Operations Manager

Primary location: Portishead office

Working hours: 37.5hrs per week (Full time)

Hybrid working available: Yes

Salary: Competitive

• Are you an experienced commercial or operational leader who loves driving performance, continuous improvement, customer service and business growth?
• Do you enjoy developing teams and creating scalable operational processes?
• Would you like to play a key role in shaping the future of an innovative engineering technology company?
• Are you confident collaborating with senior leaders to deliver strategic objectives and operational excellence?
• Do you have the commercial awareness and leadership skills to influence business performance and customer success?

Viper Innovations is a King’s Award-winning engineering technology company partnered with The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). We deliver advanced monitoring and asset integrity solutions that protect mission-critical electrical systems in subsea energy, rail, and industrial sectors worldwide.

The Role:

We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Operations Manager to lead our Supply Chain and QHSE functions. Reporting to the Operations Director, you will play a pivotal role in our international growth, ensuring operational excellence and driving continuous improvement.

As a key member of the senior leadership team, you will collaborate closely with Engineering, Finance, Sales and Legal functions to deliver exceptional customer outcomes, optimise operational performance and support the company's long-term success.

Key Responsibilities Include:

Operational Leadership

• Lead and manage the Supply Chain and QHSE teams to ensure delivery against operational plans, budgets, KPIs and quality standards.
• Support the Operations Director through ownership of day-to-day operational delivery.
• Ensure activities are delivered efficiently, thoughtfully, with engagement and thinking about the whole delivery picture.
• Deputise for the Operations Director on operational matters when required.

Continuous Improvement & Governance

• Embed, sustain and continuously improve operational processes, controls and performance metrics.
• Drive operational excellence through robust governance, compliance and process improvement.
• Ensure all business processes, products and services meet QHSE requirements, industry standards and contractual obligations.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement across all operational activities.

Team Development & Growth

• Develop and lead high-performing teams, strengthening capability, resilience and succession planning.
• Coach, mentor and develop team leaders and colleagues to support long-term growth.
• Ensure operational capacity and capability are aligned to current and future business needs.
• Support recruitment, talent development and performance management activities.

Strategic & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Operations Engineering Manager and wider leadership team to deliver customer projects and products successfully.
• Build strong relationships across Finance, Sales, Engineering and Legal functions.
• Contribute to strategic planning, business growth initiatives and operational scalability.
• Present operational performance and recommendations confidently at senior-level meetings.

What We Are Looking For:

• Proven experience in a leadership role.
• Ideally, experience managing operational teams within a manufacturing, engineering or technical environment.
• Strong leadership skills with a track record of developing high-performing teams.
• Experience driving process improvement, operational efficiency and performance management.
• Strong commercial awareness and ability to influence decision-making.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and presentation skills.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational leadership.

Desirable, but not essential:

• Experience within subsea, oil & gas, rail or other engineering-led industries.
• Experience working within ISO-certified environments (ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001 and/or ISO27001).
• Relevant qualification such as HNC/HND, degree or equivalent operational experience.

What's in it for You?

• 26 days holiday plus bank holidays (with the option to buy or sell 5 additional days)
• Comprehensive private medical healthcare scheme for you
• Life assurance
• Attractive contributory pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme/volunteering scheme/electric car scheme available
• Hybrid & flexible working arrangements: We offer a balanced hybrid working model, with three days based in the office and two days working remotely. Our flexible working hours include core hours from 10am to 3pm, allowing employees to structure their start and finish times.
• Bonus Scheme to celebrate the company’s successes and individual performance

If you are a driven operational leader looking to make a significant impact within a growing and innovative technology business, we'd love to hear from you.

Click 'Apply' to submit your application. Or for more information, please email [email protected]

Note on Sponsorship: We regret to inform you that at this time, we are unable to offer sponsorship for work authorisation for this role. Therefore, candidates must possess valid authorisation to work in the UK without requiring visa sponsorship.