Location: Ipswich Site
Salary: £27,424 – £29,865 (FTE)
Hours: 30 hours per week | Two-week rota | Alternate weekend working
Contract type: Permanent
Reporting to: Head of Facilities and Operations
Team: Facilities
Closing date: Tuesday 10 November 2026 at 5.00pm
Interviews: Thursday 19 November 2026
Are you a people-focused leader who loves creating great customer experiences and making things happen?
We are looking for an enthusiastic and commercially minded candidate to help us make the most of our venues, support and develop our Facilities team, and grow the income that helps fund Inspire’s work with young people across Suffolk. Our venues host a varied programme of events, from wedding receptions and wakes to conferences, meetings and community events, so you will play a key role in making sure every booking delivers a welcoming, professional experience from initial enquiry through to the event itself.
This is a varied, hands-on role where no two days will be quite the same. You’ll combine people leadership, venue operations, customer service and sales, taking ownership of the day-to-day venue operation during your working periods and making sure our spaces are safe, welcoming and ready for everyone who uses them.
What you will be doing
You'll:
- Lead, motivate and develop our Facilities Assistant team, creating a positive, accountable and customer-focused culture.
- Coordinate rotas, resources and operational cover.
- Oversee the day-to-day running of our venues and events, maintaining excellent standards.
- Build strong relationships with existing and prospective hirers.
- Turn enquiries into bookings and encourage customers to come back.
- Spot opportunities to increase venue use and generate sustainable income.
- Work closely with your fellow Operations, Bookings & Sales Lead, maintaining clear handovers and consistent leadership across the rota.
- Work collaboratively with the Head of Facilities & Operations and colleagues across Inspire.
Who we are looking for
You don’t need to have worked for a charity or managed a venue before.
Your experience could come from hospitality, leisure, retail, events, visitor attractions, community facilities or another busy customer-facing environment.
What matters is that you can bring:
- Experience supervising, coordinating or leading people.
- Strong organisational skills and the confidence to manage competing priorities.
- A genuine commitment to providing a great customer experience.
- A commercial mindset and enthusiasm for growing bookings and income.
- Confidence communicating with customers, colleagues and community partners.
- A practical, solutions-focused approach and the confidence to take ownership when challenges arise.
- Good administrative and digital skills.
- An understanding of the importance of health and safety, safeguarding and compliance.
Above all, we’re looking for someone who enjoys working with people, takes pride in delivering high standards and wants to play a key role in making our venues successful.
The working pattern
This is a 30-hour-per-week role based at our Ipswich site, working a two-week rota.
The rota includes day, evening and alternate weekend working, so you will normally work one weekend and have the following weekend off. Your usual working pattern and expected start and finish times will be set out in advance to meet business need. You will work alongside another Operations, Bookings & Sales Lead on a complementary rota, helping us provide consistent leadership and operational support across our venues.
Why join Inspire?
The success of our venues does much more than create great spaces for customers and the community. The income they generate contributes directly to Inspire’s wider charitable work supporting young people across Suffolk.
Alongside the opportunity to make a genuine difference, we offer:
- Birthday leave
- Christmas gifted leave
- Learning and development opportunities
- Increased annual leave with service
- Free Inspire holiday club places for employees’ children aged 5–11 while they are working
- Free on-site parking
- Professional uniform provided
Ready to join us?
If you’re excited by the opportunity but don’t meet every single criterion, we would still love to hear from you. We value transferable skills and recognise that great candidates can come from many different sectors and backgrounds.
Inspire is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know so we can discuss how best to support you.
Inspire is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS check.
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