Senior Contracts Manager or Project Director delivering DfE schools? Ready to stop being judged on one project and start leading an entire portfolio? Mandala Group has been exclusively retained to appoint a Senior Operations Manager into a Senior Career Position for a progressive UK main contractor with an established Department for Education portfolio. This is a senior post-contract delivery role. The work has been won. The pipeline is established. The Project Leads are delivering. The business now wants an Operations Manager with strong Education Construction experience capable of sitting above those projects and driving performance across the portfolio. What does that actually mean? As Senior Operations Manager you'll have visibility across multiple DfE school projects rather than becoming consumed by the day-to-day running of one scheme. You'll lead through Project Leads and bring together programme, commercial, design, construction, risk, quality, H&S and client performance. It's a genuine operational leadership position and internally sits at Associate Director Delivery level. The Senior Operations Manager will also work across an unusually integrated delivery model incorporating design, off-site manufacturing, MMC and on-site construction. This is a contractor with an established DfE history through CF21, a position on CF25, live Education workload and ambitious plans for what comes next. And what comes next matters.. The business isn't recruiting an Operations Manager – Education Construction simply to fill today's organisational chart. The longer-term intention is to develop this appointment towards Regional Director and Board-level operational responsibility as the business grows. For a strong Senior Contracts Manager, Operations Manager or Project Director, that's a very different proposition from moving companies to run another school. We need Significant main contractor Education construction experience. Ideally that includes DfE / Department for Education, CF21, CF25, ESFA or previous schools frameworks. You should already have delivered major Education projects and be capable of leading through Project Managers or Project Leads across multiple schemes. Relevant current titles could include Senior Contracts Manager, Operations Manager, Project Director, Construction Director or Education Sector Lead. The Operations Manager role is permanent and focused on major main contractor delivery. Package £105,000–£130,000 including car allowance + discretionary annual bonus with potential profit-share upside and comprehensive benefits. All enquiries treated confidentially. Don't move for a bigger project. Move for a bigger role