Deputy Head of Engineering

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Gamston Airport, Retford

Reporting To: Andy Beynon

The Deputy Head of Engineering is an operational, commercial and support leadership role serving as the "Down and In" engine room of the Engineering Department. Operating as the primary deputy to the Head of Engineering (HoE), this position takes complete ownership of day-to-day engineering support delivery, driving commercial productivity and efficiency, as well as cross-functional synchronisation.

As this is a newly created position within a growing organisation, the successful candidate must be highly adaptable and comfortable working with ambiguity, embracing an evolving set of Terms of Reference (TORs) as the role and department scale.

The core mandate of this role is to manage and drive the department's commercial output and internal operational rhythm. By taking responsibility for pricing, cost base management, overarching fleet strategy, the training pipeline, and core IT/management tools, the Deputy Head ensures that the engineering department executes seamlessly, with a key emphasis on efficiency.

Crucially, this operational shield frees the Head of Engineering to focus purely on "Up and Out" strategic positioning and configuring the department for its next phase of corporate scaling. The role also acts as a mentor, leveraging professional & commercial experience to coach managers across the department hierarchy.

• Commercial Productivity and Efficiency: Drive the commercial productivity of the Engineering department, taking direct responsibility for pricing strategies and the proactive management of the departmental cost base. With a responsibility to drive efficiency and continuous improvement in output.
• Financial
  
  Risk Management:
  
  Act as the primary risk manager for the department, proactively identifying, tracking, and mitigating financial vulnerabilities while capitalising on commercial opportunities to protect the engineering cost base and enhance overarching profitability.
• Bid Support & Costing: Support corporate growth by assisting the Head of Engineering (HoE) with contract bid writing, ensuring all technical requirements are accurately scoped and comprehensively costed.
• Management Frameworks & IT: Act as the ultimate manager of the department's internal reporting systems. Lead the management, tracking, and continuous improvement of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Performance Indicators (PIs), alongside the management and optimisation of the department's key management tools and IT systems.
• Operational Cadence: Establish and maintain the daily and weekly operational rhythm of the engineering department, ensuring information flows seamlessly and bottlenecks are exposed early.
• Executive Reporting: Consolidate complex engineering and financial metrics into accurate, seamless, and high-fidelity updates for the HoE and upwards to Group executives.

• IPC Representation: Represent Engineering at the Integrated Planning Committee (IPC) level, ensuring the strategic and operational needs of engineering are met so the department can optimally support the company's output in achieving revenue and Gross Margin (GM) targets.
• Fleet Planning: Lead the Fleet Planning department in overarching strategic and operational planning, providing leadership and direction while the delegated Fleet and Maintenance Manager executes the actual day-to-day management of the fleet plan.
• Tactical Management & Engagement: Provide tactical management across the engineering departments and, where needed, lead supplier and customer engagement to resolve operational issues and drive favourable commercial outcomes.
• Long-Term Budgeting: Ove…