Job Description

About Us

KML is a UK-based integrated marine contractor working worldwide. We have our own vessel fleet, assets, wharves, and labour force. With a heritage and portfolio in specialist and general merchant vessel operations, marine civil engineering contracting (including rock armour and sea defences), salvage and wreck removal, craned heavy lift, subsea cables, and specialist offshore energy installation and decommissioning including offshore wind and Tidal / Wave Energy Converter installations, operations and maintenance, the company continues with rapid growth in all of its sectors.

Role Overview: Yard and Wharves Manager

The Yard and Wharves Manager is a key role responsible for overseeing operations and logistics at our Falmouth and Par Yards. This position requires strong leadership, operational oversight, and the ability to coordinate multiple activities, ensuring efficiency, safety, and readiness.

You will play a vital role in maintaining compliance with statutory regulations and company policies, with particular responsibility for Health & Safety standards across all yard and vessel mobilisation activities. The role has strong functional links with the HSQE (Health, Safety, Quality & Environment) team, ensuring that best practices and safety management systems are embedded throughout operations.

Key Responsibilities

Supervise marine labour to ensure the safe, efficient, and compliant execution of all yard and vessel-related projects, providing clear direction, support, and oversight to teams working in demanding marine environments.

Plan and coordinate with the appropriate Project Managers the mobilisation of various vessels for a wide range of operations including rock armour construction, heavy lift activities, and salvage readiness, ensuring resources are in place and vessels are fully prepared for rapid deployment.

Manage yard inventory and asset control, maintaining accurate stock levels, tracking usage, and ensuring all equipment and materials are available, serviced, and ready for operational needs.

Coordinate the delivery, transport, and export of stock and assets, liaising with internal teams, suppliers, and logistics partners to guarantee timely movement of equipment and materials to project sites across the UK and Europe.

Lead Health & Safety compliance across all yard operations, embedding a strong safety-first culture, carrying out regular safety checks, ensuring correct use of PPE, and enforcing compliance with statutory regulations and company procedures.

Maintain strong functional collaboration with the HSQE team, supporting audits, risk assessments, and safety reviews, and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives in health, safety, quality, and environmental management.

Ensure compliance with LOLER and PUWER regulations, overseeing lifting operations and the use of work equipment to ensure all machinery, lifting gear, and tools are certified, maintained, and operated safely by competent personnel.

Oversee spill response management, implementing response plans, maintaining equipment readiness, and conducting regular drills to ensure the yard team is trained and able to respond effectively to environmental incidents.

Collaborate with project managers and senior leaders to plan and execute yard and vessel mobilisation activities, ensuring alignment of resources, timelines, and project objectives.

Maintain detailed and accurate records of all yard activities, including vessel movements, stock levels, incident reports, equipment usage, and compliance documentation, supporting transparency and traceability in operations.

Implement efficiency measures and best practices to optimise yard operations, streamline workflows, reduce downtime, and improve productivity without compromising safety or quality.

Train, mentor, and develop yard staff, delivering toolbox talks, coaching in best practice, and supporting professional development to enhance technical competence, safety awareness, and overall team performance.

Requirements

Proven experience in operations or yard management, ideally within the marine, offshore, or heavy engineering sectors, with a strong track record of coordinating complex projects and teams.

Hands-on experience overseeing heavy plant andmachinery (e.g. cranes, forklifts, excavators, telehandlers), with proven knowledge of safe operation, certification, and statutory maintenance requirements.

Demonstrated leadership and people management skills, with the ability to supervise, motivate, and mentor diverse yard staff and marine labour while promoting a positive, safety-first culture.

Comprehensive knowledge of marine safety regulations and best practices, with the ability to apply them consistently to yard and vessel mobilisation activities.

Strong commitment to Health & Safety, with experience conducting risk assessments, toolbox talks, and implementing safe systems of work to maintain compliance with statutory and company requirements.

Experience working closely with HSQE teams, supporting audits, safety inspections, and continuous improvement initiatives in health, safety, quality, and environmental management.

In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience of LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) and PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations), ensuring safe lifting operations and correct use of equipment at all times.

Practical experience in spill response management, including preparedness planning, conducting drills, and coordinating environmental protection measures (desirable but not essential).

Strong organisational and multitasking ability, capable of prioritising competing demands and delivering results under pressure in a fast-paced operational environment.

Proficiency in inventory management systems and Microsoft Office Suite, with the ability to maintain accurate digital and paper records of stock, assets, and yard activities.

Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with project managers, suppliers, logistics partners, and operational teams.

Flexibility to work variable hours and travel as required, including responding rapidly to urgent vessel mobilisation and salvage operations.

Valid UK driver's licence, and the ability to obtain and maintain any necessary marine or industry-specific certifications.

The positions will include:

Initial 6 months probationary period

Full time hours nominal 5 days in 7, nominally 12 hours per day - At times flexible to suit tidal working, weekend working. You are expected to be flexible in your attitude towards your working hours, and your hours of work will be determined by the job to be carried out and/or the demands of weather and metocean conditions prevailing at the time.

You may be required to work the hours necessary to perform your duties satisfactorily at the request of a line manager which is highly likely to include evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and Customary holidays.

Annual holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks / 28 days including bank holidays

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: 48,000.00-50,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person