Job title: Head of Operations – SHE
Location: Barrow-in-Furness. (Onsite)
Salary: £90k+ depending on skills and experience, plus car allowance and bonus
This is a senior leadership position at the hear of one the UK’s most complex and high-profile manufacturing programmes. As Head of operations – SHE, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the site runs safely, efficiently, and sustainably. Working closely with Senior Operations and Manufacturing leaders, you will balance day-to-day operational performance with long-term strategic improvements, responding to challenges at pace while driving continuous development across people, processes, and systems. The role offers opportunity to shape operational delivery in a fast-moving environment while leading a highly skilled team and engaging directly with regulators, stakeholders, and business leaders.
What you’ll be doing:
Provide leadership across operational activities, ensuring performance targets, efficiency, and programme delivery are met while maintaining a safe and sustainable working environment
Partner with Senior Operations and Manufacturing Leaders to address site challenges, improve processes, and deliver strategic change
Oversee the effective integration of Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) into operational decision-making, supporting risk management and programme resilience
Drive improvements across operations, ensuring rapid response to urgent site issues while balancing long-term sustainability and compliance needs
Maintain effective engagement with regulators and stakeholders, ensuring smooth operations and compliance with legal and company requirements
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of SHE professionals, ensuring resources are aligned to operational needs and fostering a culture of continuous improvement
Your skills and experiences:
Essential:
Bachelor’s degree in Operations, Engineering, SHE Management, or a related discipline – or equivalent professional experience
Experience managing large-scale site operations with complex regulatory oversight
Proven track record in senior leadership within a large manufacturing or complex operational environment
Strong understanding of operational performance, risk management, and change delivery in fast-paced industries
Experience embedding SHE into business operations with knowledge of international standards (ISO45001, ISO14001)
Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive both immediate improvements and ling-term strategic initiatives
Demonstrated success in leading and developing teams, optimising resources, and creating a culture of collaboration and improvement
Desirable:
Chartered membership of a professional body (e.g., IOSH or equivalent)
Benefits:
As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.
The team:
The key responsibility of this role is to lead the SHE function within a demanding manufacturing environment, driving sustainable improvements across the site. Reporting to the Health & Safety Director, the position requires the ability to thrive in a fast-paced setting, address operational challenges, and implement strategic and tactical initiatives. The role will involve managing urgent site issues, working closely with senior operations teams, and ensuring strong engagement with regulators to sustain programme effectiveness. We offer relocation support across all Submarine roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria
Why BAE Systems?
This is a place where you will be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.
Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically leave 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending in the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.
Closing Date: 11th September 2025
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
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