managing director jobs

About the Role

As UK and US Operations Director, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across our Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Inventory Planning and Customer Service functions in the UK, US and Canada.

Reporting to the Group Operations Director, you will lead a team of approximately 180 colleagues and play a critical role in shaping operational strategy, driving performance and delivering transformation that aligns with divisional market needs. This is a highly visible leadership position requiring the ability to operate confidently across both strategic and operational priorities, influencing decisions and outcomes at the most senior levels of the organisation.

You will be responsible for leading large-scale change, building strong partnerships across the business, and ensuring our operations continue to evolve to meet the needs of our customers, colleagues and future growth ambitions.

Key responsibilities:

• Leading Manufacturing, Inventory Planning, Supply Chain and Customer Service operations across the UK, US and Canada.
• Acting as a key member of the Operations Senior Leadership Team, helping shape strategy, priorities and investment decisions.
• Driving ambitious transformation programmes and ensuring successful adoption across operational teams.
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the business, influencing decisions and aligning priorities.
• Owning operational performance, customer outcomes, service levels and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Leading and developing high-performing teams while creating the conditions for growth, accountability and engagement.
• Ensuring operations are delivered effectively, efficiently and within budget.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

You will be a senior operational leader who is comfortable leading significant change and influencing at the highest levels. You’ll bring credibility, judgement and presence to influence senior stakeholders, build alignment across diverse teams and lead through change. Combining strong operational expertise with commercial leadership, you’ll understanding how decisions across manufacturing, supply chain and customer service drive business performance, customer outcomes and long-term growth. This will include navigating ambiguity, challenging constructively and taking ownership of complex priorities, while empowering others to deliver with pace and accountability.

Essential:

• Works strategically to realize organizational goals and develops compelling visions for the future.
• Operates with a high degree of integrity, accountability and professional credibility.
• Proven track record of delivering results through others and creating an environment of ownership and accountability.
• Ability to work across multiple initiatives with strong delegation and empowerment skills.
• Solutions-focused, maintains clear sight of longer-term outcomes to drive shorter-term outputs.
• Strong understanding of technology delivery methodologies and operations outcomes.
• Strong commercial and financial leadership with experience balancing customer, operational and financial priorities to maximise performance.
• Proven ability to translate operational strategy into measurable business outcomes.
• Working knowledge in Operations disciplines.
• Experience aligning operational delivery with commercial objectives across multiple geographies
• Skilled at operating in a matrix environment with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Proven track record in driving operational execution.
• Program Management Expertise.
• Knowledge of operational processes, frameworks and continuous improvement methodologies.

Benefits

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

This role comes with the added benefit of private medical insurance, a car/allowance, and a management bonus.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.

Queries

Please contact claire.rees@oup.com with any queries relating to this role.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce, and ensuring an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We seek to employ a workforce representative of the markets that we serve and encourage applications from all.