Operations Manager

Role Description

York Sport | University of York

Do you want to help more people get active, inspire a high-performing team, and play a leading role in delivering outstanding sporting experiences? If you’re a passionate and experienced operations professional who thrives in a busy and diverse customer-focused environment, we’d love to hear from you.

About York Sport York Sport, part of York Commercial Limited (YCL) — a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of York — manages and operates the University's extensive sports facilities.

Over the past decades, our facilities have grown significantly, and we continue to expand to meet unprecedented demand from both the University and the wider community.

From grassroots community groups and students to elite and international athletes, York Sport supports people of all ages and abilities to get active, stay active and achieve more.

Our mission seeks to inspire everyone to embrace active lifestyles, exercise and take part in sport and to offer the widest range of first-class sport, health and fitness facilities, services and programmes in the city.

We achieve this at York Sport Village and York Sport Centre at the University of York, with facilities that include swimming pools, gyms, sports halls, studios, artificial pitches, sports grounds, athletics stadium, cycle track and nearby boat house.

We are proud to have previously been named UKactive Small Employer of the Year, reflecting our strong people-first culture and our commitment to making a genuine difference.

The Role

We’re looking for an experienced, motivated, professional and standards driven Operations Manager to join our leadership team and help shape the next chapter of York Sport.

As Operations Manager, you’ll be the day-to-day operational lead across York Sport, working closely with the Head of Sport and Assistant Operations Manager to ensure we consistently deliver the highest standards of safety, cleanliness, operational excellence and customer service.

With a particular focus on York Sport Village, you’ll take a lead role in wet-side pool operations and plant management, health and safety compliance, and the leadership and development of our operational teams.

Working 37 hours per week, 5 days out of 7, this is a hands-on leadership role where you’ll have the opportunity to make a visible impact through our operational efficiency and standards that benefit all of our community.

What you’ll be responsible for

You will:

• Lead day-to-day operations across our busy, multi-use sporting facilities.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Emergency Action Plans (EAPs), Risk Assessments and OpsPal checks.
• Oversee swimming pool plant operations and maintain the highest standards of wet-side health and safety.
• Lead, motivate and develop a large operational staff team
• Contribute to a positive, high-performing team culture,providing effective line management, coaching and professional development.
• Work collaboratively with the wider leadership team to deliver positive active wellbeing outcomes for students, commercial clients and the community.
• Champion a customer-first culture, ensuring every visitor receives a safe, welcoming and high-quality experience.
• Support the delivery of commercial objectives while maintaining operational and service excellence.

About You We’re looking for someone who combines strong operational management expertise and proven ability to motivate and lead.

You’ll ideally have experience managing operations within a complex, multi-use sporting, leisure or customer-facing environment, with a strong understanding of health and safety, pool management and operational compliance.

You’ll be confident leading teams, managing competing priorities and making effective decisions in a diverse multi-activity environment.

Most importantly, you’ll share our passion for helping more people become active and for making a difference by delivering the highest of standards.

If you’re an experienced operational leader looking for your next challenge — and want to help more people get active while developing a team that delivers exceptional experiences — we’d love to hear from you.

Take a look at YCL's Career webpages to find out more about YCL, what we do and what we offer.

York Commercial Ltd. (YCL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of York. The Head Office is situated at the University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD and the Directors of YCL are appointed by the Council of the University of York. The successful candidate will be appointed on YCL terms and conditions of employment.

Condition of employment

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Consequently, all applicants will be asked to declare both unspent and spent convictions on their application form.

Appointment of the successful candidate will be conditional on a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University.

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff.

#EqualityatYork