 20%; adding value for key projects and clients.
• Ensuring regular overview and balance between workload, utilisation and resources across the discipline.
  
  

People

• Development and the co-ordination of the recruitment strategy across the discipline.
• Maintaining visibility of discipline resource needs/ requirements and communication to regional directors.
• Strategy for retaining and developing the highest quality leaders and teams though pro-active leadership and co-ordination of feedback.
• Developing the discipline training and development plan
• Co-ordination of talent plans and succession planning.
  
  

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

• Implementation of the overarching discipline HSW strategy
• Ethics and Compliance Governance (including Delegation of Authority)
• Manage and monitor compliance of key KPIs.
• Responsible for sharing and communicating HSW lessons learnt.
• Responsible for proactive leadership engagement
  
  

Clients

• Ensuring client engagement and relationship plans are being delivered and directly engage in client key accounts. Build relationships with Clients and add value through direct commercial engagement on projects and interactions.
• Ensuring regular client feedback is sought.
  
  

Key Competencies And Experience

• Operations - Has an established track record of success leading and growing a P&L, as well as achieving superior profitability, in a competitive market.
• Leading People - Acts as a “role model” by encouraging others to embrace change and face new challenges. Has a positive, curious, active mindset and can work and collaborate across all levels. Demonstrate excellent inter-personal skills with good leadership and management abilities.
• Inclusion and Performance - Promotes and engages diverse persepctives fostering inclusion in every area of business operations. Demonstrates courage in decision making and supports, coaches and develops others through respectful, actionable constructuve feedback. Provides encoragement and development to allow all to reach their full potential and achieve maximum performance.
• Budget Delivery - Experience of successfully delivering budget performance during a variety of economic/business conditions.
• Thinking and Direction – ability to operate a business in accordance with clients’ expectations (sell for revenues, manage for profit, and deliver for satisfaction). Is capable of identifying, communicating, engaging and drives the implementation of operational, SHEQ or budget improvement plans.
• Projects - Possess a broad range of project experience, both within disciplines relevant to the BU and multi-disciplinary.
• Communication and Influence - Demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively and positive influence at all levels as well as internally and externally. Actively champion sharing knowledge, ideas and intelligence. Strong presentation skills, training sessions and one to one learning.
• Problems (business and projects)– Able to assess performance and trends to take actions and support areas/projects where problems manifest. Able to identify actions across people, process and practice to mitigate problem areas and drive improvements.
  
  

Professional Experience

• Clear understanding of core expectations for leading a high-profile client facing business
• Proven people and client management skills; able to develop/maintain excellent relationships
• Excellent communication and listening skills with the ability to influence and deal with conflicting priorities and to offer positive solutions
• Clear operational acumen with understanding of consultancy services and models and key drivers to improve performance.
• Demonstrates strong leadership skills and abilities with focus on people management, accountability and succession.
• Coming from an relevant industry, consultancy or client organisation would be beneficial but not essential
  
  
  
  

About Us

We are WSP - Join us and make your career future ready!

In today’s world it’s important to work for a company that has clear purpose, giving back to communities and supporting what is truly important in the world.

When considering a career move its vital to work for a business that is aligned to your values and goals, a place where you can belong.

To find out more about our business click on the following link and discover what awaits you at WSP: Who We Are | WSP

What’s In It For You

Work-life balance?

WSP recognises that work is only one part of your life and making time for other things is important – whether that’s for your families, friends, or yourself.

Our hybrid working policy allows the flexibility to work from the comfort of your own home as well as collaborating in our contemporary offices across the UK.

Inclusivity & Diversity?

We want our people to achieve rewarding careers, bringing their whole selves to work. We celebrate integrity and treat people with respect, supporting each other and embracing diversity to create a culture of inclusion and belonging at WSP.

Our employee resource groups VIBE (LGBTQ+ employees), CREED (Championing Racial Equality and Ethnic Diversity) and our Gender Balance Group, in tandem with WSP’s Neurodiverse Community Group, WSP Connect Group (visible and non-visible disabilities) help us promote the right environment for you to reach your full potential.

Health & Wellbeing?

We are committed to supporting our people, giving you the tools to make improvements to your health and wellbeing through our Thrive programme.

Med24 gives you and your family unrestricted telephone access to an NHS doctor where you can call day or night or have a face-to-face video consultation.

Flex your time?

For improved work life balance, WSP offers the “WSP Hour” which enables you to take one hour per day to do as you wish and make up the time earlier or later that day. We also offer part time and flexible working arrangements plus the option to flex your bank holiday entitlement to suit you.

Your development?

We appreciate that development and training is important to you and that’s why we have a supportive environment that invests in your development, whether that’s chartership, training or mentoring.

APPLY NOW AND BE THE FUTURE OF WSP!

#WeAreWSP

Here at WSP we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy or maternity/paternity. As a Disability Confident leader, we will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria, please let us know if you require any workplace adjustments in support of your application.

Please note WSP reserves the right to close the vacancy before the advertised closing date.