Head of Operational Optimisation

This role will be working for Places Leisure part of Places for People. As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we move lives forward every day by building, managing and supporting thriving Communities. From new homes, social housing and student accommodation to leisure, education and Community initiatives, our work makes a positive difference to millions of People across the UK. And that takes People who care about doing the right thing. People who are ambitious, ready to grow and motivated to make a difference through the work they do.

We're looking for Colleagues who bring energy, curiosity and ownership. People who enjoy being challenged, support those around them and want to keep raising the bar. Because when we perform at our best, we create more opportunities to invest in our Customers, our Communities and each other.

Experience matters, but it's only part of the story. If you share our values and want to build a career where your work has real impact, we'd love to hear from you.

More About Your Role

As our newly created Head of Operational Optimisation, you will lead the development of smarter, data-led ways of managing resources and operating costs across Places Leisure. You will improve labour planning, scheduling and forecasting, helping to ensure the right Colleagues and resources are in the right place at the right time to deliver operational and commercial goals.

Working closely with operational leaders, Finance and central teams, you will identify efficiencies, reduce avoidable spend and develop practical plans that protect the Customer experience. You will also support refits, bids and growth opportunities by creating robust cost models and ensuring investment decisions are based on realistic resource and payback assumptions.

Please note that this role involves frequent travel to our Leisure sites, typically 2 to 3 days per week.

Essential Criteria

• Significant experience in labour planning, workforce management, operational performance, commercial finance, cost transformation or operational efficiency within a complex, multi-site organisation.
• Demonstrable experience of forecasting operational demand and translating it into practical labour plans, hours and costs.
• Experience analysing labour and non-labour P&L performance, identifying cost drivers and turning findings into measurable action plans.
• Practical experience using DILO, time and motion studies or equivalent methods to assess operational activity, capacity and efficiency.
• Advanced experience using Microsoft Excel and Power BI to build models, tools and reporting that support commercial and operational decision-making.

Desirable Criteria

• Ideally you will come from a leisure, retail or hospitality background.

More About You

You will combine strong analytical ability with commercial awareness and an understanding of budgets, forecasts, payback and cost-to-serve measures. You can build practical models and reporting, explain complex information clearly and influence senior stakeholders, including at Director level. Comfortable working across Operations, Finance, Technology, Product, Customer Service and Business Development, you will be confident challenging assumptions and helping leaders take action. You will also be curious about new technology, external insight and simpler ways of working that can improve productivity and support growth. A DBS check is not required for this role.

What You'll Get

We know rewarding work deserves rewarding benefits. That's why, alongside a competitive salary, you'll have access to a package designed to support you at work and beyond.

You'll receive:

• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Bonus scheme up to 15%
• Option to buy or sell days
• Car Allowance
• Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
• Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
• Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
• Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
• Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
• Free membership to Places Gyms
• Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided you meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect.

We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment.

By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities.

Armed Forces

We are proud to support the Armed Forces Covenant. Places for People will guarantee an interview for any candidate who is serving or has formerly served in the Armed Forces, as a reservist, armed forces veteran (including the wounded, injured and sick), cadet instructor and military spouse/partner and who meets the essential criteria for the vacancy.

Disability Confident

We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme certified as Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. This helps us to successfully employ and retain people with disabilities and health conditions. Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview. The Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for NI) defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has sa substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to do daily activities.

Neurodivergent

Neurodiverse individuals have highly valuable skills, and we recognise that a traditional interview process sometimes works against them and doesn’t allow them to self-advocate. Neurodiverse applicants who meet the criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview.

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