Operations Specialist (Americas)

Brand

Kenyon International

Department

Operations

Reports to

Operations Manager, Americas

Location

Spring, Texas, United States. Office, warehouse and Crisis Management Centre based, with limited hybrid flexibility by agreement

Type

Full-time permanent  

Join Kenyon International

Kenyon has been there when it matters most for 120 years. We support more than 500 organisations across aerospace, government, events, maritime and energy with a network of over 2,500 specialist responders. The work is demanding and varied, and it directly supports people on the worst days of their lives. It helps mitigate risk, save lives, and make sure those affected by a crisis receive the support and compassion they need.

One organisation, four brands

Kenyon International is one of four TrustFlight brands. TrustFlight is the Aerospace Safety Intelligence Platform, building the technology that helps aviation operate safely and stay compliant. Baines Simmons delivers aviation training and consulting, and Redline Assured Security delivers government-standard aviation security. Each brand keeps its own name, heritage and team. Together we share one platform, one set of values and one purpose: closing the gaps between disconnected tools and providers, because those gaps are where risk accumulates. Working at Kenyon means your readiness connects to the systems that help prevent incidents in the first place.

Why people stay

We believe people do their best work when they have the freedom to do their job without too many rules and barriers getting in the way. Our culture is built on empowerment and trust: we hire good people and expect them to make the right calls for the company and the customer. Everyone has an individual training budget and protected development time, because transforming an industry means our people have to keep learning. Our offices in the UK, Canada, the US and Jersey are where teams meet to collaborate and plan, and we flex around each person's circumstances. People who deliver get more scope. Across TrustFlight, interns have become engineers, test engineers have become product managers, and coordinators have become team leads.

Our values guide how we work. Integrity: we are transparent and open, and we offer trust before we ask for it. Responsibility: we own our work and make it the best it can be. Innovation: we build for the industry's future needs, not just what exists today. Excellence: in everything we deliver.

Where and how you will work

• Working hours: No fixed hours apply to this role. Core availability is expected Monday to Friday during business hours across the Americas time zones, but you will work whatever hours the role demands, which may include evenings, weekends, on call coverage and response to operational activations.

• Work pattern: Based at the Kenyon Americas office and warehouse in Spring, Texas, with attendance at the Crisis Management Centre on activation and deployment to disaster field environments as required. Limited hybrid flexibility by agreement with your line manager, noting that warehouse and Crisis Management Centre duties are site based.

• Travel: Willing and able to commit to domestic and international travel based on business activities, including occasional to regular and unrestricted travel and absence from home for several weeks at a time during incident deployments.

• On-call or shift work: Participation in the on call rota and emergency activation lines, with immediate response expected when called.

• Screening or clearance: Pre-employment screening, including background and criminal record checks. A valid passport and driving licence, and the ability to obtain visas at short notice. You must be physically able to lift, move and pack deployment equipment. Kenyon is a 24/7 emergency response organisation and the role involves exposure to distressing incident information.

What we offer

• Competitive salary

• Generous holiday allowance

• Flexible working arranged with your manager

TrustFlight is an equal opportunities employer. We are building a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and skills, and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of race, nationality, gender, age, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Why this role matters

You will hold the practical readiness of Kenyon's Americas response capability: the Crisis Management Centre, the Team Members who deploy to incidents, and the equipment and supply routes that support them. Working across North, Central and South America, and supporting other regions as directed, you will also take a lead role in internal projects that develop how the business operates. Because you are here, Kenyon can put the right people, with the right equipment and the right paperwork, on the ground at very short notice for the organisations that retain us.

What you will do

• Establish, maintain and operate the Americas Crisis Management Centre: systems, communications, activation checklists, call trees, contact data and physical set up, with readiness checks carried out and recorded to schedule.

• Support the Crisis Management Centre during an activation: set up the centre, maintain the incident log, prepare and circulate situation reports, coordinate staffing call out, and keep activation to closure records, including the information needed for billing.

• Develop the Crisis Management Centre capability over time by improving activation procedures, templates, logging tools and information flow, and be prepared to assist and audit other regions.

• Assist the Operations Manager, Americas with the scheduling and record-keeping of Risk Register and Business Continuity Plan reviews.

• Support the Responder Manager on Team Member matters in the Americas: regional availability, call out lists and local requirements, feeding back the information needed to keep the deployable pool current. Recruitment, onboarding and Team Member records remain with the Responder Manager.

• Allocate, brief and supervise Team Members assigned to Americas activations, exercises and readiness tasks, confirming they are equipped and ready before assignment and passing performance feedback to the Responder Manager afterwards.

• Grow and maintain the Americas supplier, agency and venue network, and the local relationships needed to mobilise quickly in region.

