L&Q
Head of Operations
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Head of Operational Support
Contract Type: Permanent, Full-Time
Salary: £78,544 to £86,000 per annum (London weighted) or £68,571 to £76,550 (regionally weighted) dependant on experience
Grade: 12
Reporting Office: London, Stratford or Manchester, Stretford
Persona: Agile Worker: 20% - 40% of contractual hours to be worked from reporting office/working location (hybrid working)
Closing Date: 19th October 2026 at 11pm
Interview Dates: First stage will be held over MS Teams on Tuesday 27th October 2026. If successful there will be a 2nd stage interview at our Stratford office on Monday 2nd November 2026.
Benefits include: Excellent pension plan (up to 6% double contribution), 28 days Annual Leave rising to 31 days with length of service + Bank Holidays, Westfield Health Cash Plan, non-contributory life assurance, up to 21 hours volunteering paid days, lifestyle benefits, Employee Assistance Programme and many more…
Join our Maintenance Services Team at L&Q
L&Q is one of the UK’s largest housing associations and providers of social and affordable homes. We house around 250,000 people primarily across Greater London and Greater Manchester. Our purpose is simple – to provide social homes and landlord services that everyone can be proud of.
Help Shape the Future of Maintenance Services
This is more than a fleet and materials role. It's an opportunity to transform how a major housing provider delivers services to thousands of residents every day.
At L&Q, we're investing in our Maintenance Services operation to deliver a safer, smarter and more efficient service for our customers. As our new Head of Operational Support, you'll lead the teams and strategies that keep our frontline workforce moving, equipped and productive. From fleet modernisation and materials supply chain optimisation, to data-driven decision making and operational excellence, you'll play a critical role in enabling outstanding service delivery.
If you're a strategic leader who thrives on delivering change, driving value for money and building high-performing teams, this is a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact across a large-scale housing maintenance operation.
What is the Role?
The Head of Operational Support is responsible for leading Fleet, Materials and Logistics operations across L&Q Maintenance Services, ensuring our frontline operatives have the vehicles, tools and materials they need to deliver high-quality repairs and maintenance services on the first visit.
You will lead the delivery of Fleet and Materials strategies, overseeing a £20m budget while ensuring effective compliance, supplier performance and materials management. The role focuses on improving operational efficiency, driving continuous improvement, leveraging data-driven insights and supporting the transformation of Maintenance Services through strong stakeholder and supplier partnerships.
Why Do We Need It?
This role is critical to ensuring our operatives have the right vehicles, tools and materials at the right time. By improving fleet performance, supply chain resilience and operational efficiency, you'll help deliver better customer outcomes and support the future growth of our Maintenance Services operation.
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Where Does the Role Sit?
Reporting to the Director of Maintenance Operations, this role is part of the Maintenance Services Senior Leadership Team. You'll lead teams across Fleet and Materials Management, with responsibility for 2 direct reports, 14 indirect reports and key supplier relationships.
What We're Looking For
A strategic and commercially-minded leader with experience managing large-scale fleet, materials, logistics or supply chain operations, strong stakeholder management skills, and a track record of delivering operational improvement and value for money.
Your Impact in the Role
As Head of Operational Support, you'll lead Fleet, Materials and Logistics to ensure our frontline teams have the vehicles, tools and materials they need to deliver excellent repairs services. Through strong leadership, supplier management and data-driven decision making, you'll maximise productivity, improve first-time-fix rates and help deliver better outcomes for our customers.
Main Duties
- Lead and develop the Fleet and Materials teams, promoting a culture of performance, accountability and continuous improvement.
- Own and deliver Fleet and Materials strategies that support operational and organisational goals.
- Manage supplier performance, procurement and compliance to deliver value for money and high service standards.
- Oversee a budget of circa £20m, ensuring strong financial control and effective resource management.
- Use operational data and insight to drive performance, efficiency and continuous improvement.
- Ensure fleet, materials and logistics operations remain safe, compliant and fit for purpose.
- Drive innovation and transformation to support the future development of Maintenance Services.
What You'll Bring
We're looking for a strategic and commercially focused leader with experience managing large-scale fleet, materials, logistics or operational support services. You'll have a track record of leading high-performing teams, managing significant budgets and supplier relationships, and using data and insight to drive operational improvement. Experience within housing, property, maintenance or construction environments would be advantageous.
Candidates should demonstrate:
- Proven leadership experience across fleet, materials, logistics or operational support functions.
- Strong track record delivering efficient, high-quality operational services.
- Experience managing significant budgets, procurement activities and commercial contracts.
- Strategic thinking with the ability to identify opportunities and drive improvement.
- Strong people leadership, stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Data-driven decision maker with excellent analytical capability.
- Excellent communication skills and customer focus.
- Experience leading transformation, continuous improvement and change initiatives.
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No specific qualification required; though candidates should demonstrate the leadership, commercial and operational experience needed for a senior role of this scale.
There will be an expectation that the Head of Operations Support works from our London office and visits London sites regularly if based in Manchester.
A Recruitment Advocate will join this recruitment process as a panel member. This is part of an internal scheme supporting our recruitment process to be fair, transparent, and consistent, particularly at senior levels.
If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage during this process, including application stage, please email lqcareers@lqgroup.org.uk
About L&Q
We’re one of the UK’s leading housing associations and developers. We were founded on a simple belief: high-quality housing is vital for people’s health, happiness and security. Our purpose is simple – to provide social homes and landlord services that everyone can be proud of.
250,000 people call our properties ‘home’, and we’re proud to serve diverse communities across London, the Southeast and Northwest of England.
People are at the heart of our business, and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. The foundation of everything that we are is built on our corporate values, which outline our core expectations and should be demonstrated at all times, and all levels, when representing L&Q – click here to read more.
At L&Q, we know that diversity and inclusion make us stronger – and they’re at the heart of everything we do. When we recruit, we look at what really matters: your skills, experience, and potential. We’re proud to be recognised for creating an inclusive workplace. We’re a Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) and we’ve introduced our own Recruitment Advocate scheme to make sure every step of our hiring process is fair, transparent, and consistent. It’s all part of our commitment to ending discrimination and making L&Q a place where everyone feels welcome. Find out more here.
Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do. We recognise the responsibility we hold as one of the UK’s largest housing associations.
Click here to find out more about L&Q and why you should join us!
Senior Leadership Roles
We value diversity in all its facets, including gender, disability, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity. When it comes to finding a diverse balance for our senior positions, we have decided to address gender and ethnicity first. As such we are committed to offering an interview to at least one ethnic minority candidate and one female candidate for all senior leadership positions if they fulfil the role criteria.
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