Head of Village Commercial in Bedford

Woburn Forest | £75,000 - £90,000 Depending on Experience per annum plus 22% bonus scheme | Company Car | PMI

We're a thriving team passionate about working together to deliver excellence, all in a natural forest environment. Set within the beautiful surroundings of Woburn Forest, Center Parcs is the UK’s number one choice for short breaks. Behind every great guest experience is a strong commercial operation — and that’s where you come in.

As Head of Village Commercial, you’ll play a key role in shaping how our Leisure, Food & Beverage, Retail and Spa areas perform day to day. Working as part of the Senior Leadership Team, you’ll bring together people, performance and operational delivery to keep everything running smoothly and delivering the standards our guests expect.

What you'll be doing:

• Operational Leadership: You’ll lead the day-to-day performance of all commercial areas, including Food & Beverage, Retail, Leisure and Spa, ensuring they run safely, efficiently and to a high standard. Through your leadership team, you’ll maintain strong operational oversight, resolve issues quickly and keep plans aligned to demand. You’ll also oversee key projects, ensuring smooth delivery with minimal disruption.
• Colleague Engagement & Culture: You’ll provide clear, visible leadership across large, multi-disciplinary teams, building an environment where people feel engaged and supported. You’ll develop your managers, strengthen capability and support progression, while using colleague feedback to drive improvements and maintain a positive, inclusive culture.
• Guest Experience & Standards: You’ll ensure consistently high standards across all areas, keeping the guest experience at the centre of everything. Using feedback and performance insight, you’ll drive improvements and support effective service recovery, working with village and central teams to deliver a seamless guest journey.
• Financial Accountability: You’ll support strong commercial performance by helping teams manage costs, use resources effectively and deliver results. Working with Forest House, you’ll translate plans into action, using data and insight to track performance and identify opportunities to improve.
• Compliance, Safety & Wider Leadership: You’ll ensure all areas operate safely and in line with standards, acting as a key escalation point when needed. As part of the Senior Leadership Team, you’ll contribute to wider priorities, support communication and step in to lead in the absence of the Village Director, while also supporting sustainability goals.

What We’re Looking For:

• Strong senior leadership experience in a fast-paced, multi-unit environment (hospitality, leisure, retail or similar)
• Confident decision-maker, able to use data and insight to manage performance, budgets and operational priorities
• Proven experience leading, developing and motivating high-performing teams
• Good understanding of standards, service delivery and maintaining consistency across multiple areas
• Strong communicator, able to influence, build relationships and work effectively across teams and stakeholders
• Commercially aware, with a focus on guest experience, performance and continuous improvement

What's in it for you:

• Management Bonus Scheme (up to 22%)
• Company Car
• Private Medical Insurance
• Pension Scheme with Life Assurance
• Discounted Center Parcs breaks
• Free use of our leisure facilities
• 20% discount in our restaurant and retail outlets
• Access to Perks at Work Portal - offering a wide range of retail and leisure discounts
• An Employee Assistance Program - providing support on financial, health and legal matters
• Excellent opportunities for career development and progression with the opportunity to gain externally recognised qualifications
• Colleague Recognition and Reward Scheme – offering a choice of Center Parcs and High Street vouchers

Our values: Each colleague at Center Parcs is involved in building better worlds for our guests, colleagues, communities and our environment. Contributing to our purpose means living out: We care, we're brave, we're determined and we're naturally us.

Sound like your kind of job? Apply online today.

Closing date: 19th July 2026

Please note this vacancy may close at any time once sufficient applications have been received. Early submission of your application is therefore encouraged.

At Center Parcs, everyone's welcome. We recognise that we're all at our best when we're being ourselves. We are committed to building a culture that champions diversity, equity and inclusion, where everyone is treated fairly and with respect. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want them to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our business and share a sense of belonging. We place a lot of value on recruiting based on behaviours rather than prioritising qualifications or experience. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, please let us know if you require any support or reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process.