Head of Operations - Distribution

About The Role

Balfour Beatty are seeking a Head of Operations for their growing DNO North portfolio, leading the winning and delivery of multiple projects and frameworks across overhead line and cabling workstreams. This includes full accountability for safety, financial performance, customer satisfaction, and growth ambitions, ensuring targets are met or exceeded while delivering value and profitable margins.

The role will influence, create, and clearly articulate strategy through to implementation, while providing strong leadership and management across a multi‑disciplinary organisation. You will support sustainable business growth across the North region, develop an efficient and scalable delivery model, and create a long‑term succession plan for key roles throughout the current and next regulatory period.

What you'll be doing

Lead work‑winning activities and framework renewals, building and maintaining strong customer relationships to support long‑term growth. Champion health, safety, wellbeing and environmental excellence, maintaining a relentless focus on Zero Harm. Inspire teams through visible leadership, continuous improvement, and strong governance, with accountability for employee and supply‑chain safety. Deliver sustainability and social value objectives by working closely with customers, promoting sustainable operational solutions, and leading community engagement and skills programmes where required. Own commercial, financial and contractual performance across projects and frameworks, ensuring strong cost control, risk management, accurate reporting and delivery against agreed targets. Provide effective governance and assurance through robust reporting, stakeholder engagement, project sponsorship, and compliance with Digital Briefcase and Gates Business Lifecycle requirements. Lead portfolio‑level risk, issue and opportunity management, aligning commercial, financial and operational forecasts and escalating issues appropriately. Ensure effective procurement, supply‑chain performance and quality management, driving continuous improvement in safety, efficiency and delivery standards. Build and lead high‑performing teams, ensuring appropriate resourcing, developing future talent, and embedding a continuous improvement culture. Advocate the effective use of digital tools and reliable data to support informed decision‑making and ongoing digital transformation.

Who we're looking for

Effective leadership with a demonstrated track record of high achievement. Strong business and customer awareness. Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, at all levels of the organisation. Proven ability to lead, empower and inspire teams, providing mentoring and support where required. Ability to create and implement strategy. Strong focus on commercial management of contracts and budgets. Good knowledge of performance evaluation techniques and key metrics. Flexible and agile, able to adapt as the role and business evolve. Able to present data and reports in a clear, simple and effective way. Ability to see the wider business vision and inspire this shared vision across the team.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

Benefits

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow. 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata) Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…

About Us

Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks.

From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support customers in the development of some of the UK’s most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit www.balfourbeatty.com/diversityandinclusion

To help and support us with our desired commitment to create an inclusive culture we are members of WISE, enei, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/

We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at: candidaterecruitmentqueries@balfourbeatty.com