Description This Operational Excellence & Quality Director position is a hybrid role in Costain, reporting to the Group Chief Engineer. Your office will be in Manchester or London (typical attendance circa 3 days per week, other days WFH) with visits to other offices and sites as per business needs. The Group Chief Engineer’s team includes technical leadership, compliance and assurance and across all Costain’s operations including design, design management, technical construction delivery, quality. This role would be embedded in this team and support multiple projects / sectors / developments. As our Operational Excellence & Quality Director, you will lead the strategic development and execution of operational excellence and quality across all Costain ensuring safe, efficient and predictable delivery. This role is accountable for embedding a high-performance operating system, strengthening assurance frameworks, and driving cultural and capability transformation aligned to Costain’s strategic goals. Your prime responsibility will be to ensure our contracts operate to best in class processes and that the processes are implemented and followed, and that the management teams at all levels have the right operational data to drive continual improvement, helping to create an outcome of efficient and predictable delivery on our projects. Supporting others to drive business improvement and future proof Costain’s operational model. Success will include increased data driven decision making, improved efficiency, improved compliance and consistency, reduced rework at all project stages and a quality focussed cultural shift. LI-MR1 Responsibilities Operational Excellence and Quality Leadership Design and embed the Costain wide project operating system, integrating delivery processes, standards and delivery assurance mechanisms. Lead continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, consistency, and compliance. Ensure quality systems meet regulatory, customer, and internal requirements while enabling agile delivery. Diagnose systemic pain points and root causes impacting delivery efficiency and predictability to embed and promote a continuous improvement culture. Capability Development and Cultural Change Build and lead a capability development programme focused on delivery disciplines, leadership behaviours and technical excellence. Maintain an agile and MVP prototyping approach to test and refine new capabilities. Coach senior leaders and delivery teams to strengthen decision-making, risk management, and execution flow. Drive cultural alignment across contracts, reinforcing shared values and delivery discipline. Governance and Performance Management Define the data structures, measures and performance indicators that underpin delivery excellence. Establish governance frameworks that ensure consistent application of best practices and delivery standards. Monitor delivery performance using KPIs, dashboards, and structured reviews to drive transparency and action. Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to remove friction and improve end-to-end flow. Codify activities, variables and measures to underpin new capabilities, coordinating with digital transformation and IT stakeholders. Stakeholder Engagement and Influence Build trusted relationships with reference groups and coordinate working parties to maintain and improve capabilities. Represent the division in corporate forums, audits and strategic initiatives. Influence senior leaders to adopt best practices and champion operational excellence. Quality Assurance and High-Assurance Delivery Own the Costain quality strategy, ensuring it underpins efficient and predictable delivery across all contracts. Maintain and continuously improve the assurance framework, including policies, standards and stage-gate controls. Support the review, reform and refinement of the Costain Way. Represent and lead the voice of delivery to ensure the Costain Way is a fit-for-purpose management system that supports best-in-class delivery. Ensure quality planning, inspection, testing and verification activities are embedded early and consistently across the lifecycle. Strengthen root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and learning loops to drive systemic improvement rather than local fixes. Build capability in quality leadership, problem-solving, and right-first-time delivery across project teams. Use data, metrics and leading indicators to identify emerging risk and drive proactive intervention. Knowledge, Skills and Experience Essential Process visualization, optimisation and management Strategic vision, driving business / cultural change Development of assurance, verification and compliance in a corporate environment Influencing and supporting teams / people, both in delivery and as SME / functional leaders content providers Risk / opportunity management Coordination and leadership of diverse teams Understanding of digital operating systems, development, assurance and delivery Proven line management and people development skills Budget management skills Innovative and digital mindset, dashboarding Desirable Broad UK industry experience Strong safety and people focus UK infrastructure market experience Qualifications Essential Degree qualified in appropriate subject Chartered professional in an appropriate field (desirable) Can hold UK Security Clearance (SC level)