Head of Construction

Description:

Company Description

There's never been a better time to join United Living Connected; we are a tenacious, fast-paced business with a huge contract pipeline and ambitious growth plans. Part of the United Living Group, our turnover will double in the next 5 years to top £1 billion.

We are one of the largest infrastructure providers in the telecommunications sector, specialising in Wireless and Fixed-Line based in the North-West of England.

Job Description

Reporting to the Operations Director, the Head of Construction is a key leadership position responsible for overseeing a team of back-office specialists, field engineering workforce and external supply chain to construct all required activities for all the company’s key customers. This role requires strong industry knowledge, technical understanding, strategic thinking, commercial acumen, and effective communication with internal teams, customer stakeholders, and external partners/vendors. Key purpose of the role as follows:

Uphold and demonstrate positive SHEQ leadership and drive the culture through the team.
Meet and/or exceed the company construction SLAs (including staff utilisation)
Improve commercial performance of construction activities.
Be the company custodian for technical matters and provide direction.
Deliver excellent customer service and help secure new business.
Be the company custodian and drive Zero Defects culture throughout the company.Promote personal development throughout the team and mentor key staff.

Specific Duties

SHEQ performance: working with our industry leading SHEQ team and Project Directorsyou will support in driving improvements in our SHEQ construction performance KPIs. The company has a Zero Harm culture and as a senior leader in the business you will expect to demonstrate our positive SHEQ values.

Construction Commercial Performance: you will be the company custodian to endure all technical scoping of new customer opportunities are undertaken correctly to ensure commercial pricing is fit for purpose. The role will require a constant focus on right first-time delivery, change management and developing profit improvement plans with Project Director(s) and Commercial Director to secure best in class commercial margin performance for our customer programmes. 

Construction Planning: you will be accountable for ensuring that all construction activity follows the ULC gating process and any corrective actions are implemented. This will, from time to time, when mobilising new workstreams, defining project scope and objectives as well as identifying the necessary resources and stakeholders involved. The role will involve the requirement to agree delivery strategies (internal vs external blend) with each Project Director and monitor the effectiveness. 

Construction Delivery: you will support the key customer accounts with construction delivery to ensure agreed company budget targets and customer baseline commitments are met. This involves managing all project resources and implementing mitigation strategies where there is deviation to agreed plans. Working with the Supply Chain Manager you will be a key stakeholder in the quarterly supplier reviews.   

Stakeholder Management: you will liaise with various internal and external stakeholders such as customers, vendors, internal teams to ensure effective communication throughout project delivery. From time to time this may involve resolving issues or conflict that arise. Specific focus on building and maintaining strong customer relationships representing the company brand and support in securing more business from new and existing customers. 

Crisis Management: you will identify potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them. This includes assessing project risks, implementing risk mitigation plans, and proactively managing any issues or obstacles that may arise during project delivery. 

Processes and Standards: you will understand customer standards and requirements and ensure they are upheld by the construction team. Perform regular evaluation of processes to optimise and reduce delivery timescales, ensure continuous improvement to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance service quality. With specific attention to Quality Management you will ensure all project deliverables meet required company and customer standards. 

Team Leadership: You will lead and motivate a team of construction professionals working on several customer projects. This includes assigning tasks, providing guidance and support, and fostering a collaborative and productive work environment. You will ensure all team members have PDRs in place and reviewed in line with company requirements. As the leader for our field engineering workforce this will include ensuring all our engineers are equipped with latest training, PPE, and tooling to undertake their role safely and effectively. 

Other duties: these will vary from time to time. As an example, you may be asked to form part of ULC team to assemble and input into tenders and new opportunities or travel as needed for any adhoc site visits, meetings and any project or customer requirements. 

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (desired but not mandatory)
10+ years’ experience of managing a large multi-disciplined field engineering workforce.
Excellent understanding of end-to-end wireless network deployment processes and ways of working
Excellent level of IT skills including excel, and other Microsoft packages.
10+ years’ end to end experience wireless telecommunications network deployment.
Holds or is working towards a recognised professional qualification (desired but not mandatory)
Holds a technical or professional qualification.
Adept at manipulating client or internal tools/reports/ data on a regular basis
Health and Safety Qualification(s)

Additional Information

Benefits:

Bike to work scheme
Company pension
Life insurance
Private medical insurance
Wellness programmesAdditional Information:

Must be highly computer literate including Microsoft Office and confident in managing and working with large data sets
This job is a full-time permanent role, 8am-5pm Monday to Friday from our Lingley Mere Office
Opportunity to spend time in and working closely with other departments will be provided to ensure the successful applicant gains a wide depth and breadth of experience and understanding of the company and industry