Supplier Operations Manager

This is an excellent opportunity to lead commercial and supplier operations activity across Engineering, ensuring contracts deliver against safety, quality, performance and financial objectives. As Supplier Operations Manager, you will play a key role in driving commercial awareness, managing budgets, identifying opportunities, mitigating risks and supporting the delivery of EBITDA targets, while ensuring robust controls and governance are in place across the function.

Responsibilities

• Lead the commercial and operational governance of supplier contracts, ensuring delivery against cost, performance, compliance, risk, health & safety and environmental objectives.
• Drive financial performance across a £100m+ cost base through robust budget management, forecasting, cost control and identification of risks and opportunities.
• Challenge supplier costs, contract delivery and value for money through audits, commercial reviews, quantity surveying activities and performance analysis.
• Partner with Engineering, Baggage, Finance, Procurement and Capital teams to develop and implement cost-saving initiatives while maintaining or improving asset performance.
• Support contract procurement and retendering activities, ensuring contracts are fit for purpose, commercially effective and aligned to long-term operational and asset strategies.
• Lead and develop a team of Commercial Coordinators, fostering a collaborative, customer-focused culture that champions continuous improvement, innovation and business performance.

Qualifications

Essential

• Proven track record of delivering business improvement and change within a complex environment, achieving operational and commercial performance improvements while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
• Strong commercial acumen with demonstrable experience of driving commercial best practice and applying procurement and contract management principles.
• Highly analytical problem solver with the ability to assess complex issues, challenge constructively and develop innovative yet pragmatic solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management, collaboration and influencing skills, with the ability to build effective relationships and drive outcomes across multiple teams.
• Experience managing budgets, forecasting and financial performance, with a focus on identifying opportunities, controlling costs and managing risk.
• Ability to lead change and role model behaviours that promote continuous improvement, accountability and high performance.

Desirable:

• Degree qualified and/or membership of a relevant professional body, such as RICS or an equivalent commercial, procurement or quantity surveying profession.
• Experience delivering compliance requirements within a complex operational environment.
• Broad understanding of asset management, operational systems and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Strong leadership capability with the ability to create a clear vision, motivate teams and inspire others to achieve business objectives.
• Experience working within infrastructure, engineering, transport, aviation, quantity surveying, or other asset-intensive environments.

There’s something so special about working at the world’s most iconic airport. Its sights. Its sounds. Its constant air of excitement. Heathrow is an amazing backdrop to a career filled with unique opportunities.

Every day, you’ll discover a world full of fresh possibilities and end the day buzzing with stories to tell, as you encounter people from all cultures, nationalities and experiences. A world full of pride for what we do and no end of exciting career prospects to explore.

It brings out the best in all of us. And inspires everyone to deliver on our ambitious plans. Together, we’re working to welcome millions more passengers while ensuring aviation can continue to be a force for good by leading global efforts in sustainability.

Join us on that journey and we'll help you achieve your ambitions too. Supporting you to learn, encouraging you to be yourself, backing you to achieve more than you might ever have imagined. Because there’s no place like Heathrow.

Our rewards

We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that will support you now and in the future. As well as performance-based annual bonuses and our longer-term Share in Success Bonus plans, we also offer generous annual leave allowances and market-leading pensions. With family friendly policies, access to private health insurance and a wide range of wellbeing tools, we’ll support you to be at your best inside and outside work. And of course, we’ll provide varied learning and development opportunities too. Here you’ll find everything you need for a fulfilling career journey that can take you in exciting directions.

Working Location

Our Hybrid working approach offers the opportunity for colleagues in some roles to work from home for an average of two days a week, providing the flexibility to work in an agile way whilst ensuring we deliver for the operational needs of Heathrow. Working arrangements vary from team to team and will be confirmed during the recruitment process. You’ll need to be based in the UK and within a commutable distance to Heathrow.

Sustainable Travel to work

Heathrow’s Sustainable Travel Guide sets out easy and sustainable travel options that everyone can access.

Equal Opportunities

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all. We believe that diverse talent makes us stronger – not least because we welcome passengers from all corners of the globe, every single day. Heathrow is an accessible place to work. With five diversity networks, we champion inclusivity and celebrate individuality.

Be part of this city within a city. Every year, millions of people travel through Heathrow. Joining our Engineering team means being at the heart of a complex operation whose size, scale and reputation for innovation are unique. We make sure the airport is always running smoothly and keep passengers and planes moving.

Our team touches all aspects of airport life – from water to energy, rail to roads, baggage systems to runways. The scope and variety of what we do is vast, spanning mechanical, electrical, water, civil, rail and environmental disciplines. Together we are responsible for the performance of 500,000 assets worth £14bn. It means there are always a wide range of interesting development, construction and maintenance projects to get involved with. And a lot of ways to develop your skills, career and reputation.

You’ll be part of a close-knit, driven team, taking on work that you can take real pride in and feel passionate about. It’s an exciting place to be, where every day, you’ll discover a world of fresh possibilities and you’ll be mentored by world-class experts every step of the way.