Head of Operational Optimisation & Cost Improvement

Places for People; Worcester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; 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

Discounts via Our Place Rewards

Training & career progression

Recognition programmes

Gym membership

Life Assurance

Job summary

Places Leisure, part of Places for People, seeks a Head of Operational Optimisation to drive smarter, data-led resource management and cost control across sites. You will lead labour planning, scheduling and forecasting to ensure the right colleagues and resources meet operational and commercial goals.

You will travel 2–3 days per week, identify efficiencies, and develop practical cost models to support investment decisions; a DBS check is not required for this role.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in labour planning, workforce management, and cost transformation within a multi-site organisation.
• Proven ability to forecast operational demand and translate it into practical labour plans and costs.
• Expertise in analysing P&L drivers and turning insights into action plans.
• Familiarity with time-and-motion studies (DILO) to assess activity, capacity, and efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of smarter, data-led resource management and cost control.
• Improve labour planning, scheduling, and forecasting to align staffing with goals.
• Identify efficiencies, reduce avoidable spend, and build robust cost models for decisions.
• Support refits, bids and growth by linking investments to payback and resource plans.
• Collaborate with Operations, Finance and central teams to optimise performance.

Skills

Labour planning

Forecasting

Cost transformation

Operational efficiency

Excel

Power BI

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Job description

Places Leisure, part of Places for People, seeks a Head of Operational Optimisation to drive smarter, data-led resource management and cost control across sites. You will lead labour planning, scheduling and forecasting to ensure the right colleagues and resources meet operational and commercial goals.

You will travel 2–3 days per week, identify efficiencies, and develop practical cost models to support investment decisions; a DBS check is not required for this role.