Commercial Operations Director in London

Our new Commercial Operations Director will be an inspiring leader who will drive commercial growth. You will lead the development and delivery of a strong and successful Commercial Strategy for Wells Cathedral and Vicars' Close, to support the Cathedral's Strategic Plan including the celebration of 850 years since the Cathedral's foundation.

We are seeking a forward‐thinking Commercial Operations Director to lead and oversee commercial innovation and growth to inspire a wider range of people to visit the Cathedral with a creative and engaging approach. You will have a demonstrable successful track record at a senior level and be an experienced operator and a creative problem solver. You will inspire and motivate your teams and set a clear shared vision for your department. You will be passionate about identifying emerging trends, technologies and consumer behaviours and working collaboratively across all teams to maximise income generation opportunities.

You will be entrepreneurial and highly focused with a real enthusiasm for the internationally important heritage and visitor experience of the Cathedral and the exciting new visitor experience being developed with the Vicars' Close project. As a commercial leader, you will bring experience in managing large budgets, along with a commercially skilled approach and a high level of self‐motivation and the ability to meet demanding targets within tight deadlines will be essential.

You will relish this role if you're ambitious, focused, commercially astute and committed to providing outstanding customer experiences. We're looking for someone to support our ambition to be the country's most joyful cathedral!

Purpose of job

Key Responsibilities:

• You will be an inspiring leader promoting a positive and collaborative culture developing, supporting and managing the Cathedral's Commercial Teams.
• You will work closely with the Marketing team to create campaigns to promote the visitor offer and attract new audiences.
• Set and deliver ambitious financial targets, maximising profitability and developing new income streams across ticket sales, group trade and commercial operations, such as Shop, Café, and working closely with the Events team.
• Develop and successfully implement the Commercial Strategy to underpin this work.
• Work closely with COO and Chief Finance Officer to analyse and act on business data and to develop organisational performance measures that monitor progress towards financial targets.
• Working closely with the Vicars' Close project team to develop and implement an exciting Visitor journey with a compelling, integrated and exciting whole site approach across the Cathedral and Vicars' Close.
• Build visitor satisfaction and reputation with excellent customer service across all areas and develop creative programming with the Creative Facilitator to engage and inspire.
• Develop and implement an enticing and appealing retail strategy that offers a bespoke and creative range of merchandise aligned with the Cathedral's heritage and visitor experience.
• Ensure that operations are managed in a cost‐effective way that maximises profit for the benefit of the Cathedral's charitable cause.
• Use visitor insights and sales analytics to identify trends, forecast demand, and adjust and adapt strategies accordingly.
• Successfully lead and develop a high performing visitor facing team (staff & volunteers), setting & monitoring personal objectives that achieve excellent customer service standards.
• Ensure compliance with all statutory and legal requirements.
• To undertake any other duties or projects commensurate with the nature and grade of this post as required by the organisation.

Person Specification

1. Experience:

• Significant experience of senior leadership role.
• Extensive track record of driving profitability across multiple income streams in an audience focused industry.
• Significant and evidenced success in setting and delivering stretching income targets and developing profitable new income streams.
• Experience of working with multifunctional teams to develop high quality product for programming and refreshment of the offer.
• Responsibility for setting and managing complex budgets.
• Ability to analyse business data and draw evidenced conclusions for implementation.
• Experience of strategic planning and translating high level strategic objectives into focused personal objectives.
• Leading and managing a multifunctional team.
• Managing operational risk & compliance.
• Experience of working in a complex stakeholder environment.

2. Skills:

• Strong commercial aptitude, results focused, analytical and highly numerate.
• Strong organisational and leadership skills, with a successful track record of leading and developing diverse teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Skilled in getting the best out of multifunctional teams and able to influence and inspire.
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities calmly & effectively.
• Innovative, creative lateral thinker with a positive approach.
• Strong understanding of issues relating to equality, diversity and inclusion, and UK GDPR requirements.

3. Knowledge:

• Clear understanding of what makes a world class visitor experience.
• Passionate about heritage and the wide range of opportunities and experiences it can offer.
• Legal compliance, health and safety and risk management requirements and systems.
• Visitor Attraction Industry knowledge.

Interview date: Round 1 (online) 19th February 2026, Round 2 (in person) 24th February 2026. Closing date: 12th February 2026.

Main Terms and Conditions

• Employment status: Full‐time, permanent.
• Hours of work: 35 hours per week. We are open to flexible working and hybrid options for this role.
• Remuneration: £60k per annum.
• Discount: A discount of 10% is available from the Cathedral Shop and The Loft Café.
• Pension Defined Contribution Scheme – Contributions as % of salary.
• Holiday: 6.6 weeks per annum inclusive of bank holidays.