Senior Operations Manager

Senior Operations Manager

Rotorua Canopy Tours | Rotorua | Full-time, permanent

Lead one of New Zealand's great visitor experiences.

Rotorua Canopy Tours delivers guided, small-group experiences through an ancient native forest just outside Rotorua.

Yes, we have ziplines, swing bridges and some incredible ways to explore the forest, but the experience is about much more than that. Our guides bring the forest to life, creating a genuine connection with the place, its stories and the conservation work happening within it.

For more than 12 years, we've been restoring this forest through predator control and conservation, helping native wildlife return and the ecosystem recover.

We operate in small groups and at the premium end of the visitor experience market. Everything we do is personal, guided and built around a simple ambition: to deliver one of the best visitor experiences in the world.

We're looking for a Senior Operations Manager to lead the people who make that happen.

This is the most senior operational role at Rotorua Canopy Tours. You'll lead our people, culture, visitor experience, safety, conservation and operational performance. You'll have real authority to make things better, develop the next generation of leaders and help shape where RCT goes next.

It's a big role. But we also spend our days taking people ziplining through an ancient forest, so having some fun along the way is pretty important too.

What you'll lead

An extraordinary visitor experience

We've built our reputation one guest at a time. You'll own the visitor experience from arrival to goodbye, continually asking how we can make it safer, more personal, more memorable and more fun.

Good enough isn't our thing. Better never stops.

Our people and culture

Our team is the heart of Rotorua Canopy Tours.

You'll lead and develop the people responsible for delivering our experience every day, from operational leaders through to the guides standing on platforms in the forest.

You'll set high standards, grow great leaders and build a workplace where people feel proud, connected, energised and supported.

Culture matters here. A lot.

Safety

Safety is our number one value. It underpins every decision we make and everything we do.

You'll lead both the systems and the practice behind an industry-leading safety culture. You'll own our Safety Management System, ensure our systems and procedures are robust, and spend enough time in the operation to know those systems are genuinely understood and lived by our people.

You'll build capability, encourage good judgement and keep looking for ways we can be better tomorrow than we are today. When the decisions are difficult or the pressure comes on, people will look to you.

Conservation and te taiao

The forest isn't the backdrop to our business. It is part of our purpose.

You'll help lead our conservation mahi at Ōkoheriki on behalf of the Canopy Conservation Trust, supporting the ongoing restoration of this ancient ngahere.

That means working alongside our team, researchers, conservation partners, mana whenua and others as we continue protecting the forest and helping its biodiversity recover.

We want tourism to leave this place better than we found it. You'll play an important part in making sure it does.

A high-performing operation

You'll be accountable for the operational performance of Rotorua Canopy Tours, including the P&L, budgets, yield, productivity, staffing and resourcing.

You'll need to be commercially sharp without ever losing sight of the things that make RCT special: our guests, our people, our safety and our forest.

What comes next

Rotorua Canopy Tours has never been a business that stands still.

You'll be part of the senior leadership team and have a genuine voice in the future of the business: improving what we already do brilliantly, developing our people and helping turn the next good idea into reality.

Who you are

First and foremost, you're a great leader of people.

You'll bring at least five years' experience leading teams and significant operations, ideally in adventure tourism, tourism, hospitality, the outdoors or another experience-led business.

You know how to build culture rather than simply talk about it. You set high standards, develop people, have difficult conversations when they're needed and genuinely enjoy seeing others succeed.

You care deeply about the guest experience and notice the little things. You understand operational risk and safety management, and you make calm, sound decisions when things don't go according to plan.

You're commercially capable. Budgets, productivity, yield and P&Ls don't scare you, but neither do muddy boots, helping a guide out, talking to a guest or jumping into the operation when the team needs you.

And you should probably enjoy having a laugh.

Most importantly, your values show up in the way you lead, particularly when things get hard.

You'll hold, or be able to obtain, a full New Zealand driver licence with passenger endorsement. A current PHEC or equivalent outdoor first-aid qualification would be an advantage.

Why Rotorua Canopy Tours?

You'll be taking a leadership role in one of New Zealand's most recognised visitor experiences.

We've been recognised among the best tourism experiences in New Zealand, the South Pacific and the world. More than 10,000 guests have left us five-star reviews. We're a certified B Corporation. And every person who comes ziplining with us helps fund the restoration of the ancient forest they have just experienced.

But we're probably proudest of the team behind all of that.

We're a bunch of people who care deeply about giving guests an unforgettable day, looking after each other, protecting a special forest and having plenty of fun along the way.

You'll have genuine autonomy, a workplace that includes a 1,000-year-old rimu tree, and the opportunity to lead a team doing something pretty special.

Keen?

Send us your CV and a short letter.

We'd particularly like to hear about the values that guide the way you lead, a team or culture you're proud to have built, and an experience you've helped make exceptional.

Apply via Seek or email [email protected]

Applicants must have the right to work in New Zealand.

Ngā mihi, and we look forward to hearing from you.