Location
London, with primary site-based responsibilities across two live projects in the Yorkshire region and wider national oversight.

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Competitive salary package (details not specified)

About the Role
Wates is seeking an experienced Operations Director to lead and grow our data centre delivery capability. This hands-on operational leadership role requires proven experience working within live data centres and critical environments. The successful candidate will lead teams delivering fast track refurbishment projects, particularly within the data centre sector. This role demands a leader with an engineering contracting background and demonstrable experience delivering large-scale, complex MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health) projects. A strong understanding of mission-critical infrastructure and the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams in high-pressure operational environments is essential.

Key responsibilities include stakeholder engagement, leading project teams to deliver current workloads, expanding the project pipeline, and developing clear business plans to grow Smartspace's capability and market position in the data centre sector. This role is pivotal to the delivery, growth, and strategic development of our data centre offering and requires balancing operational excellence with commercial and client-facing leadership.

Functional leadership accountability includes providing direction for the wider Operational function, ensuring appropriate governance, driving capability development, maintaining consistent standards, supporting strong performance, and enabling effective integration with commercial delivery teams.

Wates is proud to be an employer where anyone can thrive, welcoming applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We encourage applications even if you do not meet every requirement, valuing transferable skills and assessing all applications fairly. We do not discriminate based on criminal records and offer reasonable adjustments to support candidates with disabilities.

Experience
- Proven operational leadership within live data centres and critical environments
- Experience delivering large-scale, complex MEP projects
- Engineering contracting background preferred
- Strong understanding of mission-critical infrastructure
- Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams in high-pressure environments
- Proven stakeholder management and ability to maintain operational continuity

About you
- Hands-on leader with commercial and client-facing skills
- Strategic thinker capable of balancing operational delivery with business growth
- Strong communicator and team leader
- Flexible and adaptable to site-based and national responsibilities

Qualifications
Not explicitly stated, but relevant engineering or project management qualifications would be advantageous.