Regional Transport Manager – North
Salary: up to £65,000 base + bonus scheme + company car or car allowance
Location: Brinsworth / Home Based + Regular Northern Travel
Hours: Monday to Friday, no weekends
The Opportunity
We’re hiring a high-impact Regional Transport Manager to lead our clients northern distribution network. This is a visible leadership role: you’ll be out in depots and on the road, setting standards, coaching frontline leaders and making sure operations run safely, compliantly and on time. It’s critical to the performance of the region, so we’re looking for someone organised, confident and decisive who can hit the ground running and lift results quickly.
You’ll cover sites from Wolverhampton right up to Glasgow and please expect more travel in your first 6-months as you learn the network, meet teams and embed your rhythm; after that, you’ll settle into a steady schedule of 2–3 site days each week and 1–2 home days for planning, reporting and follow-up. Our client is not precious about exact days, what matters is visible presence and delivery.
What you’ll lead
* Be the face of safe operation and drive a culture of zero incidents, keep vehicle/driver compliance tight (walk-around checks, defect closure, investigation & learnings), and close actions promptly
* Own daily/weekly KPIs (on-time, DIFOT, utilisation, cost per mile/drop) and tackle bottlenecks, reduce waste (fuel, tyres, overtime/agency), and protect service
* Develop and hold to account a team of frontline leaders and set clear expectations, coach performance, address underperformance fairly and fast, and keep morale strong
* Balance routes, rotas and headcount to match demand; ensure the right mix of core staff and agency; keep fleet availability high and downtime low
* Introduce a simple, consistent operating cadence – daily huddles, weekly reviews and a one-version-of-the-truth KPI pack
* Work closely with Ops, H&S, HR, Planning and Customer teams so there are no surprises and issues are resolved quickly
* Use data and shop-floor insight to fix root causes, simplify processes and deliver 2–3 measurable CI wins each quarter
About You
* Proven track record in multi-site transport operations with visible, hands-on leadership
* Organised, structured and outcome-driven – you set clear expectations and get things done
* Comfortable “whipping things into shape” (raising the bar and holding people to it) while remaining fair and respectful
* Strong with numbers and follow-through: you value the use data to prioritise and you close the loop
* Happy to travel widely across the region, particularly in the first 6-months
* CPC and/or NEBOSH held – or a clear plan to achieve them
* Experience with TMS/telematics, basic Excel/Power BI for KPI packs, incident investigation, route/shift redesign but not essential
Next Steps
* Stage 1 – MS Teams (30–45 mins): An introductory conversation with the hiring manager (and/or HR) to explore your background, leadership style and travel flexibility
* Stage 2 – On-site meeting: An in-person follow-up at a northern site to meet the team, walk the operation and discuss priorities and ways of working
* Wrap-up: Feedback and, where appropriate, final discussions on package, start date and onboarding.
Pertemps is an equal opportunities recruitment partner. We treat every applicant fairly and without discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race/ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation (as set out in the Equality Act 2010).
We assess candidates solely on skills, experience and potential and we welcome applications from under-represented groups.
If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process (e.g., interview format, accessibility, scheduling), please tell us and we’ll happily arrange them. Your information is handled in line with UK GDPR and our privacy policy.