Partnership Director

EQUANS are recruiting for a Partnership Director to be based in Winsford. This is a permanent full-time role working 37.5 hours per week. On offer is a salary of up to £95,000 doe, car allowance, bonus and benefits package.

General Overview

To lead and develop Equans Partnership with Cheshire West and Chester along with working closely with the other PD’s and Ops Directors across other Local Authorities in the North West, and to meet the objectives of both Equans and the Council.  The contract has recently been awarded following a 5 (up to 7) year partnership with the Joint Venture (Qwest, 50:50 owned by the Council and Equans), delivering the commitments as set-out in the contract, providing confidence in a partnership approach and ensuring growth are all key to this role.

The role will involve engagement with a range of stakeholders from the public sector, as such the post holder will need to be politically astute and seek to understand the political situation, on both a local and national level and how policy and strategy will influence and potentially benefit the contract.

Our workforce is a diverse workforce, with a range of skills and experience, and the PD will need to understand and tailor their engagement to reflect this, with conversations with the CX, COO of our customer, right through to front line staff delivering cleaning for a few hours a week.  The PD must ensure that the communications is appropriate for each interaction, and has a positive impact for each group.

Key Accountabilities

Financial Excellence:

• Ability to plan, develop and analyse robust and agile financial models to maximise profitability, cost control and cash collection. Continuous challenge and review of P + L and consistent delivery of results improving bottom line Net margin YoY.

Operational Leadership:

• Ability to lead and direct a Senior Management team, ensuring high quality engagement and communication and the delivery of contractual expectations and requirements.
• Leading with the highest level of integrity, ensuring excellent reputation is built with the Client and sustained through the period of the Partnership.
• Ensuring that all contractual obligations are fulfilled and, where required, drawing in wider Equans resource to deliver desired outcomes.
• Ensure staff engagement remains high, with a workforce that understands and shares the vision of Equans and the partnership.

Partnership working:

• A key part of the role is effective collaboration, influencing and negotiation skills at Senior Levels (Chief Executive, S151 Officer and Cabinet), ensuring the delivery of a strong partnership ethos.
• Ensuring the delivery of key partnership objectives, contractual requirements and delivery plans.
• Being able to influence Client leads, through a pragmatic and positive approach to problem solving and opportunity building, with consideration of both short-term and long-term ramifications of decisions and outcomes.
• Ensure key clients know of our wider skill sets and we seek opportunities to maximise our impact across the Partnership

Business Development:

• Development of leading end-to-end service capabilities.
• Business Planning:
• Creating a clear business plan and operational roadmap in place to deliver the above. Exceptional planning and organisational skills
• Organic growth on both capital projects, sustainability projects and wider service areas of which Equans can provide expertise is key

Strategic Agenda :

• Supportive of Equans and Places and Communities strategy in approach to partnerships with functional leadership and priorities. Supportive of Safety and Sustainability vision, but also key is to drive net margin improvements on an ongoing basis.

Key Performance Indicators:

Customer Engagement:

• Productive, regular engagement with senior clients and stakeholders – Chief Executive, S151 Officer, Contract Manager, Mayor and Cabinet Members.
• Formal feedback from Customer survey.
• Formal feedback from Staff surveys.
• Formal reporting via governance structures.
• Development and delivery of new opportunities.
• Informal feedback from key customer contacts.
• Supporting wider strategic priorities of the Authority
• Social value outcomes
• Growth opportunities delivered

Collaborative Working:

• Build strong effective relations across the contract and at all levels, but particularly with CX, S151 Officer, Contract Manager and Local Politicians
• Development of collaborative solutions across the contract and at all levels
• Feedback from clients is reflective of a delivery team that understands and delivers key objectives and works in a collaborative way.

 Financial Performance:

• Net Margin
• P&L, cash-flow, WIP, CLIFF, aged debt, Revenue but only where net margin minimums are maintained).
• Business development / growth pipeline.

Leadership:

• Highly effective approach to communication and team working.
• Clear, stretched individual and team objectives in place.

Colleague Engagement:

• Committed engagement plan owned and in place. Measured via:
  • Colleague engagement feedback eNPS
  • Churn
  • Balanced scorecard KPIs monitoring retention, absence measures, employee relations.
• Clear communications plan in place.
• Build relationships with other Partnership Directors and Ops Directors across the NW

Talent Development:

• Performance Review process in place, targeting 100% completion rate.
• HiPo’s identified, clear development plans in place alongside wider succession

What can we offer you?

On offer is a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes;

• Pension Scheme
• 25 days annual leave (+ public holidays)
• Life Cover equivalent to 3 times annual salary
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• Gym membership discounts 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Broad range of learning opportunities, such as professional qualifications, collective/individual training, and personalized support programmes

Who are we looking for?

Qualifications or Required Experience:  

• Proven track record of leading the delivery of diverse services during periods of consistent change. Evidence of having managed large teams of staff and obtained excellent results
• Desirable experience in one of; Property and FM, Housing, large Regeneration or Project Management in a Local Authority (or similar) context.
• Demonstrable experience of directly leading a successful large-scale, multi-stakeholder Partnership (single site or multi-site), with Local Authority outsourcing experience highly desirable.
• An effective transformation & change manager.
• Effective programme management techniques.
• Public and private sector experience is highly desirable, understanding its core workings, the procurement processes, key influencers, actors in play and personal networks.
• A polished and highly effective communicator able to represent and promote Equans capability with key supplier and customer environments and diverse teams of staff.
• Understands and able to drive a leadership team to deliver operational excellence in line with the Equans vision and partnership objectives
• A “people person” with highly developed interpersonal and communication skills

Who are we? 

EQUANS is a world leader in energy services with nearly 100,000 employees working in more than 50 countries, with an annual turnover of over 17 billion euros.   

In the UK & Ireland, EQUANS is a provider of technical, FM, regeneration and energy services – with specialist capabilities in smart buildings, green mobility, district & embedded energy and decentralised renewables. 

EQUANS’ 13,500 UK & Ireland employees combine these activities to help businesses, public sector organisations and government to embrace the energy transition towards net zero, and also the digital & industrial transitions that are redesigning the way we move, work and live. 

EQUANS is a Bouygues group company. 

What’s next? 

If this role is of interest to you, please click below to register, apply, and track your progress! A member of our Resourcing Team will review your application and be in touch. 

At Equans we’re committed to delivering a culture where everyone’s voice is heard and supported. We know the value a diverse workforce creates, delivering better results for our people, customers, and stakeholders. Diversity and inclusion is at the core of what we do, should you join Equans you’ll find a welcoming and open workplace where you’re supported and encouraged to be your true self at work. You’ll also have access to our growing employee networks including WiE (Women in Equans), RISE (BAME), LGBTQI+, Working Parents, YPN (Young Professionals Network) and our Disability Network.  

For this role, you must have evidence of the right to work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer a re-location package with this job role.  Certain roles may require applicants to undergo a Disclosure check, as noted in the role requirements. 

The EQUANS Resourcing Team supports this job advert. Agency involvement is not required. All related enquiries must come to the resourcing team not direct to EQUANS Managers.