Operations Director – Data Centre, Electrical 

Job Purpose 

As part of an exciting company expansion project Designer Group are seeking for an Operations Director with an Electrical background to join our Data Centre team.  

About Our Company  

Designer Group is a leading international mechanical & electrical provider specialising in turnkey packages for the design, supply, and installation of M&E services. Headquartered in Dublin, we employ in excess of 1000 experienced and dedicated colleagues across the Group. As an industry leader, we work with some of the world's largest multinational companies and our common purpose is delivering ambitious, innovative and sustainable engineering solutions, building client partnerships that bear testament to the standards we uphold.  

Our people are the foundation of our continued growth across all client sectors. We invest in our people and have a philosophy of continuous professional development. This investment has produced an innovative and passionate team that deliver projects for our clients safely, efficiently and to the highest standards in the industry. Our approach to everything we do is underpinned by our Values of: 

Safe 

Trust 

Respect 

Challenge 

Deliver 

This is an exciting time for Designer Group, with the fruits of our Engineering Our Future Strategy 2025 reflected in our substantial pipeline of work in Ireland, Europe, Africa and South America. 

The Role 

The Operations Director has overall responsibility of the Management of Senior Staff allocated to their Project including any Freelance people. Operations director to work with other heads of departments with recruitment of staff, management of staff and appraisal of staff. They are to forecast staff allocation, plan project organograms and maintain commercial viability of staff under their umbrella across their projects. Operations Director is to be firm but fair with staff and understand the needs of the individual to get the most out of their performance. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

Leadership 

• Provide leadership and direction across designated projects teams, fostering positive engagement at all levels of the organisation. 

• Be an influencer and role model, empowering project personnel and always promoting Designer Group’s values. “Safe, Respect, Challenge, Deliver and Trust” 

• Motivate the people within your direct team and throughout the business. 

• Strive for excellence in business operations. 

• Work collaboratively with other directors and members of the Senior Leadership team and the QEHS Department to achieve world-class QEHS practices. 

• Reward productive behaviour and engagements with staff and our supply chain. 

• Foster productive, collaborative partnerships with internal and external stakeholders. 

• Drive a culture of accountability to achieve quality organisational outcomes. 

• Foster engagement and collaboration across all divisions in the group structure. 

Organisational Responsibilities 

• Responsible for the operational budget and cost for the portfolio under their remit and the cross-company implications and synergies. 

• Risk identification, management and migration.  

• Continuously monitor operational systems, policies and procedures for the improvements in support of Designer Group’s strategic goals. 

• Analyse current operational process and performance, then set up improvement targets and plans as necessary.  

• Monitor and continuously improve work processes that produce top-quality, repeatable and scalable deliverables for our clients.  

• Assist the Estimation department through the Pre-Qualification and Pre-Award process for key target projects. 

• Provide the Group CEO, the Board and others in leadership with functional, relevant and timely reports, as required. 

• To work alongside Commercial Manager, Project Director and Project QS to ensure we are managing and reporting change correctly.  

• Responsible for highlighting short comings of the business and bringing forward any betterment and initiatives amongst quality, reporting, resourcing, productivity and delivery. 

 Operational Responsibilities 

• Understand and manage the contract and ensuring project teams also understand. 

• Risk identification, management and mitigation.  

• Ensuring the project teams have capability, capacity and resources to deliver their projects. 

• Self-direction and delivery of the project against key performance indicators, such as cash position, collection and margin performance against original tender. 

• Oversee the development of financial budget plans with Project/Contract Managers. 

• Maintain support the project and site personnel and troubleshoot technical issues that arise during projects. 

• Monitor compliance with safety policy and practice, ensuring the implementation of corrective actions as identified. 

• Monitor and develop training plans to ensure that staff are correctly skilled and qualified to perform effectively. 

• Aligning the work structure amongst the Senior Project Team members through establishment of raci matric and organisational chart at commencement of project. 

• Dealing with contract disputes and migrating the impact of any issues. 

• Monitor project schedules and financial performance, to ensure timely delivery and project budgets to ensue profitability. 

• Plan, set, monitor and evaluate individual performance against a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 

• Evaluate project performance against plan by analysing and interpreting data and metrics.  

• Agree and monitors procurement strategies for projects with overview of companywide situation commitments and performance of supply chain. 

• Approve and sign off all orders of high value in accordance with authority matrix. 

• Bring out the lessons learned from projects. 

Business development in line with strategy 

• Manage relationships with external partners and other stakeholders. 

• Establish new relationships/partnerships and new business/clients to support the future success of the company.  

• Pipeline development.  

• Strategy monitoring.  

• Prioritising opportunities in the pipeline.  

• Drive ongoing innovation.  

• Ensure the capability and capacity is in place to deliver in with the company strategy. 

• Develop and evaluate new business strategies to enhance market share and improve overall performance. 

Qualifications and Skills 

• Ideally 10+ years’ experience in M&E background. 

• Third Level Degree desirable, not essential. 

Application Process  

If you are excited about this opportunity and meet the qualifications mentioned above, we would love to hear from you. Our recruitment team will review applications and reach out to qualified candidates for further consideration. 

Designer Group is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.