Operations Manager

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Operations Manager

Company: COLAS RAIL UK

Job Location: BIRMINGHAM, GBR

Type of Contract: Permanent

Posting Start Date: 20/04/2026

Make your mark with Colas Rail UK

At Colas Rail, differences matter. Join a team where being your authentic self is respected, encouraged, and vital to our success. At Colas Rail you'll be at home. You'll be welcomed into an inclusive team where there's a role for every talent and a close-knit, familial culture. You will also get the opportunity to help us transform transportation, set new standards, and dare to be different.

This is true because...

• We value everyone as part of the same team.
• We treat everyone as equals - and everyone is approachable, from the CEO down.
• We put you in control of your career to lead and grow in any way you want.
• We have a culture of care, from safe working environments to diversity and inclusion.
• We're renowned for innovation, adopting new ideas, and daring to be different.
• We are building a more sustainable future and our projects impact infrastructure for generations.

About Us

Step into the world of Colas Rail, where a century of expertise merges with a daring spirit to shape the future of rail infrastructure.

At Colas Rail, we deliver transport solutions for sustainable mobility. We are a leading rail infrastructure business with on track plant and freight capabilities. As a subsidiary of the Colas Group, we are part of over a hundred years' experience in delivering major innovations across our sector. Every day, thousands of trains run on tracks built, designed, or maintained by Colas Rail.

Leading by our Values

Our values, Respect, Commitment, Pioneering and Sharingare at the heart of everything we do. These values feed into our main strategies and accompany us daily in realising our ambitions.

We Respect our employees, celebrate diversity and foster a culture of safety, care and respect for everyone we interact with. We care about our employee's wellbeing and create an environment of inclusivity and support.

We Commit by showing up wholeheartedly. When we commit together, we invest in everyone's success. We invest in our customers, our teams and our colleagues, and we lead with safety, integrity, passion, purpose, ethics and transparency.

We Share as we all hold knowledge that could and should be shared, enabling us to grow and making us a strong collective. We have a passion for excellence, celebrating achievements and nurturing talent.

We Pioneer to push boundaries, imagine what does not yet exist and dare to do what others do not. We innovate with ambition, and we find solutions.

Even if you don't meet every requirement, please don't rule yourself out, we still encourage you to apply if your skills, values, and experience align to the role.

Job Description:

Purpose of the Role

The Operations Manager is responsible for leading the safe, efficient, and collaborative delivery of multi-disciplinary light rail projects within the Midland Metro Alliance, ensuring all works are completed in line with safety, quality, environmental, commercial, and programme requirements. The role provides operational leadership across project teams and supply chain partners, embedding robust processes, maintaining strong stakeholder and client relationships, and driving a high-performance, alliance-based culture. Through effective resource management, governance, and financial control, the Operations Manager ensures projects are delivered to time, cost, and quality expectations while supporting the successful delivery of the wider programme.

The role is based in Birmingham.

Person Specification

What attributes and skills are we looking for?
• Experience of leading large multi-disciplinary operational/ delivery teams.
• Knowledge of safety, quality, and environmental procedures.
• Experience of working in a collaborative environment.
• Recognised Operational and/ or Project Management experience and/ or qualification (desirable)
• Membership (or working towards membership) towards professional body such as ICE, APM etc. (desirable)

Key Responsibilities

• Proven ability to lead the safe and environmentally responsible delivery of light rail or infrastructure projects to time, cost, and quality standards in line with Alliance principles.
• Strong capability in developing, implementing, and embedding operational processes and procedures (e.g. lifting operations, plant management) across complex programmes.
• Demonstrated experience in supply chain leadership and relationship management across multi-disciplinary delivery environments.
• Ability to manage complex interfaces across multiple workstreams and stakeholders, ensuring alignment and optimisation of construction activities.
• Excellent stakeholder and client engagement skills, particularly within public sector or transport authorities (e.g. WMCA).
• Strong commercial awareness with experience managing project budgets, change control, and risk in collaboration with commercial teams.
• Proven leadership in building, managing, and developing high-performing, multidisciplinary teams (including direct and agency staff).
• Ability to establish and maintain effective project controls, governance, and risk management frameworks compliant with rail and statutory standards.
• Strong communication and coordination skills to manage internal and external stakeholders and ensure contractual obligations are met.

What We Offer
• Competitive Salary
• 26 days Annual Leave
• Industry leading Life Assurance
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Wellbeing Employee Assistant Programme
• Pension Scheme
• Eye Care Vouchers
• Long Service Award
• Season Ticket Loan
• Occupational Health Service

This is an exciting opportunity to build a career in the rail industry. We'd particularly encourage applications from women, or those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diversity drives innovation and creativity, and we actively seek to create an environment where everyone feels welcome, heard, valued and respected. Regardless of background, disability, age, race, religion, or gender, everyone is welcome at Colas Rail.

We strive to promote equity and eliminate discrimination, actively seeking to create a workforce reflective of communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, offering flexible and inclusive adjustments to the interview process.

As part of a positive action drive to address under-representation we encourage applications from women, ethnically diverse individuals and people with disabilities, along with all candidates who identify with protected characteristic groups under the Equality Act 2010.

We are proudly part of the Disability Confidence Scheme, and as such we operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme if you meet the minimum requirements.

On joining Colas Rail you'll have access to our growing Employee Network Groups including Railbow (representing the LGBTQ+ community), BeyonDisability (representing those with disabilities) and Cross Culture (representing people from ethnic backgrounds). Everyone is welcome to join our network groups whether you are part of the community or an ally.

Work life balance is important to us; flexible working options are available where feasible and dependant on the role. Please discuss this during the interview process.

Join us in making a positive impact! Apply and be part of a team that values diversity and embraces unique perspectives.

Information at a Glance