Head of Village Guest Experience

Center Parcs UK & Ireland; Bedford; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Management Bonus (up to 22%)

Company Car

Private Medical Insurance

Pension & Life Assurance

Discounted Center Parcs breaks

Free use of leisure facilities

20% discount in restaurant & outlets

Perks at Work discounts

Employee Assistance Program

Career development opportunities

Recognition and rewards

Job summary

Center Parcs UK & Ireland seeks a Head of Village Guest Experience at Woburn Forest to lead the end-to-end guest journey for over 5,000 guests per break. You will drive operational excellence, shape strategy with the Village Director, and champion a guest-focused culture across all services and facilities.

The role demands senior leadership, strong commercial sense, and the ability to translate strategy into cross-functional delivery while maintaining high standards and safety across the village.

Qualifications

• Proven senior leadership experience in complex, high-volume, guest-focused environments.
• Strong commercial and operational acumen, with the ability to drive performance through insight and investment.
• Track record of translating strategy into impactful, cross-functional delivery at scale.
• Influential, decisive leader able to drive change, manage complexity and lead through ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership – Own the end-to-end guest experience across the village, setting the standard across all guest-facing areas.
• Guest Experience – Drive guest satisfaction and performance across all service measures, embedding proactive recovery and swift resolution.
• Financial Accountability – Support delivery of operating and payroll budgets, using insight to drive performance, efficiency and guest value.
• Compliance & Safety – Ensure all guest-facing operations meet health, safety and regulatory standards.

Skills

Senior leadership

Commercial acumen

Operational leadership

Cross-functional delivery

Influential leadership

Job description

Head Of Village Guest Experience

Company Car | PMI

Head Of Village Guest Experience Woburn Forest | £ 75,000 - £ 90,000 per annum depending on experience, plus 22% bonus scheme | Company Car | PMI

We're a thriving team passionate about working together to deliver excellence, all in a natural forest environment As Head of Village Experience, you will play a key leadership role within the Village Senior Leadership Team, shaping and delivering an outstanding end-to-end guest journey. Working closely with the Village Director and central Guest Experience Director, you will ensure every aspect of the guest experience consistently exceeds expectations and brings our brand to life. You will take ownership of the experience for over 5,000 guests on every break, leading all guest-facing services and influencing decisions across the whole village to create a truly guest-focused culture. From everyday interactions to major moments, you will champion exceptional service, ensuring guests feel valued, recognised and delighted at every touchpoint. This is a highly visible leadership role, responsible for embedding strategy into day-to-day operations, driving continuous improvement, and enhancing guest satisfaction, loyalty and reputation.

What you’ll be doing:

• Operational Leadership – Own the end-to-end guest experience across the village, setting the standard across all guest-facing areas. Drive seamless delivery by anticipating and resolving issues fast, removing cross-team barriers and supporting leaders to address resource challenges. Act as the voice of the guest, ensuring every decision puts them first. Align local delivery with central strategy, lead seasonal events, and deliver performance against the Annual Operating Plan.
• Guest Experience – Drive guest satisfaction and performance across all service measures, embedding proactive recovery and swift resolution. Influence across the village to deliver against targets, ensuring a consistent, premium experience at every touchpoint. Partner with operational leaders to enhance and modernise the guest journey, minimise disruption, and maintain exceptional standards across facilities and assets. Lead crisis response when needed, drive continuous improvement, innovation, and champion an accessible and inclusive, high-performing culture aligned to company values.
• Financial Accountability – Support delivery of operating and payroll budgets, using insight to drive performance, efficiency and guest value. Contribute to village strategy and lead guest-focused improvements aligned to business priorities. Own and deliver experience-led projects, and support the identification and prioritisation of investment that enhances the guest experience and operational safety.
• Compliance & Safety – Ensure all guest-facing operations meet health, safety and regulatory standards. Act as a key lead in crisis management and escalation, maintaining robust and effective response procedures. Drive audit and compliance standards across the village and champion training compliance to ensure teams operate safely and consistently.

About you:

• Proven senior leadership experience in complex, high-volume, guest-focused environments
• Strong commercial and operational acumen, with the ability to drive performance through insight and investment
• Track record of translating strategy into impactful, cross-functional delivery at scale
• Influential, decisive leader able to drive change, manage complexity and lead through ambiguity

What’s in it for you:

• Management Bonus Scheme (up to 22%)
• Company Car
• Private Medical Insurance
• Pension Scheme with Life Assurance
• Discounted Center Parcs breaks
• Free use of our leisure facilities
• 20% discount in our restaurant and retail outlets
• Access to Perks at Work Portal - offering a wide range of retail and leisure discounts
• An Employee Assistance Program - providing support on financial, health and legal matters
• Excellent opportunities for career development and progression with the opportunity to gain externally recognised qualifications
• Colleague Recognition and Reward Scheme – offering a choice of Center Parcs and High Street vouchers

Our values

Each colleague at Center Parcs is involved in building better worlds for our guests, colleagues, communities and our environment. Contributing to our purpose means living out our values: We care, we're brave, we're determined and we're naturally us.

At Center Parcs, everyone's welcome.

We recognise that we're all at our best when we're being ourselves. We are committed to building a culture that champions diversity, equity and inclusion, where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.We welcome people from all backgrounds and want them to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our business and share a sense of belonging.We place a lot of value on recruiting based on behaviours rather than prioritising qualifications or experience.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, please let us know if you require any support or reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process.