Head Of Operations at Flockstone Group Limited, Guildford, Surrey

Flockstone Group is a growing group of businesses, acquiring and developing established companies across electrical wholesale and related sectors.

We're looking for a Head of Operations to report directly to our CEO and take responsibility for the operational performance of the businesses we acquire.

This isn't a role for someone who wants to sit at Group level producing presentations, talking in management jargon or telling other people what they should be doing.

We want someone who gets into the businesses, understands how they really work, builds strong relationships with the people already there and gets things done.

The role

You'll take a leading role from the point we acquire a business, helping us understand what is working, what isn't and what needs to happen next.

For each acquisition, you'll develop and lead a practical 90-day post-acquisition plan, working with the group level and existing management teams and employees to make the business stronger.

You'll report directly to the CEO and work closely with our CFO, Head of Sales and wider Group team to improve profitability, operational performance and cash generation, while making sure we don't lose the people, customer relationships and culture that made the business worth acquiring in the first place.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Taking day-to-day operational responsibility for businesses across the Group.
• Creating and delivering 30/60/90-day post-acquisition plans.
• Spending time on-site with newly acquired businesses to understand their people, customers and operations.
• Identifying opportunities to improve gross margin, costs, productivity, stock management, purchasing, sales performance and working capital.
• Working closely with the CFO to understand financial performance and turn the numbers into clear operational actions.
• Working alongside the Head of Sales to introduce and continually improve sales systems, processes and pipelines across the Group.
• Helping establish consistent approaches to CRM, account management, quoting, pipeline management, customer retention, dormant customer reactivation and new business development.
• Making sure sales teams have the systems, information and operational support they need to perform.
• Using data to identify where customers, opportunities, quotes or revenue are being lost and working with the Head of Sales to address it.
• Turning financial and operational information into clear actions.
• Working with local teams to improve processes without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Establishing sensible KPIs and making sure actions actually happen.
• Helping integrate Group systems, processes and best practice where they genuinely improve the business.
• Supporting and developing managers and employees across the Group.
• Identifying problems early and being prepared to tell the CEO when something isn't working.
• Supporting the CEO in delivering the wider strategy and development of the Group.

Building better businesses with better technology

Technology is an important part of how we're building Flockstone.

We're developing our own technology and systems around the businesses we acquire, rather than simply accepting that things have to be done the way they've always been done.

Our aim is straightforward: use technology to make our businesses easier to run, give our people better tools, remove unnecessary admin and give management better information to make decisions.

As Head of Operations, you'll be an important link between our businesses and our technology team.

You don't need to be a technologist. We need someone who can understand what's happening on the ground, identify where processes aren't working and help us work out how technology can make them better.

You'll also work closely with our Head of Sales to make sure the commercial side of each business has the right systems and processes behind it. That includes improving sales pipelines, CRM, quoting, account management, customer follow-up and the visibility of sales activity and performance.

We don't want systems for the sake of systems. We want to know what's happening with our customers, where opportunities are being lost, what needs following up and what our teams should be focusing on.

That might mean improving how we manage stock, purchasing, customers, sales, finance, marketing or day-to-day tasks. You'll help shape what we build, introduce it into our businesses and, importantly, make sure it actually works for the people using it.

The person we're looking for

Electrical wholesale experience would be a significant advantage, particularly if you've worked in a multi-branch environment, but it's not essential.

We'd rather hire an exceptional operator from another sector than an average one who happens to know electrical wholesale.

We're looking for someone who is:

Extremely organised. You'll have several businesses, projects and priorities moving at the same time and need to stay on top of all of them.

Commercial. You understand how decisions made on the shop floor ultimately affect gross margin, EBITDA and cash.

Good with people. Our businesses come with established teams, many of whom have been there for years. We want someone who listens, earns trust and brings people with them.

Straight talking. We don't want business babble, management speak or unnecessary fluff. If something's wrong, tell us. If you disagree, say so. Then help us work out what we're going to do about it.

Hands-on. You'll be as comfortable sitting with the CEO discussing Group performance as you are standing in a warehouse understanding why stock isn't where it should be.

Pragmatic. Not every business needs a transformation programme. Sometimes it needs three things fixing and somebody making sure they actually get fixed.

People focused. We want to build businesses where good people enjoy working, are treated properly and have the opportunity to develop. Staff should be at the heart of how you operate.

You'll ideally have experience running or improving SME operations, business units, branches or multiple locations, with demonstrable experience improving profitability and operational performance.

Experience with acquisitions, integrations, turnarounds or post-acquisition environments would be particularly valuable.

Location & travel

This is a hybrid role based from our Guildford office three days per week (when not travelling), with flexibility around the demands of the role.

Our businesses are located across the UK and our acquisition strategy will take us into new locations and markets, so regular UK travel and occasional international travel will be required.

Why Flockstone?

We're building a group for the long term.

We acquire good businesses and want to make them better, not by imposing layers of corporate bureaucracy, but by giving them better systems, better information, stronger commercial support and access to the resources of a wider Group.

We're ambitious, we're building our own technology, we move quickly and we don't expect everyone around the table to agree with each other.

If you're organised, commercially sharp, good with people and prefer getting things done to talking about getting things done, we'd love to hear from you.

Good luck!