Regional Operations Director - South West
At IVC Evidensia, we are a leading veterinary services provider in Europe and North America with more than 2,500 clinics and hospitals across 19 countries and around 42,000 employees. We aim to have an extraordinary impact on animal lives, supporting in the region of 25,000 animals every single day across our international network. IVC Evidensia exists to champion the long-term health and welfare of animals and deliver our purpose of Healthy Animals, Happy Owners.
Reporting to the UK Chief Operating Officer, this role is responsible for supporting the operational management of the region, with a strong focus on fostering a high-performance culture and delivering strategic organic growth.
The role leads and empowers Area Directors to drive business growth, deliver outstanding clinical outcomes, and ensure an exceptional client experience across clinics. A key focus is on building an engaging and high-performing environment while meeting financial objectives.
As a visible and influential leader, this role champions the vision, values, and leadership behaviours of IVC Evidensia, ensuring they are consistently reflected across all aspects of regional operations.
This role will be supporting IVC Region 5 – South West including South Wales.
Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
* Develop and deliver a long-term regional strategy for organic growth and operational excellence.
* Ensure that the team are set up with a high-performance culture, delivering effective communication between ADs and the UK Operations senior leadership team.
* Chair regional meetings to drive performance, share best practices, and cascade group-level initiatives.
* Set region-level KPIs and benchmarks; hold ADs accountable for area financial performance.
* Create investment business cases for capital projects and present to the UK Investment Committee.
* Work with the Regional Finance Business Partner to report on performance and support budget processes.
People & Culture
* Provide active line management, development support, and regular feedback to ADs.
* Mentor and coach ADs, ensuring they have the leadership skills to optimise practice performance.
* Work closely with the Regional HR Business Partner to create a robust people plan, focusing on recruitment, retention, and maximising engagement.
* Support ADs and practices with people management, ensuring group HR policies are respected.
Clinical & Compliance Oversight
* Oversee clinical performance against objectives set by the UK Medical Director and/or Group Medical Board.
* Ensure ADs hold Clinic leaders accountable for operational, financial, and clinical performance alongside client experience
* Promote compliance with regulatory standards and group policies across all practices.
Client Experience
* Foster a culture of proactive client engagement and retention through PHC and Future appointment bookings, optimising diary management all whilst embedding the importance of preventative care
* Lead initiatives to raise the bar on client service, strive for continuous improvement, promote innovation and best practice sharing across the network.
* Monitor and improve client experience KPIs such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), complaint resolution timelines, and service consistency. Use dashboards and scorecards to identify trends and lead targeted interventions
Business Development
* Support business development and organic growth by collaborating with our marketing department and encouraging proactive management by ADs.
* Evaluate and sign off on out-of-budget recruitment requests from ADs.
* Work collaboratively with central support functions, holding them to account for the support service levels provided to our Clinics
Change Leadership, Transformation & Performance management
* Lead and support transformation initiatives, including digital self-service, AI adoption, and continuous improvement programmes.
* Drive implementation of new service offerings and clinical strategies, supporting innovation and operational efficiency.
Performance Management
* Embed robust performance management routines: Lead regular reviews using balanced scorecard metrics, P&L and dashboards, ensuring Area Directors are accountable for financial, operational, and client experience KPIs, and drive targeted interventions for continuous improvement.
* Champion leadership behaviours and culture: Model and promote the Group’s vision, values, and leadership behaviours, fostering resilience, adaptability, and proactive engagement across all teams, and ensure feedback and development conversations are part of everyday practice.
* Drive leadership development and succession: Mentor and coach Area Directors, support structured leadership development and succession planning, and ensure every clinic is working within the Leadership framework
Experience/Qualifications:
* Strategic thinker with strong communication and coaching abilities
* High emotional intelligence and persuasive influence
* Analytical problem-solver and creative decision-maker
* Proven leader and team builder with a positive, proactive approach
* Expert level knowledge of Finance, HR, Marketing, Health & Safety
* Preferably experienced in the veterinary or healthcare sector
Following receipt of your application, you will be contacted by one of our experienced hire recruitment team.
As a BAME and LGBTQ+ inclusive employer, we are keen to hear from candidates from all minority and diverse groups. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are keen to hear from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions and would be happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process.
What We Offer:
At IVC Evidensia we recognise that our people are fundamental to the success of our business. Investing in our people, premises and processes is at the heart of what we do. In addition to a competitive base salary, you will benefit from
Work-life balance
26 days annual leave
Cycle to Work scheme
Initiatives focused on employee wellbeing
Pension
Discretionary Bonus
Discounted staff pet care
Free Parking available at Head Office
At IVC Evidensia we are a committed to Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging, we are keen to hear from candidates from all minority and diverse groups. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are keen to hear from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions and would be happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process.
IVC Evidensia UK
IVC Evidensia, The Chocolate Factory, Keynsham, BS31 2AU, United Kingdom
At IVC Evidensia we are a committed to Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging, we are keen to hear from candidates from all minority and diverse groups. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are keen to hear from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions and would be happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process.
Any questions before applying?
Speak to Neil Merritt from our recruitment team who would be happy to help you with any questions you have before applying for this role.
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