Head of Tour Management

Optimum Recruitment Group are proud to be working with a well established and successful travel business based in central York, who are looking to appoint a Head of Tour Management to the team.

As a Head of remit, this role is responsible for the leadership, development and operational management of the Tour Manager team. This role ensures the community receives the necessary support, engagement and resources to deliver an outstanding customer experience.

Your duties will be to:

• Lead, manage and develop the team that provides direct support, ensuring efficiency and high service standards in line with Service Level Agreements.
• Manage performance in line with SLAs while ensuring the team provides a high-quality service.
• Build effective, professional and supportive relationships, managing their journey from recruitment through to exit.
• Identify opportunities for improvements and take ownership of driving projects that will facilitate enhanced customer experiences.
• Work with key teams to improve quality through attending quality meetings and owning, identifying and driving actions to support quality improvement.
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop the necessary tools, resources and support to upskill colleagues, drive performance improvement and enhance the customer experience.
• Ensure colleagues receive regular feedback to support performance in their role by leveraging AI and technology. Handle difficult feedback conversations and work with colleagues to understand situations and elevate their performance, including handling termination of engagement when necessary.
• Take overall ownership of the day to day management of the relevant IT portal and document library, working in collaboration with teams across the business to ensure content is relevant, accessible and that it supports colleagues in their role and enhances the customer experience.
• Ensure the business retains effective and positive engagement with the manager community through facilitating annual conferences, regular webinars and communication forums to foster collaboration and information sharing.
• Oversee the recruitment of high-quality colleagues through a fair and effective recruitment process, ensuring all applicants receive a consistent and high-quality experience.
• Ensure thorough induction of new colleagues so they are fully onboarded and set up for success from the outset, including co-facilitating new starter introductory workshops.
• Collaborate and facilitate team collaboration with other key teams, such as Operational Delivery, to deliver a great experience for the manager community.
• Ensure all insurance claims are submitted in line with policy and handled effectively and efficiently, with regular communication and support for affected colleagues.

Can you demonstrate the following key skills and experiences:

• Strong leadership, coaching and people management skills.
• A ‘Customer First’ approach and ability to instil this in others.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to quickly build relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to drive operational efficiencies.
• Comfortable delivering feedback and handling challenging conversations.
• Proven experience of driving projects to improve service delivery.
• Desire to be hands-on alongside managing and leading the team.
• Proficiency in using technology and digital tools to enhance operational effectiveness.
• Experience in an administration, HR, tour operations or a related leadership role.
• Experience within the travel industry is desirable but not essential.

Competitive salary and benefits