Head of Commercial Operations

Job Introduction

Are you passionate about making a real difference to the commercial services BCP Council offers and enhancing the offer for the people of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole?  By delivering a highly commercial, focused approach, driving income and enhanced efficiency you would contribute to a sustainable financial future for the council and support key council services.

What you’ll be doing:

Reporting into the Director of Commercial Operations, this is an exciting, newly created opportunity where you work with a diverse portfolio of established, unique and award-winning business enterprises across our local area.  As a commercially astute, visionary individual, you’ll successfully maximise business development opportunities and income generation, whilst reducing the overall operational cost of commercial services to the council together with ensuring the corporate and community objectives are met.

As a key member of the Commercial Operations leadership team, you’ll be passionate about growing the financial success of our commercial portfolio which includes heritage businesses such as Highcliffe Castle and Upton House and numerous commercial operations across 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline.  Within the service, you’ll be pivotal in enhancing the design and delivery of the commercial operations focus and will act as an advocate for the commercial operations service within Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, succeeding in meeting our corporate objectives and maximising our overall financial position.

As the Head of Service for Commercial Operations, you’ll champion partnership working with a broad range of external organisations to enable the development and delivery of effective outcomes through collaborative, joined-up working.

 What we’re looking for:

• Extensive experience of both strategic delivery and operational management of commercial operations, ideally gained from within a large and complex organisation.
• Proven successful track record of driving commercial change, increasing revenue and delivering operational efficiency.
• Accomplished leader with a proven track record in influencing and motivating teams.
• Demonstrable experience in procuring and managing major contracts.
• A leader who has experience of achieving fast paced results in a complex and multi-site organisation
• Experience of partnership and relationship management at a local and national level.
• Local market knowledge and passion.

 Additionally desirable to have:

• Project Management qualifications and experience including delivering operations in line with the lean six sigma process
• Experience and or knowledge of working in a public sector environment

A bit about the Team:

Our service vision is: 

To be an efficient, forward looking and innovative department with safety and wellbeing at its heart, working closely with council teams and external stakeholders to drive income growth and deliver objectives which support the vision and ambitions of BCP Council. 

The Commercial Operations directorate has 450 + plus staff across four services areas.  

Leisure and Events support communities and event organisers to deliver a range of events across the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole area, ensuring safety and enabling communities to develop and grow the programme for both residents and visitors.   They also deliver arts development and manage the relationships with local National Portfolio Organisations, supporting a vision to create lasting experiences that embrace diverse communities and enable them to enjoy art for the future.  The management and operation of BCP Leisure, Highcliffe Castle, Queens Park Golf Course and a number of other facilities and contractual relationships are also managed in this service.

Car Parking Operations and Enforcement provide a safe, efficient, and customer-focused service that supports the community, promotes sustainable travel, balancing the needs of residents, visitors and businesses while contributing to the vitality and accessibility of our area. 

The directorate also delivers flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) services through a shared service model with neighbouring authorities. This model aims to strengthen resilience while enhancing the environment.

The Seafront Service Operations focus on providing a safe, attractive, and vibrant award-winning seafront that protects the natural environment while maximising commercial potential and attracting investment 

Additional Information

If you have the skills and attributes that we are looking for, we welcome your application.

For further information please contact Amanda Barrie, Director of Commercial Operations, via amanda.barrie@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Interview date: Wednesday 11 June

At BCP, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to continuing building a diverse and inclusive workforce. 

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils. 

We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward.  If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.