• Lead internal projects for the business as directed, for example tool and process development, readiness assessments, documentation reviews and continuous improvement work, seeing each through from scoping to adoption.

• Build and maintain the operational trackers and reporting used by the Americas team in Excel, covering readiness, training currency, stock and activation costs, including the data checks that keep them accurate and usable by others.

• Maintain the Americas warehouse and deployable equipment: inventory accuracy, serviceability, calibration and expiry control, and Go Kit build and reissue against agreed packing lists.

• Manage the supply chain behind deployment: pre-agreed supplier routes, lead times and on demand sourcing, so that equipment can be obtained or replenished at short notice rather than held unnecessarily.

• Arrange mobilisation and deployment support: call out, travel, visas, freight, cargo and customs documentation, accommodation, communications and on site administration.

• Keep the operational documentation set under version control, including standard operating procedures, response plans, forms, templates and Crisis Management Centre records, and run the scheduled review cycle.

• Support the planning and delivery of exercises and training with the Training and Product Development teams, run the administrative side on the day, and capture debrief points.

• Collate records and inputs for post incident and post exercise reviews, draft the review notes, and track the resulting actions to closure.

• Follow and support compliance with relevant legislation and standards in the areas covered by the role, including health and safety, hazardous materials and dangerous goods handling, aviation related requirements such as the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act, and data protection.

• Deploy in supporting functions and roles within the Kenyon response model where operational needs require, including working alongside Kenyon Responders at remote sites, for deployment cycles of up to 21 days

• Take on such other duties as may reasonably be required from time to time, commensurate with the level of the role.

What success looks like

• Crisis Management Centre readiness checks completed and recorded monthly, with no repeat findings carried between checks, and the centre able to be opened and staffed within the agreed notice period.

• Team Members assigned to Americas activations and exercises briefed, equipped and in place within the agreed timescale, with feedback returned to the Responder Manager afterwards.

• Situation reports, logs and activation cost records produced to the required format and timescale during activations and exercises, as assessed at debrief.

• Assigned internal projects delivered to the agreed scope and date, with the output adopted into routine use rather than left as a draft.

• Deployable equipment and supplies available when required: held stock serviceable and checked to schedule, documented sourcing routes and lead times in place for anything not held in region, and no deployment delayed by an equipment or supply shortfall.

What you will bring

• Experience in an operations, coordination, control room, logistics or emergency management role, or equivalent practical experience.

• Emergency management, crisis response or other 24/7 operational experience, gained in an incident, control room or field environment.

• Experience of coordinating people at pace: rostering, call out, briefing or supervising teams of responders, volunteers or contractors.

• Evidence of taking a piece of work from scope through to delivery and adoption, for example a process improvement, a tool, a documentation set or an audit response.

• Strong IT skills: confident across Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Word, Teams and SharePoint, and quick to learn operational systems, databases and inventory platforms.

• Good working knowledge of Excel, including sorting and filtering, lookups, pivot tables and building trackers that other people can rely on.

• Practical inventory and supply chain experience: stock control, asset registers, expiry and calibration tracking, and disciplined goods in and goods out records.

• An excellent eye for detail, keeping records, logs and documents right first time, including when working at pace.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and concise written updates.

• Comfort working anywhere, whether an office, a warehouse or a disaster field environment, and the physical capability to handle equipment and endure extended hours in the field.

• A self-starter and team player, able to take direction and also to work without close supervision when the department is stretched.

• A valid passport, the ability to travel internationally at short notice, a current driving licence, and the right to work in the United States.

Nice to have

• A qualification in, or evidence of continued professional development in, emergency management, disaster management or crisis intervention, for example FEMA ICS 100 to 400 or equivalent.

• Experience of arranging international travel, freight and customs documentation at short notice.

• Experience with inventory or asset management software, and with building reports or dashboards from operational data.

• Dangerous goods awareness, forklift or first aid certification, or willingness to obtain these within the first year.

• Spanish or Portuguese language skills relevant to Central and South America.

How we work with AI

TrustFlight is an AI-first organisation. Every role, from engineering to crisis response, uses AI tools in day-to-day work, and you will complete our AI onboarding in your first 30 days. In this role that means using AI-assisted drafting to produce first versions of situation reports, briefing notes, procedures and project documentation, always reviewed by a person before release. You will apply AI tools to operational data, for example summarising readiness, training currency and stock trackers and identifying gaps or anomalies ahead of a readiness check, and use AI to speed up Excel and reporting work, including formula construction, data cleaning and building the trackers used across the Americas team. You will also use AI-assisted search across standard operating procedures, response plans and past activation records to answer operational questions quickly. Kenyon data protection rules apply at all times: client, casualty and next of kin information is never entered into unapproved tools.