Head of Workshops

Location:

South of England (multi-site role, with regular travel between sites)

Salary:
Competitive, plus benefits

Reporting to:
Board level

Our client is a well-established operator with a large HGV fleet working from several sites. They are looking for a Head of Workshops to take ownership of all workshop operations across the group.

This is a senior role. You will set the direction for fleet engineering, make sure every site meets the same high standard of compliance, and build a strong engineering culture where people are held to account.

• Set and own the strategy for all workshop operations across the group
• Line manage the Workshop Managers on every site, and develop senior technicians, supervisors and apprentices
• Make sure every site meets 100% PEM compliance and fully meets DVSA, O Licence and manufacturer requirements
• Achieve consistently high MOT first time pass rates and keep the business ready for a DVSA audit at all times
• Manage defects, VOR risk, repeat faults and root cause analysis
• Make processes, systems and reporting the same across all workshop sites
• Own the workshop budgets, including labour, overtime, agency spend, parts, stock and external repair costs
• Manage relationships with external repairers, parts suppliers and specialist contractors
• Lead on health and safety, including LOLER and PUWER inspections, safe systems of work and incident investigations
• Report KPIs, risk and performance to the senior leadership team

• Extensive experience running multi-site HGV/LGV workshop operations
• A proven track record of managing Workshop Managers and senior technicians
• Strong knowledge of DVSA requirements, O Licence undertakings and fleet compliance
• Experience owning workshop budgets and improving cost performance
• A hands‑on approach together with strategic thinking, and the ability to influence at director level
• Experience in waste, logistics or transport is an advantage

• NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) in Heavy Vehicle Maintenance and Repair
• Transport Manager CPC
• IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH equivalent
• Full UK driving licence with Class 1 HGV
• ILM Level 5 or equivalent management qualification
• IRTEC accreditation, an Engineering or Management degree/HND, or CILT membership would be an advantage