Strategic Tourism Manager (Economic Growth)

Nottingham City Council, Leicestershire County Council, East Midlands Group; Blaby; Hybrid; GBP 43,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional council in England is seeking a dedicated individual to join the Leicester and Leicestershire Place Marketing Team. This role involves driving initiatives to enhance the tourism sector and coordinating activities with various partners. The ideal candidate should possess experience in project management, stakeholder engagement, and tourism marketing, demonstrating strong communication and interpersonal skills. A degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience is required. This position offers a hybrid working model and a competitive salary.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience in a relevant subject.
• Experience leading projects with multiple partners including budget management.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and collaboration as a central relationship manager.
• Knowledge of tourism marketing and business growth.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a focus on identifying and maximizing opportunities.
• Self-motivated, able to work independently with creative problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead initiatives aimed at driving tourism growth in Leicestershire.
• Coordinate activities and campaigns with partners to deliver growth.
• Convene the Local Visitor Economy Partnership Board to guide activities.

Job description

Organisation

Leicestershire County Council

Work Location

Leicester City Council City Hall 115 Charles Street Leicester LE1 1FZ and Leicestershire County Council Room 200 County Hall Leicester Road Glenfield Leicestershire LE3 8RA

Worker Category

Hybrid Worker

Salary

43860 - 47829 per annum (pro‑rata for part‑time)

Working Hours

Full‑time (37 hours Monday to Friday)

Contract Type

Permanent

Closing Date

18th January 2026

Interview Date(s)

with short notice 2nd February 2026

About the role

An exciting opportunity has opened to join the Leicester and Leicestershire Place Marketing Team. This role operates under a regional remit leading initiatives aimed at driving the Leicestershire tourism offer.

This strategic role is based within a small team where you will be responsible for working with a range of partners to coordinate activities and campaigns that deliver growth in the visitor economy and raise the profile of Leicester and Leicestershire as a first‑class tourism destination.

The primary objective of the role is to bring together partners to coordinate and review the successful delivery of the Tourism Growth Plan – a regional strategy aimed at delivering jobs growth and raising awareness of Leicestershire as an internationally renowned tourism destination. A key element of the role involves regularly convening the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) Board made up of public and private sector partners who help guide and shape activities.

We are looking for someone with a passion for tourism who can lead the Tourism Growth Plan by:

• Enthusing tourism sector businesses and encouraging them to support initiatives both financially and in kind.
• Gaining support from partners and area ambassadors leading a partnership approach to place marketing.
• Acting as the key contact connecting stakeholders – including local communities (People), physical locations (Place) and private companies (Business) – to support the delivery of strategic tourism objectives.

About You

To apply for this post you must have the following qualifications, skills and experience:

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent) or possesses equivalent experience and proved capability in a relevant subject.
• Experience leading projects involving multiple partners including programme and project budget management.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and collaboration, successfully acting as the central relationship manager for key initiatives. Requires the ability to lead or support teams composed of both internal staff, including elected members, and external organisational partners.
• Knowledge of tourism marketing and business growth.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, capable of preparing and delivering information effectively to the Council’s most senior decision‑makers and key external partners.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to identify and maximise new opportunities, including doing things differently, better and more cost‑effectively through negotiation and influencing skills.
• Self‑motivated and able to work with minimum supervision, with a creative problem‑solving and solution‑focused approach. Organised with a demonstrable ability to manage and prioritise workloads, to deal with competing priorities and to make independent well‑informed decisions within your area of responsibility, while appropriately escalating any issues beyond those limits.

You must also demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities and the ability to apply this to all situations.

In addition, we expect you to share our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Contact

Sarah Rudkin – Economic Growth Team Leader, Leicestershire County Council

Mike Denby – Director for Inward and Investment and Place, Leicester City Council

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation that is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from ethnically diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the About You section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job please click on “Apply Now”. You will need to upload a supporting statement and a CV as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the About You section above. For more information see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply, please contact our Employee Service Centre. By applying you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council is a Stonewall Top 100 Disability Confident, Menopause Friendly, Mindful Employer and Forces. In August 2021 we also signed up to the Race at Work Charter. We are strongly committed to promoting equality and opportunity, championing employee wellbeing and investing in staff training and development.

Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

• Our Recruitment Process
• Our Organisational Values
• Our Employee Benefits
• Working for Us