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We’re the UK's largest ports operator with a network of 21 ports around Britain. We handle around one quarter of the UK's seaborne trade and contribute £7.5 billion to our economy every year.

It’s a story we’re proud of but it doesn’t end there. We’re transforming our business and embracing the future.

We offer a vast range of roles spanning the UK, all rooted in a culture that welcomes diversity, fosters talent, encourages internal movement and progression, and places safety as our number one priority.

Head of Operations – South Wales

Making our ambitions a reality

Associated British Ports (ABP) is a major port operator with 21 port locations across the UK. We handle around 100 million tonnes of cargo across a range of different industries and contribute £7.5bn to the UK economy every year.

This is an incredibly exciting time for ABP’s operations in South Wales. Not only is the region thriving in terms of current activity it is at the vanguard of ABP’s exciting future strategic opportunities to support the UK’s net zero transition. There are also a range of important development opportunities to deliver, such as the recently awarded Celtic Freeport status

Who we need

The Head of Operations - South Wales is a key role that will heavily influence the region’s EBITDA and be responsible for shaping and driving performance excellence across the five South Wales ports; Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Barry and Port Talbot. This post leads on South Wales operational productivity, planning, cost management, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction.

Articulating the operational excellence vision and direction to a health and safety driven team of circa 130 people is an essential part of the role, as is the creation of a performance excellence culture with the customer at the heart of all business decisions.

What the role involves

• Lead and manage teams to ensure the safe day-to-day delivery of all operational activities across the region’s 24/7/365 five ports, covering a wide range of dangerous and non-dangerous goods
• Promote behavioural Health and Safety management of the terminal/port operations across South Wales, ensuring stringent compliance to legislative, H&S and environmental guidelines.
• Work collaboratively with our training department to ensure the training, competence and licence plans for staff are proactively managed, regulated and assured.
• Lead the formulation, development and management of capital and labour budgets, both tactical and 5-year business plans, working closely with the Head of Finance and Regional Finance Business Partner, to maximise the efficiency of the Regions operations & services.
• Drive the implementation of LEAN initiatives and Continuous Improvement processes across a complex logistics environment to lead the business through a time of positive change
• Manage the service delivery budget and defined Operational KPI suite to achieve customer satisfaction, driving quality/lean improvement initiatives.
• Develop commercially orientated relationships with customers and maintain monthly customer meetings
• Responsible for the development and expansion of the Region’s operational activities, in line with commercial plans
• Promote the use of more sustainable operational processes by identifying and implementing sustainability focused projects within the South Wales operation.

What you’ll bring

• Significant senior management experience in an operational role.
• Analysing financial reports and managing budgets with the ability to analyse data to drive performance
• Ability to demonstrate strong safety and other compliance leadership, including working within rigid regulations and procedures.
• Demonstrable evidence of setting and then achieving KPIs and SLAs.
• Leading, managing and developing high performing and engaged teams including mentoring and coaching.
• Ability to work collaboratively with peers and stakeholders to deliver shared goals.
• Ability to drive up-to-date and progressive change both organisationally and culturally.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills to establish strong relationships with senior managers, customers and external stakeholders – evidence of forward thinking and collaborative nature.
• IT and Systems Literate (Microsoft, SAP, etc.)
• Willingness to travel to other ABP port locations and business travel UK wide and be flexible with time management to suit the challenging operational requirements across the ports and a full UK Driving Licence

It would also be nice if you had

• Experience of operating within a unionised environment
• An appreciation of the marine code and berthing/mooring operations

Being included

At ABP we want everyone to feel valued and included and that all colleagues feel supported to succeed in their roles. We believe that the best way to achieve this is through having a workforce of skilled, diverse and committed individuals, who can work in an inclusive environment in which all our colleagues are valued and treated equally.

By increasing all kinds of diversity in our workforce, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, background, age and skill set, we believe we are giving our company and our people the greatest opportunity to be successful.

How we will reward you

As well as a competitive salary and performance related bonus, er a wide range of benefits that you can choose from to tailor to your needs.

• Competitive salary
• Eligible for a discretionary annual bonus
• Generous pension scheme
• 27 days holiday plus bank holidays and the opportunity to buy more holiday each year
• Private healthcare for you and your family including dental care
• Benefits supporting you and your family such as death in service and life assurance
• Access to our reward gateway that provides great discounts on day-to-day goods and services
• A range of family friendly policies including generous maternity and paternity leave
• Access to a great range of training and development

Additional Information:

When joining ABP you will find an environment that is both welcoming and challenging. We reward our employees well and offer a generous remuneration package, employer pension, private health insurance and a range of other benefits.
Please note that ABP undertake random screening for substance abuse and operate a zero-tolerance policy. A medical will be required before starting this position also.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their background, which helps us to provide a diverse and inclusive working environment.