Commercial Workshop & Maintenance Manager - Mobile Plant
South Wales (HQ) with national travel. Location: Newport.
Yolk Recruitment are exclusively supporting a leading heavy mobile plant business in the quarrying and aggregates sector to recruit a Commercial Workshop & Maintenance Manager. This is an excellent opportunity for an ex‑plant engineer turned manager to take ownership of a busy workshop and build the commercial side of the business, developing a profitable external repair portfolio and bringing in new customers.
Responsibilities
- Lead the growth of the workshop's external repair portfolio, developing business with both existing and new customers.
- Own the commercial life‑cycle of external jobs: enquiries, scoping, quoting, job costing, margin recovery and follow‑up.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with quarry, aggregates and construction clients as the main point of contact for workshop‑based repairs and overhauls.
- Drive visibility of workshop performance – utilisation, efficiency, recovery rate, WIP, lead times, first‑time‑fix and rework/returns – and deliver tangible improvements.
- Work closely with Finance and Maintenance to create clear cost/profit baselines and move the workshop towards full profit‑centre operation.
- Standardise and improve processes around quoting, approvals, repair standards, documentation and sign‑off to protect margin and improve customer experience.
- Support, coach and challenge the workshop team day‑to‑day, helping to raise standards and recruit new engineers into the department where required.
- Promote and fully engage with all aspects of safe working practices in the workshop and on customer sites.
Qualifications
- Time‑served plant engineer or similar, who has moved into workshop/service/maintenance management in heavy plant.
- In‑depth knowledge of how mobile plant assets operate and their mechanical, electrical and technical components, ideally within aggregates, minerals or construction.
- Proven experience managing a workshop or service operation delivering external repairs to customers.
- Track record of growing revenue and developing new business while maintaining safety, quality and on‑time delivery.
- Strong customer‑facing and commercial skills – confident scoping work, preparing quotes, managing variations and discussing options with quarry managers and senior stakeholders.
- Good IT skills, including experience with maintenance/quoting systems and MS Office for job control and KPI reporting.
- A collaborative approach, able to work closely with workshop, maintenance, operations and finance while driving your own objectives.
Benefits
- Permanent role with an established and respectable employer, financially stable business in the heavy mobile plant sector.
- Salary in the region of £60,000‑£65,000 plus company vehicle and benefits.
- The chance to take a workshop that is currently focused on internal work and be the person who turns it into a visible, profitable commercial offering.
- Exposure to a modern mixed OEM fleet and a variety of complex repair and overhaul projects.
- Direct access to senior decision‑makers and genuine input into process, standards and customer strategy.
- Long‑term career security in a business with deep, long‑standing customer relationships.
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