Chief Operating Officer

Role Overview

• Operational Strategy & Leadership
• Translate business strategy into scalable operational capability and execution plans aligned with rapid commercial expansion to support customer base largely in Asia but also Europe, the Americas and middle East.
• Translate business strategy into operational capability and execution plans
• Take full ownership of all operations following contract award, ensuring successful project execution through to commissioning, handover and ongoing customer support.
• Lead end‑to‑end operations including production planning, procurement, supply chain, logistics, and quality assurance.
• Build and manage an operations organisation capable of supporting manufacture of large filtration systems in the 100’s per year manufacturing in 12–18 months.
• Work closely with the executive team to drive operational KPIs, efficiencies, and performance improvements.
• Act as a key member of the executive leadership team
• Identify, evaluate, and secure manufacturing partners in the UK, Asia and other regions as required with strong engineering capabilities and capacity for large industrial systems.
• Oversee technology transfer, ensuring manufacturing partners can produce systems to specification, cost, and quality targets.
• Establish scalable assembly, testing, and QA workflows suitable for regional and customer requirements.
• Build a global supply chain strategy optimised for cost, lead time, reliability, and risk management.
• Oversee manufacturing strategy, ensuring quality, efficiency, and scalability
• Own sourcing and supplier qualification for critical components, including mechanical assemblies, filtration elements, structural components, and instrumentation.
• Implement supplier performance management processes, audits, and quality control mechanisms.
• Develop redundancy and dual‑sourcing strategies to identify and mitigate supply chain risks that will support growth in Asia while maintaining UK operational security.
• Build and scale local operational presence in target markets (partners, teams, service capability)
• Establish regional hubs or partnerships to support installation, maintenance, and after-sales service
• Navigate local regulatory, cultural, and commercial environments effectively
• Translate engineering designs into commercially manufacturable products with clear documentation, BOMs, and workflows.
• Support product standardisation and modularisation to reduce manufacturing complexity and cost.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to resolve manufacturability issues and drive continuous improvement.
• Develop a global service and maintenance model to support installed systems
• Build recurring revenue streams through service contracts and upgrades
• Ensure long-term system performance and customer satisfaction
• Establish operational framework, systems, tools, and processes including ERP/MRP, inventory management, logistics and quality management systems.
• Manage UK operational activities including pilot manufacturing, warehousing, and supply chain operations.
• Oversee international logistics including shipping, customs, compliance, and distribution into Asian markets.
• Recruit and lead a high‑performing operations team across procurement, production engineering, supply chain, and quality.
• Create a culture of accountability, safety, continuous improvement, and cross‑functional collaboration.
• Provide strong leadership to support the company’s growth trajectory and evolving organisational structure.
• Own and implement best-in-class health, safety, and environmental standards across all operations
• Ensure compliance with UK and international regulations, including site-specific requirements
• Lead on building a strong safety culture across internal teams and partners

Requirements

• Proven experience in a senior operations leadership role within industrial engineering, water treatment, filtration, or complex manufactured equipment.
• Demonstrated track record of scaling international operations from low‑volume to commercial production.
• Strong expertise in managing manufacturing partners, supply chains, and complex assemblies.
• Experience building supply chains and vendor networks including in Asia.
• Deep understanding of quality systems, compliance, safety, and industrial manufacturing best practices.
• Ability to translate high‑level engineering concepts into repeatable, scalable manufacturing processes.
• Excellent leadership, strong commercial/financial acumen and stakeholder management skills.
• Willingness to travel internationally 20% – 30%.

Tech Stack

• Assembly
• ERP

Benefits

• Flexible working environment, with core hours of 09:30-16:00 and hybrid working available, based at our central Bristol HQ
• Annual Leave – 26 days + public holidays + entitlement will increase with length of service, 1 day for every year up to 32 days pa
• 1 extra day of leave to celebrate you on your birthday
• Ability to swap up to 3 Bank Holidays in a year for days of cultural or religious significance
• Enhanced family leave (maternity & paternity)
• 13 weeks full pay (maternity) or 4 weeks full pay (paternity)
• available for those who have worked continuously for 26 weeks by the end of the Qualifying Week
• Sick Pay
• Short Term Sickness is full pay for 10 days in any 12-month rolling period / Long Term Sickness is full pay for any instance of a consecutive period of sickness longer than a week (7 consecutive days) up to 13 weeks.
• Pension scheme (Aviva) – 5% employer contribution
• Private Medical Insurance (BUPA) – you and your family (Level 1 cover)
• Medical Cash Plan (SimplyHealth)
• you and your family (Level 1 cover)
• Critical Illness Cover (Zurich)
• after 13 weeks of Illness 75% of wages paid up to 5 years
• Dental Plan (BUPA) – you and your family (Level 1 cover)
• Life Assurance (Zurich)
• one-off payment of 2 times your annual salary to next of kin
• Virtual GP
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Onsite kitchen, dining, breakout areas & healthy snacks
• Monthly lunch clubs
• Regular team events and parties
• On-site parking for bicycles and cars
• Cycle to work scheme
• Ethical discounts through Lumina
• Training & Development support incl. 5% of contractual hours used for self-development
• Professional membership
• one per year where relevant to role