Swim Academy Development Manager in Essex

Are you passionate about swimming and committed to delivering exceptional learn-to-swim programmes? We're looking for an experienced Swim Academy Development Manager to take ownership of a thriving swim school across 2 sites in Essex, leading its continued growth while inspiring a large team of swim teachers to deliver outstanding lessons every day.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives on developing people, growing participation and creating an environment where swimmers of all ages can build confidence, progress and enjoy their journey in the water.

The Role

• You will oversee the day-to-day operation and long-term development of a busy swim programme, ensuring it continues to grow while maintaining the very highest standards of teaching and customer experience.
• You'll lead, coach and support a large team of swimming teachers, creating a culture of continuous improvement through mentoring, quality assurance and ongoing professional development.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the wider business, schools and external partners, you'll ensure the programme runs efficiently while identifying opportunities to increase participation, improve retention and enhance the overall customer journey.

What is my role?

• Lead the operational and strategic development of a successful swim school.
• Manage, motivate and develop a large team of swimming teachers.
• Drive programme growth through excellent planning, scheduling and capacity management.
• Maintain exceptional lesson quality through regular observations, coaching and feedback.
• Build strong relationships with internal departments, local schools and external stakeholders.
• Analyse programme performance and use data to make informed commercial decisions.
• Recruit, onboard and develop new swimming teachers.
• Ensure all qualifications, compliance and safeguarding standards remain up to date.
• Support the delivery of additional aquatic programmes and initiatives that encourage participation across the community.
• Deliver swimming lessons when required to support operational needs.

About You

You'll already have experience managing and developing a successful swim school and understand what it takes to grow participation whilst maintaining exceptional teaching standards. You'll be an engaging leader who enjoys coaching others, building high-performing teams and creating a positive culture where both colleagues and customers thrive.

We're looking for someone who has:

• Proven experience managing a busy swim school.
• A track record of growing swim programmes and increasing participation.
• Experience leading and developing a large team of swim teachers.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to analyse performance data and identify growth opportunities.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills.
• The ability to build effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• A recognised swimming teaching qualification (STA, ASA/Swim England or equivalent).
• A genuine passion for swimming, teaching and developing people.

Why Join?

This is more than a management role. It's an opportunity to shape the future of a well-established swim programme, influence the next generation of swimmers and make a lasting impact on both your team and the local community.

If you're passionate about all things swimming and excited by the challenge of growing a successful swim academy, we'd love to hear from you.