Coyne Recruitment is working on behalf of a leading government outsourcing organisation to appoint a Chief Operating Officer at a pivotal point in its next phase of growth and transformation.

This is a significant executive leadership appointment for an organisation delivering large-scale, commissioned services across employability, justice and wider public services.

The successful candidate will take overall responsibility for operational performance across a complex, multi-site and multi-regional organisation, working closely with the CEO and Executive Board to improve performance, strengthen profitability and prepare the organisation for the next generation of government commissioning.

This is not simply a role focused on keeping the operation running.

The organisation is entering an important period of operational transformation, regional integration and service development, and the COO will be central to turning the wider strategy into measurable results.

The Opportunity

The COO will have overall accountability for operational leadership, performance and delivery across a substantial portfolio of government-funded services.

You will lead a broad operational agenda covering:

• Operational performance and service delivery
• Contract and financial performance
• Quality, compliance and safeguarding
• Leadership and organisational capability
• Transformation and digital enablement
• Regional operating models
• New service development
• Commissioner and stakeholder relationships

A key part of the role will be improving contract profitability while maintaining strong outcomes for participants, customers and commissioners.

You will also play a leading role in preparing the organisation for future labour market programmes, successor contracts and evolving commissioning models, ensuring the business is operationally ready to take advantage of new opportunities.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Strategy & Operational Leadership

Working alongside the CEO and Executive Board, you will translate organisational strategy into clear operational plans and measurable delivery.

You’ll provide leadership across a complex, multi-disciplinary operation, ensuring consistency, quality and performance across regions and service lines.

You’ll also provide the Board with clear insight into operational performance, risks, opportunities and areas requiring intervention.

Performance, Quality & Contracts

You’ll have overall accountability for day-to-day operational performance, ensuring services consistently deliver against contractual, financial and quality expectations.

This will include:

• Improving contractual performance and outcomes
• Strengthening quality assurance and continuous improvement
• Driving performance against KPIs and contractual targets
• Ensuring readiness for audits, inspections and contract reviews
• Maintaining strong safeguarding and regulatory standards
• Ensuring services remain responsive to the needs of participants, including those facing complex barriers

Commercial & Financial Performance

A major focus will be improving the commercial performance of the operation.

You’ll work closely with Finance and the wider Executive Team to improve profitability, manage costs and identify opportunities to make the operation more efficient.

You’ll also contribute to:

• Budgeting and forecasting
• Resource planning
• Operational efficiencies
• Contract mobilisation and extensions
• Bid development
• Commercial opportunities
• Protecting major revenue streams

Ultimately, you’ll be expected to deliver an operation that performs strongly both commercially and operationally.

Transformation & Future Operating Model

The organisation is moving towards a more integrated regional operating model, bringing together capability, resources and expertise to create greater scale and consistency.

The COO will lead this transition, reducing duplication, strengthening regional capability and ensuring the organisation is equipped for future commissioning requirements.

You’ll also lead operational transformation and digital initiatives, ensuring new technology, processes and ways of working deliver tangible improvements rather than simply becoming another change programme.

People & Leadership

You’ll lead and develop a high-performing operational leadership team, building the capability required to support a larger, more integrated organisation.

You’ll be expected to create a culture built around:

• Accountability
• Collaboration
• Inclusion
• Performance
• Continuous improvement
• Strong leadership

You’ll also play a key role in organisational design, workforce planning, succession and talent development.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for an experienced senior executive who has operated at significant scale and understands how to translate strategy into operational results.

You are likely to bring:

• Significant experience in a comparable COO, Operations Director or equivalent executive leadership position
• Experience leading complex, multi-site and/or multi-regional operations
• A strong track record of improving operational performance and profitability
• Strong commercial and financial understanding
• Experience leading significant transformation and organisational change
• Experience managing multidisciplinary leadership teams
• The credibility to operate effectively with CEOs, Boards and senior stakeholders
• Strong understanding of modern operating models and digital transformation
• A strategic mindset combined with a strong focus on delivery
• Resilience, sound judgement and the ability to operate effectively through periods of change

Experience within employability, justice, skills, government outsourcing or other commissioned public services would be highly advantageous.

We would also welcome candidates who have operated across public and private sector environments, particularly those who have experience working with government commissioners, regulators and large contractual frameworks.

The Person

This appointment will suit an executive who enjoys being close to the operation and is comfortable being accountable for the numbers.

You’ll need to be commercially minded, operationally strong and comfortable challenging established ways of working.

Most importantly, you’ll be someone who can take a strategy agreed around the Board table and turn it into something that actually works across hundreds or thousands of people, multiple regions and complex service environments.

You’ll need the presence and credibility to operate at Board level, but equally the practical leadership style to engage operational teams and drive change on the ground.

What Success Will Look Like

Within the role, success will be measured through tangible improvements across the organisation, including:

• Sustained improvement in contractual performance
• Improved profitability and cash generation
• Stronger operational consistency across regions
• Successful development and mobilisation of new services
• Progress towards an integrated regional operating model
• Improved leadership capability
• Continued strong outcomes for participants and commissioners
• Successful delivery of major transformation programmes

Package

Salary: £180,000 – £200,000
Bonus: 20% based on company performance
Car Allowance: £9,000

This is a senior executive appointment with the opportunity to play a major role in shaping the future operating model and growth of a significant government services organisation.

Interested?

If you’re currently operating at COO, Operations Director or equivalent executive level and have a track record of improving performance across complex commissioned or commercial services, we’d be very interested in speaking with you.

Coyne Recruitment is managing this appointment on behalf of its client.

All enquiries will be treated confidentially.