Field Operations Manager

OBW Technologies is a leading provider of specialist engineering solutions supporting customers across the Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing sectors. We deliver high-quality design, commissioning, maintenance, technical support and operational services that help our customers achieve maximum performance, reliability and compliance.

As part of our continued growth, we are seeking an experienced Field Operations Manager to lead, develop and strengthen our field-based workforce while ensuring we have the capability, capacity and competency required to support our customers and future business growth.

The Role

The Field Operations Manager is responsible for the leadership, development and operational effectiveness of OBW's field workforce. This role focuses on people leadership, technical capability, workforce planning, performance management, field excellence and continuous improvement.

The successful candidate will ensure that our Field Service & Commissioning Team, and Apprentices have the skills, training, support and resources required to safely and effectively deliver customer projects and service activities.

Working closely with the Operations Manager, Customer Service Team Lead, Project Managers, Customer Service team and Commercial teams, the Field Operations Manager will play a key role in building a scalable field organisation capable of supporting both current and future customer requirements.

This role is ideally suited to an experienced Field Services Manager with a strong technical background who has successfully led field-based engineering or maintenance teams within a customer-facing environment.

Key Responsibilities

Field Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, manage, coach and develop all Field Technicians, Commissioning Technicians and Apprentices.
• Create and maintain a high-performance, customer-focused and safety-driven culture.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, one-to-one meetings and development discussions.
• Develop structured career pathways for field personnel.
• Drive employee engagement, retention and succession planning activities.
• Promote accountability, professionalism and technical excellence throughout the field organisation.
• Support the development of future leaders within the business.

Technical Capability & Competency Management

• Develop, implement and maintain competency frameworks for all field-based roles.
• Ensure technicians possess and maintain the skills, certifications and qualifications required for their roles.
• Identify competency gaps and implement targeted development plans.
• Support the creation and delivery of technical training programmes.
• Ensure lessons learned from field activities are captured and incorporated into training and development initiatives.
• Work closely with technical specialists to continuously enhance field capability.

Apprentice Programme Leadership

• Own and manage the OBW Apprentice Development Programme.
• Ensure apprentices receive structured coaching, mentoring and practical learning opportunities.
• Work closely with mentors, supervisors and educational institutions to support apprentice development.
• Monitor apprentice progression against training milestones and competency requirements.
• Conduct regular development reviews and assessments.
• Build a sustainable pipeline of future technical talent for the business.

Resource Readiness & Workforce Planning

• Partner with Leadership and other teams to understand future workforce requirements.
• Work with Senior Leadership to understand upcoming technologies, customer requirements and strategic growth plans.
• Develop workforce plans to support business growth and evolving customer needs.
• Ensure appropriate technical capability and capacity are available to meet operational demands.
• Support recruitment planning and talent acquisition activities.
• Participate in interviewing, hiring, onboarding and induction of new field personnel.
• Develop succession plans for critical technical roles.

Escalation Management

• Act as the operational owner for field-related customer escalations.
• Assign appropriate technical resources to investigate and resolve issues.
• Work collaboratively with Customer Service, Supply Chain, Project Management and Operations teams to ensure timely issue resolution.
• Facilitate root cause investigations and corrective actions where required.
• Monitor escalation trends and identify opportunities for preventative improvements.
• Maintain a strong customer-focused approach to problem resolution.

Customer Account Support & Commercial Collaboration

• Participate in customer account reviews alongside Account Executives and Customer Service.
• Provide operational and technical insight into field performance and customer support activities.
• Act as an advocate for the field team by addressing recurring customer issues and site-specific challenges.
• Develop a structured process for capturing technician field insight and identifying customer opportunities.
• Ensure field-generated commercial opportunities are communicated to Account Executives for review and follow-up.
• Support the delivery of a high-quality customer experience across all service interactions.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Drive standardisation and consistency across commissioning and field service activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.
• Promote best practice processes and field working standards.
• Support the implementation of new technologies, tools and operational systems.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives throughout the field organisation.
• Support digital transformation and operational excellence projects.

Health, Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Lead and promote a strong health and safety culture across all field operations.
• Ensure compliance with company procedures, customer site requirements and legislative obligations.
• Conduct field audits, observations and compliance reviews.
• Ensure all technicians maintain current certifications, training records and competency assessments.
• Support incident investigations and implementation of corrective actions.
• Promote proactive risk assessment and hazard identification practices.
• Ensure compliance with company Quality Management Systems and customer standards.

Role Requirements

Essential Experience

• Minimum 5 years' experience leading and managing field service, maintenance, commissioning or technical support teams.
• Proven experience managing field-based technicians in a customer-facing environment.
• Strong understanding of field service operations and workforce management.
• Experience managing both preventive maintenance and reactive service activities .
• Experience overseeing technician mobilisation, deployment and scheduling activities.
• Demonstrated experience in competency management, employee development and performance leadership.
• Experience driving health, safety and quality standards within engineering or industrial environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and customer relationship skills.
• Experience supporting recruitment, onboarding and workforce planning activities.

Qualifications

• Degree, Diploma, Trade Qualification or equivalent experience in Electrical Engineering, Automation, Instrumentation or a related technical discipline.
• Strong electrical background is essential.
• Full clean driving license.

Why Join OBW Technologies?

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing organisation and play a key role in developing our field operations capability. You will have the opportunity to shape the future of our technical workforce, influence operational strategy and contribute directly to the continued success and growth of the business.

If you are an experienced Field Services leader with a strong electrical background and a passion for developing people, driving operational excellence and building high-performing teams, we would love to hear from you.