Full-Time

Operations Manager

Commissioning Talent Solutions

Kent

Kent

5,001-10,000 employees

Designs, constructs, and maintains energy assets

No salary listed

Houston, TX, USA

In Person

Travel to meet clients and visit project sites is required as needed.

Bachelor's

Category
Sales & Account Management (1)
Required Skills
Forecasting
Financial analysis

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Requirements
  • At least 10 years of progressive experience in oil and gas, energy, petrochemical, refining, liquefied natural gas, midstream, or a related industrial construction or commissioning environment.
  • A bachelor's degree in business, engineering, construction management, or a related field is preferred.
  • Demonstrated success in business development and client relationship management.
  • Strong understanding of completions, commissioning, start-up, construction, or related project execution services.
  • Established relationships with operators, contractors, and other industry stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated ability to develop and close significant project opportunities.
  • Experience developing project proposals, estimates, staffing plans, and commercial strategies.
  • Strong understanding of project manpower requirements and field resource planning.
  • Experience leading or managing project execution teams.
  • Strong commercial and financial understanding, including project margins, labor costs, utilization, forecasting, and profitability.
  • Ability to operate at both the strategic and tactical level.
  • Excellent communication, negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
  • Existing relationships with major oil and gas operators.
  • Experience with large-scale capital projects, turnarounds, brownfield projects, or greenfield developments.
  • Experience building and scaling field organizations.
  • Existing network of commissioning, start-up, completions, and project personnel.
  • Experience with master service agreements, staffing agreements, and project-based contracts.
  • Ability to comply with the company's, clients', and host country's health, safety, sustainability, environment, and quality rules.
Responsibilities
  • Develop and execute a strategic business development plan focused on operators and other key clients within the oil and energy industry.
  • Identify upcoming capital projects, facility expansions, turnarounds, brownfield projects, and other opportunities requiring completions, commissioning, start-up, and field execution services.
  • Establish and maintain relationships with decision-makers, project executives, construction managers, commissioning managers, and procurement organizations.
  • Develop a pipeline of qualified opportunities and maintain visibility into upcoming client requirements.
  • Lead client presentations, capability discussions, proposal development, negotiations, and contract pursuits.
  • Identify opportunities to expand existing client relationships and increase the company's share of client project spend.
  • Monitor market trends, competitive activity, project awards, and customer needs to identify new growth opportunities.
  • Evaluate potential projects and determine their strategic, commercial, and operational fit.
  • Work with operations to ensure proposed manpower, schedules, productivity, and execution strategies are realistic and achievable.
  • Develop project pursuit strategies that balance revenue growth, profitability, risk, and resource availability.
  • Maintain accurate forecasts for backlog, revenue, manpower requirements, and upcoming project awards.
  • Develop a scalable manpower strategy aligned with the anticipated project pipeline.
  • Build and maintain relationships with experienced commissioning, completions, start-up, project management, construction, and field personnel.
  • Establish a reliable network of qualified personnel who can be mobilized quickly as projects are awarded.
  • Forecast manpower requirements based on anticipated project awards and execution schedules.
  • Partner with recruiting and operations to rapidly mobilize personnel for new projects.
  • Develop strategies for retaining high-performing field personnel and strengthening the company's reputation within the industry.
  • Ensure the organization has the leadership depth and technical capability necessary to support growth.
  • Work with project and field leadership to ensure successful project mobilization and execution.
  • Support project teams in resolving client issues, resource constraints, schedule challenges, and commercial concerns.
  • Maintain visibility into project performance, client satisfaction, manpower utilization, and profitability.
  • Serve as a senior leader and key company representative in the marketplace.
  • Help define the company's long-term growth strategy and market position.
  • Establish measurable goals and accountability for business development, project awards, manpower readiness, utilization, revenue, and profitability.
  • Work with executive leadership to develop annual budgets, growth plans, and strategic initiatives.
  • Perform other ad hoc tasks within the reasonable scope of the role as assigned by a supervisor or management.

Kent PLC is a global engineering firm that designs, constructs, and maintains energy assets for the oil, gas, and renewable-energy sectors. Its offerings cover the full project lifecycle—from initial engineering and construction through ongoing maintenance—delivered via a mix of project-based contracts and long-term service agreements. The company differentiates itself through a strong emphasis on safety and sustainability, supported by a track record that includes industry awards such as the Gold award at the ExxonMobil Safety Excellence Awards, and a large, skilled workforce of about 13,000 people capable of delivering complex projects worldwide. Kent’s goal is to meet today’s energy needs while preparing for the future by applying advanced technologies and best practices to deliver reliable, safe, and efficient energy assets.

Company Size

5,001-10,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Founded

1919

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Kent Data Centres entered the UK market in 2026, expanding into AI infrastructure demand.
  • Kent won the Prinos Carbon Storage FEED and Orica hydrogen hub mandate in 2026.
  • Jaime Sedano’s May 2026 Colombia appointment strengthens Latin America growth and regional delivery.

What critics are saying

  • Aramco LTAs only place Kent on bid panels, not guaranteed revenue, into 2027.
  • Exceed integration and Sudlows execution strain management while Kent pursues Saudi, UK, and Americas expansion.
  • Nesma & Partners owns Kent outright; any Saudi capital allocation shock threatens strategic independence.

What makes Kent unique

  • Kent spans advisory, EPC, commissioning, O&M, and decommissioning across the energy lifecycle.
  • Kent closed 2025 with a record backlog exceeding $3 billion.
  • Kent won Aramco brownfield EPC and PMC LTAs on July 13, 2026.

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Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

17%

1 year growth

17%

2 year growth

16%
Kent plc
Jul 13th, 2026
Kent Data Centres enters strategic agreement with Aurora Energy Valley to become lead design and development team for its Nordic projects

Kent Data Centres enters strategic agreement with Aurora Energy Valley to become lead design and development team for its Nordic projects

Kent plc
May 8th, 2026
Kent appoints Jaime Sedano as VP of Colombia operations.

Kent appoints Jaime Sedano as VP of Colombia operations. Kent Plc is pleased to welcome Jaime Sedano as Vice President for its Colombia operations. Jaime brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across the energy and industrial sectors, with a strong track record of delivering growth, leading complex operations, and expanding businesses across Latin America and the Caribbean. His appointment reflects the strategic importance of its South American operations, established in 1990. Today, its Bogotá team not only supports key regional projects, but also serves as an engineering centre of excellence, contributing to Kent projects across the world. With deep regional expertise and a focus on value creation, partnerships and sustainable growth, Jaime will play a key role in strengthening its presence across the Americas and supporting its clients' ambitions.

Business Insider
Aug 21st, 2025
Kent Acquires Aberdeen's Exceed Company

Energy services firm Kent is acquiring Aberdeen-based Exceed, a decommissioning engineering services provider. Exceed, with operations in over 40 countries, enhances Kent's capabilities in offshore well projects and energy transition initiatives like carbon capture and hydrogen storage. This acquisition positions Kent to lead in a market expected to double in size over the next decade. The transaction is set to complete later this year, following Kent's recent purchase of Sudlows Consulting.

Scottish Financial News
Aug 21st, 2025
Kent acquires Aberdeen decommissioning specialist Exceed

Global integrated energy services partner Kent, has signed a binding agreement to acquire Aberdeen-based Exceed (XCD) Holdings Limited, a provider of well management, sub surface and decommissioning engineering services.

Digital Infra Network
Feb 27th, 2025
Kent completes acquisition of Sudlows Consulting | Digital Infra Network

Kent acquires Sudlows Consulting, expanding global data center expertise to meet AI, cloud, and sustainability demands.