Senior Leisure Operations Manager in Stafford - Ford & Stanley Select

Senior Leisure Operations Manager | Staffordshire | £37,000-£43,000 | Permanent

The Opportunity

If you're looking for a high-impact operational leadership role where you can genuinely shape team performance, culture, and guest experience, this is a standout opportunity within a large-scale leisure environment.

This is a newly created role following a recent restructure, designed to bring stronger leadership, accountability, and performance management into a busy, guest-facing operation. You'll step into a business with strong foundations but clear opportunity to elevate standards, improve behaviours, and drive consistency across a diverse team.

You will take ownership of a high-volume leisure function operating at significant scale, leading large teams, influencing senior stakeholders, and embedding a culture of safety, engagement, and continuous improvement. It's a role where you won't just maintain performance; you'll be expected to raise it.

This position also offers strong long-term career value, with exposure to senior leadership and progression opportunities within a wider group.

Senior Leisure Operations Manager Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: Driving high service standards across all leisure facilities, ensuring operational excellence, uptime, cleanliness, and commercial performance.
• KPI & Performance Management: Monitoring, analysing and improving departmental KPIs, embedding accountability and consistent performance frameworks.
• Team Leadership & Development: Leading, coaching, and developing a large team including zonal managers, team leaders, and lifeguards, fostering a high-performance and engaged culture.
• Health & Safety Ownership: Ensuring full compliance with all H&S standards, risk assessments, audits, and legislative requirements, maintaining a strong safety-first culture.
• Guest Experience Delivery: Continuously improving the guest journey through strong operational planning, feedback utilisation, and service excellence.
• Financial & Commercial Responsibility: Managing departmental budgets and identifying opportunities to maximise revenue across the operation.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working closely with wider teams to ensure seamless operations and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Duty Management & Incident Response: Stepping into Duty Manager responsibilities when required, leading on incident management and operational decision-making.

Ideal Senior Leisure Operations Manager

• Leadership Experience: Proven experience leading large, diverse teams within a leisure, hospitality, or high-volume operational environment.
• People & Performance Focus: Strong track record of driving behavioural change, improving team dynamics, and managing performance effectively.
• Operational Expertise: Solid understanding of operations management including safety, compliance, and service delivery in a fast-paced setting.
• Guest-Centric Mindset: Passionate about delivering exceptional guest experiences and continuously improving standards.
• Resilience & Presence: Confident, adaptable, and able to manage pressure, strong personalities, and operational challenges.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Strong communicator with the ability to influence across teams and senior stakeholders.
• Hands-On Approach: A visible and proactive leader who leads from the front and drives standards on the ground.
• Qualifications: Candidates must hold (or be able to evidence recent validity of) the following:
  
  
  • National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ)
  • NPLQ Trainer Assessor Qualification (TA)
  • Pool Plant Operator Qualification (PPO)
  • Swimming Pool Technical Operator Qualification (SPTO)
  • National Pool Manager Qualification (NPMQ
    
    
    • Candidates who hold the majority of these certifications and can obtain any gaps within a reasonable timeframe may also be considered.

Location & Working Arrangements

• Fully site-based role in Staffordshire.
• 5 days out of 7, including weekends and bank holidays.
• Flexible working hours aligned to operational requirements.

Salary

£37,000-£43,000 depending on experience.

Benefits

• Performance-related bonus up to 12.5%.
• Attractive leisure-related perks and access benefits.
• Additional company benefits available.

Ford & Stanley Talent Services Group are in the business of people and performance. Our mission is to create one million better workdays through facilitating great recruitment, leadership and occupational mental fitness. We support our clients in their most challenging business areas - recruiting, developing and retaining the best talent from shop floor to boardroom.

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