Labour Manager
Labour Manager
Department: Delivery UK
Band: 2
Location: Milton Keynes
Reports to: Head of Delivery / Operations Support Manager
Foundation Personnel is a specialist recruitment partner operating across Heavy Civils, Piling & Geotechnical, Tunnelling and Lifting sectors globally. Based in Milton Keynes, we deliver high-quality, compliant and reliable resourcing solutions, supported by a team who operate with pace, clarity and commercial awareness.
Our culture is grounded in our TRUE values — Team Aware, Reliable, Up For It, Entrepreneurial — which guide how we work, collaborate and deliver on our commitments.
The Labour Manager plays a key role in managing and developing the labour supply strategy across Foundation Personnel’s UK delivery portfolio. You will be responsible for ensuring a consistent, compliant and scalable workforce pipeline capable of supporting the labour demands of our clients across the Heavy Civils, Piling & Geotechnical, Tunnelling and Lifting sectors.
Working closely with Account Managers, the Operations Support Manager and the wider Delivery team, you will take ownership of workforce planning, candidate engagement and labour mobilisation across active and upcoming projects. The role requires a proactive mindset to build labour pools, maintain strong candidate relationships and ensure Foundation Personnel is always positioned to respond quickly to client requirements.
1. Workforce Planning & Labour Scheduling
- Develop and maintain forward labour plans aligned with the needs of live and upcoming client projects.
- Attend client meetings alongside Account Managers and support discussions around upcoming labour requirements.
- Take accountability for managing labour schedules, ensuring suitable operatives are sourced, vetted and ready for mobilisation ahead of project demand.
- Work closely with internal teams to anticipate labour demand and build scalable workforce pipelines across the UK delivery portfolio.
2. Candidate Workforce Management
- Build and maintain strong relationships with operatives working across client projects.
- Oversee communication with candidates ensuring clear, professional and consistent engagement.
- Maintain high levels of candidate satisfaction and retention through regular communication and support.
- Monitor worker availability, performance and ongoing suitability for project requirements.
3. Candidate Pool Development
- Maintain a proactive approach to building and developing labour pools across targeted trade disciplines and geographic areas ready for new projects commencing.
- Proactively attract and register new candidates suitable for live and upcoming projects to strengthen sector-specific talent pools.
- Ensure the CRM contains accurate, up-to-date records of candidate availability, qualifications and project suitability.
4. Compliance & Onboarding
- Work closely with the operational support team to onboard operatives through the vetting and compliance process.
- Ensure all candidates placed by Foundation Personnel meet our compliance standards and individual client requirements.
- Maintain audit-ready records of Right to Work checks, qualifications, certifications and references.
- Ensure all compliance documentation is accurately stored and updated within the CRM.
5. Labour Coordination & Booking Fulfilment
- Coordinate labour deployment across projects ensuring operatives are matched to roles that align with their skills, qualifications and certifications.
- Work closely with Recruitment, Delivery and Sales teams to understand client requirements and job specifications.
- Proactively identify potential challenges with labour fulfilment and escalate early where required.
- Ensure all bookings are filled with appropriately skilled and compliant candidates.
6. Workforce Continuity & Holiday Planning
- Maintain and regularly update the PAYE holiday schedule for workers across all active client sites.
- Plan ahead to organise appropriate relief cover and ensure workforce continuity.
- Work closely with internal teams to maintain a ready-to-deploy workforce capable of stepping into key roles when required.
7. Problem Solving & Hard-to-Fill Roles
- Take a proactive and solution-focused approach when managing difficult or hard-to-fill roles.
- Identify creative strategies to overcome labour shortages including geographical challenges, specialist skill requirements or project constraints.
- Work closely with the wider recruitment team to identify solutions for challenging labour requirements.
Essential
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
- Excellent organisation, attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks and workforce requirements across concurrent projects.
- Proactive mindset with strong problem-solving ability.
- Ability to work collaboratively with Account Managers, Operations and Delivery teams.
Desirable
- Experience working within recruitment, workforce planning or labour coordination.
- Understanding of compliance requirements within the recruitment industry.
- Knowledge of construction sectors such as Heavy Civils, Piling, Rail, Marine or Energy.
- Experience using CRM systems and candidate databases.
- Competitive salary and performance-related bonuses
- Comprehensive training and development programme
- Clear career pathways aligned to the TRUE framework
- 30 days working from home
- Private healthcare (following successful probation)
- Modern office environment with team-based incentives
Please apply through our careers page: https://foundationpersonnel.co.uk/jobs/
Foundation Personnel is an equal opportunities employer.
