Head of On Trade Operations - HEINEKEN

Location: Edinburgh (St Andrew Square) a mix of office and home working

Salary: £75k - £85K + performance bonus + (depending on experience) plus 15% of base salary as a benefits allowance plus annual performance bonus, in addition to full benefits listed below.

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: Thursday 4th June 2026

As the UK’s leading pub, cider, and beer business, we’re home to some of the world’s best‑loved ciders and beers, and a leading player in the international drinks industry. This is your opportunity to step into a senior operational leadership role at the heart of our On Trade Customer Experience function, shaping how we deliver service excellence, operational resilience and consistent customer outcomes at scale.

About the role

As Head of On Trade Operations, you’ll lead a large, multi‑layered team and drive performance across Customer Care, Operations, Planning and the service platforms that underpin how we serve customers every day. You’ll lead three direct reports across Customer Care, On Trade Operations and On Trade Planning, with overall accountability for a wider function of c.70 FTE. You’ll set the operational direction for our On Trade Customer Experience function, ensuring we deliver outstanding service, protect revenue, and build a resilient, data‑led operating model. This is a senior leadership role at the heart of Customer Experience. You’ll shape how operational capability evolves across the On Trade, integrating people, process, data and technology to build a high‑performing, scalable and compliant operation. You’ll define and deliver the operational roadmap, driving continuous improvement in productivity, customer outcomes and operational resilience. Working closely with CX leadership, D&T and commercial teams, you’ll ensure operational strategy is fully aligned to business priorities and customer need.

What you’ll be doing

• Own the operational agenda for On Trade Customer Experience, defining how Customer Care, Operations and Planning deliver service, productivity and resilience
• Lead and deliver the end‑to‑end operational roadmap, driving continuous improvement in performance, customer outcomes and colleague experience
• Lead Customer Care as a core service function, building a high‑performance, customer‑first culture focused on resolution, accountability and insight‑led decision making
• Develop and evolve issue resolution capability, embedding automation, technology and external best practice to improve speed, quality and consistency
• Drive productivity across Sales and Customer Care, ensuring effective deployment of resource aligned to business priorities and demand
• Own end‑to‑end On Trade processes within the M2C framework, ensuring governance, control and compliance across operational change
• Ensure business continuity across On Trade operations, managing incidents and protecting service delivery and revenue
• Lead evolution of operating models through experimentation, organisational design and continuous optimisation aligned to customer and market needs
• Oversee operational performance, compliance and reporting, including health and safety, service standards and productivity metrics
• Own and manage key operational platforms including Salesforce Case Management and Genesis, ensuring scalable and efficient service delivery
• Contribute to the CX leadership team, shaping culture, engagement and cross‑functional customer experience outcomes
• Lead, coach and develop your leadership team, building capability, accountability and a consistently high‑performing operational culture

Who we’re looking for

You’re an experienced operational leader who brings structure, clarity and pace to complex, high‑volume environments. You know how to connect customer operations to commercial outcomes and lead large teams through change while maintaining strong performance. In this role, you’ll lead in an inclusive, accountable and inspiring way, building capability through your teams, attracting strong talent, and creating an environment where people perform at their best.

You bring:

• Significant experience (5+ years) in UK On Trade or a similar large‑scale customer operations environment
• Proven leadership of large, multi‑level teams (c.70 FTE or similar scale)
• Strong track record of improving operational performance, service quality and productivity
• Experience leading Customer Care or service‑led operational functions
• Confidence working across data, platforms and operational systems to improve outcomes
• Understanding of agile ways of working and operating model design
• Strong stakeholder management skills in a matrix environment
• Evidence of driving change, improving processes and embedding continuous improvement
• A growth mindset with a focus on capability building and team development

It’s not just what you know – it’s how you work

At HEINEKEN, we value behaviours as much as technical expertise. You’ll:

• Lead with ownership, empathy and accountability.
• Bring strategic thinking and operational discipline.
• Communicate clearly and decisively.
• Collaborate effectively across teams and functions.
• Foster curiosity, adaptability and continuous improvement.

Our Ways of Working

Our office sites operate a hybrid model. You’ll spend Tuesdays, Thursdays and one other day in the office and two days from home, although you’re more than welcome to come and work from the office on those days too.

The Good Stuff!

In addition to your base salary, you’ll also receive:

• Discretionary Annual bonus
• Benefits Allowance (15% of base salary)
• Company funded Private Medical Healthcare
• Double matched pension contributions (up to 10%)
• 35 days holiday (with the opportunity to buy/sell)
• A quarterly allowance towards purchasing our delicious ciders and beers!
• Exciting opportunities to develop your career

You’ll also get the opportunity to join our colleague networks, in which people from across the business connect to help champion diversity, equity and inclusion, ensuring we’re continuing to give people a voice.