Operations Delivery Manager - Protective Coatings

Essential work. Practical skills. Long-term careers.

WGM Engineering, part of RSK Group, is looking for an Operations Delivery Manager – Protective Coatings to join our Engineered Solutions team on a Full Time, Permanent basis. Based in Livingston, with Hybrid working you will oversee workshop and site operations.

WGM is growing through secured long-term frameworks across the UK water sector, creating long-term opportunities for people who care about practical, safe, and high-quality site delivery.

For you, this means the opportunity to lead a specialist service, combine technical expertise with commercial ownership, and help develop our protective coatings capability across water and industrial markets.

The Role

You will lead the safe, efficient and profitable delivery of our protective coatings projects and services, covering surface preparation, abrasive blasting, thermal spraying, protective coatings and linings.

With responsibility for operational delivery, team development and the coatings function’s financial performance, you will ensure work meets customer specifications, quality standards, budgets and agreed programmes.

Working closely with customers, suppliers and WGM’s operational, commercial and HSEQ teams, you will strengthen delivery performance, build lasting customer relationships and support opportunities to grow the business.

This role would suit an experienced coatings leader who enjoys developing people, solving practical delivery challenges and taking ownership of both operational and commercial results.

What you'll do:

• Lead workshop and site operations, planning people, equipment and materials across multiple projects to achieve agreed safety, quality, productivity and delivery targets.
• Manage financial performance, including revenue, project budgets, cost control, utilisation and margins, ensuring work is accurately documented, invoiced and closed out.
• Provide technical leadership across surface preparation, blasting, thermal spraying, coatings and linings, ensuring compliance with specifications, manufacturer requirements and inspection and test plans.
• Champion safety, environmental and quality standards, ensuring effective risk assessments, method statements, COSHH controls and safe working arrangements, while addressing non-conformances and coating failures.
• Lead, coach and develop the coatings team, setting clear expectations and managing performance, competence, training and workforce requirements.
• Support profitable growth and continuous improvement, developing customer relationships, contributing to quotations and tenders, and using performance data and lessons learned to improve results.

What you'll bring:

Essential

• Proven experience managing protective coatings and surface preparation operations, with practical knowledge of abrasive blasting, application methods and associated inspection requirements.
• Experience leading teams and delivering multiple projects or contracts within workshop and/or site environments.
• Demonstrable commercial and financial experience, including managing budgets, controlling costs and improving operational profitability.
• Strong understanding of coating specifications, quality documentation and safe systems of work, combined with effective planning, problem-solving and customer relationship skills.

Desirable

• Experience within water, utilities or related industrial and infrastructure environments.
• A recognised coatings inspection qualification, such as ICorr Level 2, AMPP Certified Coatings Inspector or equivalent, together with relevant safety management training and site credentials.

We know that people develop their skills through different routes. If your coatings experience comes from another sector, including marine, energy, petrochemical or industrial engineering, and you believe your skills would transfer well to WGM, we would like to hear from you.

Why WGM?

At WGM, we combine the close working relationships and practical mindset of a smaller business with the backing and wider opportunities of RSK Group.

Our self-delivery model keeps our people close to customers, projects and the decisions that shape successful delivery. In this role, you will have the opportunity to influence how our coatings service operates, develop your team and contribute directly to its future growth.

We support our people through professional qualifications, technical development, mentoring and opportunities for internal progression.

Our benefits include:

• 32 days’ holiday, increasing to 36 days based on length of service.
• Pension scheme, with WGM contributing 6%.
• Life assurance providing three times your salary.
• Salary sacrifice options, including electric vehicle, annual leave purchase and cycle to work schemes.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• Company sick pay, available after a qualifying period.
• Employee discount programme.

WGM is committed to creating a working environment where people are treated with respect and have the opportunity to build skills, confidence and long-term careers. Please let us know if you need any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.

RSK Group is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

RSK will not accept unsolicited CVs from agencies other than RSK PSL or Secondary agencies.