National Workshops Manager – Weston Super Mare
Plantforce are a national supplier of technologically advanced plant hire machinery tailored to the construction, rail, major project and energy industries.
Our vision is:-“To be our Customer’s first choice through safety, sustainability and integrity.”
At the heart of our strategy are our people. Plantforce are committed to investing in our people and culture, matching the right people in the right roles from the start. Fostering growth by empowering our people to develop alongside the business, enabling career progression and the creation of new opportunities with on the job training.
As a result of our continued growth, we are excited to be recruiting for the role of National Workshops Manager, if you believe you’re the right candidate, read on to learn more!
Job Purpose
We are seeking an experienced senior leader to lead and manage our workshops across the depot network. This role is responsible for driving strategy, operational performance, safety, and asset reliability across multiple workshops, managing a team of Workshop Supervisors, fitters and wash bay valeters. Driving safety, improvement and quality to optimise uptime and operational efficiency is key to the success of this role.
Key Responsibilities
Workshop Operations Management
- Provide strategic leadership across multiple workshops and depots, leading through workshop managers and supervisors.
- Set operational standards, frameworks, and strategies for plant maintenance, utilisation, safety, and compliance.
- Own business-wide KPIs, including fleet availability, utilisation, cost control, compliance, and safety performance.
- Drive continuous improvement, change initiatives, and the implementation of systems and processes across all sites.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, asset strategy, and workforce planning.
- To be a senior stakeholder, liaising with executives, commercial teams, suppliers, and key clients.
- Focus on long-term performance, scalability, and leadership development across the business.
Experience & Skills
- Extensive senior management experience in plant hire or heavy equipment operations, managing multiple workshops and multi-disciplinary teams.
- Strong technical knowledge of plant and heavy equipment (excavators, loaders, etc.) to support and challenge technical decision-making.
- Proven experience managing fleet performance, maintenance planning, compliance, and utilisation.
- Track record of translating strategic objectives into operational excellence.
- Solid understanding of health & safety and regulatory requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to implement systems, processes, and standards that improve efficiency, quality, and safety.
- Strong operational leadership experience, including planning, performance management, budgeting, and continuous improvement.
About You
- Confident, people-focused leader with operational and technical credibility.
- Commercially aware, decisive, and highly organised.
- Excellent communicator with the ability to influence at all levels.
- Committed to safety, continuous improvement, and developing high-performing teams.
- Strategically minded with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
- Calm under pressure, with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Able to prioritise competing demands across multiple locations.
- Passionate about developing people, building leadership capability, and fostering a positive performance culture.
Main Responsibilities
Workshop Operations Management
- Working closely with the Workshop Supervisors, oversee the daily operations of all workshops, ensuring timely and quality maintenance and repairs of plant equipment.
- Implement standardised operating procedures across all workshops to achieve consistent reliability and efficiency.
- Design and implement preventative maintenance through the PHI, PDI and Service schedules to minimise equipment downtown and achieve reliability across the fleet.
- Liaise actively with the Hire Desk team to align workshop readiness with hire bookings and delivery times, communicating any issues that would impact customer service.
Operational & Technical Oversight
- Lead and manage the Workshop teams.
- Oversee planned maintenance schedules, technical service delivery, and rapid effective response to breakdown, services and inspections in the workshops.
- Ensure accurate diagnosis, reporting and prompt repair of chargeable and non-chargeable damage.
- Maintain up-to-date records of safety inspections and certifications.
- Ensure consistent compliance with health and safety regulations, company standards, and industry best practices.
- Working with Workshop Management, manage an efficient parts stock control and storage system, to minimise overstocking whilst ensuring parts are available when needed.
People Management & Development
- Motivate, develop, and support a high performing technical workforce.
- Conduct performance reviews, training plans, and career development plans.
- Ensure smooth coordination of staffing, workload and resource allocation.
- Foster a culture of accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.
- Arrange product and safety training to ensure all staff are appropriately trained to carry out their roles safely, efficiently and effectively.
People Management & Development
- Motivate, develop, and support a high performing technical workforce.
- Conduct performance reviews, training plans, and career development plans.
- Ensure smooth coordination of staffing, workload and resource allocation.
- Foster a culture of accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.
- Arrange product and safety training to ensure all staff are appropriately trained to carry out their roles safely, efficiently and effectively.
Budget Management
- Manage Plant Maintenance to stay within budget, by monitoring costs and identifying cost savings opportunities.
- Implement robust practices to ensure that all chargeable damage is fully identified, with the parts required, and provided to workshop management within process timelines.
Customer Service & Stakeholder Engagement
- Ensure a professional, efficient, and safe service is consistently delivered to all customers.
- Act as a point of escalation to address any service-related issues and maintain strong internal and external relationships.
- Work collaboratively with internal teams including Hire Desk and Sales to ensure service alignment with customer needs.
Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
- Define and track KPIs to measure reliability, cost-efficiency, and operational performance.
- Continuously assess and optimise work standards, processes and resources to drive service excellence.
Desirable Knowledge and Qualifications
- IOSH or Nebosh
- Knowledge of Syrinx
Essential Requirements and qualifications
- Right to work in the UK
- Full Driving Licence
Benefits
- Enhanced annual leave entitlement, increasing with length of service
- Workplace Pension
- Refer a friend scheme
- Employee Assistance program
- Wellbeing support
- Annual employee satisfaction survey
- Discounted gift card scheme – Saving up to 15% on a huge range of physical and digital gift card from big name retailers.
- Paid volunteer days to support our community team and our chosen charities
- Paid volunteer days for registered individuals within any Government supported roles (e.g. Reservists).
How to apply:
We actively welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. Plantforce are an equal opportunity employer, and we are happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed to support your application or interview process.
For more information please contact Careers@plantforce.com
