Operations Manager

Offshore Transmission (OFTO)
Operations Manager

Department:OFTO - Renewables

Equitix Management Services (EMS) commenced trading on 1st October 2014 and has experienced rapid growth in the intervening period. EMS provides management services throughout the investment infrastructure sector, building on initial experience in the education and healthcare sectors to develop broader expertise in social housing, government accommodation, street lighting, waste water treatment and student accommodation. More recently EMS has been expanding into the renewables sector including waste to energy plants, offshore transmission (OFTO), onshore and offshore wind and solar farms.

At present EMS has over £4bn of assets under management across 135 contracts with services being delivered by a multi-disciplined team of 107 people,and generates a turnover of £11m per annum. We anticipate further growth in the business over the coming years with our existing engagements being under long-term contracts and a healthy pipeline of additional projects to manage in the future.The OFTO service delivery team in EMS is expanding and a vacancy has arisen for an Operations Manager role. This is a growing sector for EMS and we anticipate there being significant opportunities for personal development and advancement for the successful candidate.

Principal Responsibilities:

The primary focus of the role will be to provide support to the Senior TechnicalManager where collective responsibility is assumed for ensuring that for OFTO Projectsoperational delivery obligations are appropriately discharged, and the relevant operationalscope of services within the Management Services Agreement (MSA) effectively performedacross projects during their operational phases.

The role ensures compliance with contractual and technical requirements with a focus on optimising asset performance.

As the Operations Manager you’ll play a crucial role in the following: 

• Supporting the Senior Technical Manager to ensure compliance with contractual obligations and project documentation and overseeing day to day operational performance of the transmission system assets.

• Managing O&M service providers and ensuring their performance meets the contractual requirements. This will include monitoring KPIs and implementing performance improvements.

• Promoting effective communication with all stakeholders, managing office communications and project records.
  

Responsibilities of the role

• Act as the interface between O&M Service Provider/s and Senior Managementon relevant operational matters.

• ReviewO&M Service Provider/sreports, escalatingdeficiencies and non-complianceto Senior Management where necessary.

• Support the co-ordination of planned and unplanned outages with a view to minimizing availability downtime and revenue losses and co-ordinate root cause analysis investigations and post repair lessons learnt sessions.

• Ensure that the O&M Service Provider/s maintains robust contingency and business continuity plans.

• Monitor and review subcontractor Health &Safety performance, audit compliance of O&M Service Provider/s and associated supply chain.

• Promote a strong H&S culture in accordance withgood industry practice and relevant legislation, ensure that the O&M Service Provider/s provide robust reporting and act on incidents in accordance with their contract.

• Ensure that robust risk assessments are carried out and report on investigations and incidents that are raised
  

• Monitor and review O&Mperformance, support and prepare audit compliance of O&M Service Providers, support performance assessments and continuous improvements and ensure that asset management contractual deliverables are robust and fit for purpose.

• Support the planning and delivery of asset condition assessments, on HV equipment and balance of plant equipment, both offshore and onshore.

• Advise on performance and contractual matters to seek resolution, working collaboratively with Senior Technical and General Managers
  

• Prepareand issue reports and information to OFTO Boards and relevant stakeholders on a regular basis.

• Assist with the management of the contractual variation process on behalf of the OFTO SPVs and manage operational budgets and forecasts.

• Support the review and close-out of defects during the warranty period for new projects, working closely with multiple stakeholders including OEMs and ensure that the appropriate technical support is provided.

• Maintaintheindividual project documentation libraries.

The Ideal Candidate

• Engineering degree qualified (Electrical/Mechanical/Marine/Civil) or Technical Trade Qualified Engineering Technician with applicable experience. Degrees in other disciplines or equivalent qualifications will also be considered.

• Understanding ofHV safety systems.

• Experience of HV substationO&M, and transmission networks, ideally in the offshore sector, is desirable.

• Ability to analyse asset performance data.

• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills for managing a diverse range of stakeholders.

• Ability to understand complex issues and prioritise actions through successful resolutions.

• Understanding of operational offshore environments and Health &Safety management.

• Excellent communication skills, including a high standard of written reports
  

• A conscientious and thorough style with attention to detail.

• Ability to prioritise own work and be highly effective without constant supervision.

• Ability to precis technical information in reports for commercial audiences.

• Comfortable travelling to and working at remote sites around the UK.

• Full clean driving licence.

Additional Ad Hoc Duties:

• Carry out such additional duties as may be required by EMS from time to time.