Regional Director of Operations, UK, Europe and Africa

Regional Director of Operations, UK, Europe and Africa

Kenyon International Emergency Services, part of the TrustFlight Group

Bracknell, United Kingdom | Full time, permanent | Competitive salary and benefits package

When the worst happens, families need someone they can trust. Lead that response.

When an aircraft is lost, a ship is in distress or a community is struck by disaster, families are suddenly facing the hardest days of their lives. They need answers, they need to be treated with dignity, and they need to know that the people they have lost are being cared for. For more than a century, Kenyon International Emergency Services has been the organisation that airlines, governments and major companies call on to make sure that happens.

We are looking for a senior crisis leader to direct that response across the UK, Europe and Africa. This is a role for someone who has stood in the room when it mattered, who leads with calm authority, and who believes that how an organisation treats the bereaved and the injured says everything about its character.

About Kenyon

Kenyon provides emergency planning, family assistance, humanitarian support and recovery services to clients around the world, drawing on a network of more than 2,500 trained responders who can be mobilised at short notice into any jurisdiction. Our clients rely on us to keep their promises to the people affected by an incident, and we hold ourselves to that standard every day, not only on the day of an activation.

Kenyon is part of the TrustFlight Group, an aviation safety and compliance technology business. That gives Kenyon something unusual in this sector: a world class technology team working alongside it, and a genuine commitment to using AI to make crisis response faster, better informed and more humane. Our values are simple and we mean them: integrity, and a customer first attitude in everything we do.

The role

Kenyon operates a two hub leadership model. You will lead the Bracknell hub, with regional accountability for operational delivery, readiness, contracted offices and relationships across the UK, Europe and Africa. Your peer, the Regional Director of Operations in Vancouver, leads the Americas and Asia Pacific. Together you share accountability for the readiness and quality of Kenyon’s response worldwide.

Senior Incident Director for activations

Senior on call duty is shared between the two Directors on a fixed twelve hour rota, with a structured handover at each change of duty, so that cover is continuous around the clock and neither Director works through their own night. Your window runs from approximately 06:00 to 18:00 UK time.

When an incident arises during your window, wherever in the world it occurs, you take up the role of Senior Incident Director. You will have the authority to set the deployment posture, commit responders and stand the organisation up or down without further approval. Where a client requires it, you will deploy as their strategic point of contact, leading the response on their behalf at the most demanding moments an organisation can face, including mass casualty, government led and politically sensitive events.

Major activations are infrequent, and Kenyon holds its capability through a surge based model rather than a large permanent workforce. Your judgement of regional readiness, kept current every week of the year, is what makes that model work.

What you will lead

·       Regional readiness and response. Maintain and continuously measure activation readiness across the UK, Europe and Africa, and develop the procedures, protocols and contingency plans that underpin it.

·       Your team and offices. Line manage the Regional Operations Manager in Bracknell, run the Bracknell hub and its regional operations as one regional function, and hold contracted offices to defined standards through quarterly reviews and an annual assessment.

·       Protecting those we serve. Make sure the information of casualties, families and clients is protected with the same care during and after an activation as on any other day.

·       The responder network. Work with the Responder Manager to keep the network vetted, trained and available across the region, including building language capable responders across Europe and Africa. Own the global standards for responder vetting, training currency, deployment conduct and post incident review, ensuring they are consistently applied across both hubs.

·       AI and digital quality assurance. Work with the Vancouver Director and TrustFlight Group technology team to define and evaluate AI enabled quality and operational reporting tools, including an AI internal auditor supporting ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and ISO 22300 evidence gathering, gap identification and audit trail maintenance. Ensure these tools meet group information security, data governance and ethical standards.

·       Global operational standards. Work with the Vancouver Director to compare regional procedures, share lessons learned and adopt improvements across both hubs, ensuring consistent service quality while recognising regional operational requirements.

·       Relationships that matter. Build trusted working relationships with government agencies, emergency services, aviation authorities and clients across the region, and provide the operational insight that informs board level reporting.

Why join us

·       Work that matters. Few roles offer the chance to lead a service whose sole purpose is to bring order, care and dignity to people at the worst moment of their lives.

·       Real authority. A senior seat on the Kenyon leadership team, reporting to the Managing Director, with decision making authority during activations.

·       A sustainable model. A shared rota designed so that no Director carries standing 24/7 availability, because sound judgement depends on rest.

·       Room to build. The opportunity to shape Kenyon’s growth across the UK, Europe and Africa, while leading the development of global quality, certification and responder standards and helping shape how AI strengthens operational assurance across Kenyon.

In your cover letter, tell us about an incident you have led and what it taught you about caring for the people affected. Applications will be treated in strict confidence.

Kenyon International Emergency Services and TrustFlight are equal opportunity employers. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and will make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process for anyone who needs them. This position is employed by Kenyon International Emergency Services Limited.

What you will bring

·       At least ten years in operational crisis management or emergency response, including five or more in a leadership role.

·       Experience leading large scale or complex incident responses in international environments, ideally including direct responsibility for strategic command.

·       A track record of managing contracted service providers against defined performance standards.

·       Experience working within a quality management framework in a regulated or standards led environment, and alongside board level governance.

·       The composure, judgement and compassion to lead when the stakes are highest, and the humility to put the needs of affected families first.

·       Willingness to travel internationally at short notice, including to the United States and across Asia Pacific.

·       Eligibility to live and work in the UK.

It would be a real advantage if you also have

·       Professional fluency in Spanish, or another principal European and African language.

·       Familiarity with the ISO 22300 series, including ISO 22320, or equivalent certification experience.

·       Experience overseeing a 24/7 contact centre operation.

·       Practical experience commissioning AI or automation tools in an operational setting.

·       Knowledge of the aviation, maritime, energy or government crisis response markets in the Europe and Africa.