Strategic Tourism Manager (Economic Growth)

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

Job summary

A regional council in the United Kingdom is seeking a passionate individual for a strategic role within the Place Marketing Team. The position focuses on promoting Leicestershire as a top tourism destination, bringing together partners to coordinate activities and campaigns. Applicants should have experience in project management, stakeholder engagement, and a strong understanding of tourism and marketing. The role offers a competitive salary and hybrid working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or possess equivalent experience.
• Experience leading projects involving multiple partners.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of the Tourism Growth Plan.
• Coordinate activities to promote Leicestershire as a tourism destination.
• Act as the key contact for stakeholders.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Marketing knowledge

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

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: £43,860 - £47,829 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): w/c 2nd February 2026

Do you have a passion for Tourism? Join Leicester and Leicestershire’s Place Marketing Team to help promote our region.

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, as a minimum you must have the following qualification, skills and experience:

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent level) or possess equivalent experience and proven 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 demands. Must be capable of making independent, well‑informed decisions within your area of responsibility, ensuring that any issues outside those limits are appropriately escalated.

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

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

Contact Information

Sarah Rudkin – Economic Growth Team Leader at Leicestershire County Council – Telephone: [phone] – Email: please click here

Mike Denby – Director for Inward and Investment and Place Leicester City Council – Telephone: [phone] – Email: please click here

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which 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 having 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 Plus 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 for this post, please contact our Employee Service Centre: https://emss.org.uk/support

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

This is a featured job (LCCFJ).

About Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council is a Stonewall Top 100, Disability Confident, Menopause Friendly, Mindful Employer, and Forces Friendly organisation. 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