Director of Operational Optimisation & Efficiency

Places for People; Watford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension with matched contributions up

Bonus scheme up to 15%

Car Allowance

Healthcare cashback plan

Wellbeing support & EAP

Our Place Rewards discounts

Training & development programmes

Life Assurance

Job summary

Places Leisure, part of Places for People, seeks a Head of Operational Optimisation to lead smarter, data-led management of resources and costs across sites. You will improve labour planning, scheduling and forecasting to ensure the right colleagues and resources are in the right place at the right time to meet operational and commercial goals.

Working with operational leaders, Finance and central teams, you will identify efficiencies, develop robust cost models and support investment decisions

Qualifications

• Significant experience in labour planning, workforce management, operational performance, commercial finance, cost transformation or operational efficiency within a multi-site organisation.
• 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 action plans.
• Experience using time & motion studies or equivalent methods to assess activity, capacity and efficiency.
• Advanced experience using Excel and Power BI to build models, tools and reporting for decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of smarter, data-led labour planning and forecasting across Places Leisure.
• Identify efficiencies, reduce avoidable spend and develop robust cost models.
• Support refits, bids and growth opportunities with actionable plans and payback assumptions.
• Collaborate with operational leaders, Finance and central teams to protect customer experience.
• Travel to Leisure sites 2–3 days per week to implement plans and gather data.

Skills

Labour planning

Workforce management

Operational performance

Cost transformation

Excel & Power BI

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Power BI

Job description

Places Leisure, part of Places for People, seeks a Head of Operational Optimisation to lead smarter, data-led management of resources and costs across sites. You will improve labour planning, scheduling and forecasting to ensure the right colleagues and resources are in the right place at the right time to meet operational and commercial goals.

Working with operational leaders, Finance and central teams, you will identify efficiencies, develop robust cost models and support investment decisions