Head of Business Change and Transformation

This role will be working for Places Leisure part of Places for People. As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we move lives forward every day by building, managing and supporting thriving Communities. From new homes, social housing and student accommodation to leisure, education and Community initiatives, our work makes a positive difference to millions of People across the UK. And that takes People who care about doing the right thing. People who are ambitious, ready to grow and motivated to make a difference through the work they do.

We're looking for Colleagues who bring energy, curiosity and ownership. People who enjoy being challenged, support those around them and want to keep raising the bar. Because when we perform at our best, we create more opportunities to invest in our Customers, our Communities and each other.

Experience matters, but it's only part of the story. If you share our values and want to build a career where your work has real impact, we'd love to hear from you.

More about your role

As our newly created Head of Business Change & Transformation, you'll lead the long-term transformation agenda across Commercial Operations, creating a clear strategy for process improvement, data, reporting, digital tools and future ways of working.

Working closely with technology teams, central support functions, Regional Directors and leisure centre operations, you'll review end-to-end processes, simplify ways of working and identify opportunities to reduce duplication and manual activity. You'll set standards and governance for operating procedures and ensure new systems, tools and dashboards are designed around operational needs.

You'll own the transformation roadmap and help shape our future operating model, connecting people, processes, data and technology. You'll ensure programmes are prioritised around measurable business outcomes, with the right plans in place for operational readiness, communication, training and adoption.

Please note that this role involves frequent travel to our Leisure sites, typically 2 to 3 days per week.

Essential criteria

To be considered for this role, your CV will need to demonstrate:

• Experience of leading business change, transformation, continuous improvement or operating model development within a complex, multi-site or operational organisation.
• Evidence of using recognised process improvement tools or methodologies, such as Lean or Six Sigma, to improve efficiency and reduce waste.
• Experience of owning or developing data, reporting or business intelligence roadmaps, including data definitions, reporting governance and source-of-truth design.
• Experience of partnering with technology teams to define business requirements, shape system roadmaps and manage the sequencing and adoption of change.
• Evidence of developing transformation roadmaps that connect processes, systems, data and colleague or customer experience to measurable business outcomes.

Desirable Criteria

• Ideally you will come from a leisure, retail or hospitality background.

More about you

You'll be an experienced transformation leader who can turn complex operational challenges into clear, practical plans. You'll understand how process, data, technology and colleague experience fit together, and you'll be confident challenging existing ways of working to achieve better outcomes.

You'll bring strong commercial and operational awareness, with the ability to balance different priorities and provide credible recommendations to senior leaders. You'll be comfortable working across central functions, field leadership, operational teams and technology partners, building support for change while keeping business readiness and adoption at the heart of your approach.

You'll understand the communication, training and transition planning needed to embed new ways of working safely and consistently. Curious about emerging technology and AI, you'll use external insight to identify opportunities while ensuring transformation remains practical, well governed and focused on measurable benefits for our Colleagues, Customers and Communities.

What you'll get

We know rewarding work deserves rewarding benefits. That's why, alongside a competitive salary, you'll have access to a package designed to support you at work and beyond.
You'll receive:

• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Bonus scheme up to 15%
• Option to buy or sell days
• Car Allowance
• Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
• Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
• Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
• Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
• Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
• Free membership to Places Gyms
• Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence

What's next?

If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then click apply. You will be redirected to our careers site where you can discover more about the role, read a full job description and apply directly to us.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. We are dedicated to creating a supportive and accessible recruitment process for all.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.

If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on skillsemployment@placesforpeople.co.uk.

We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours.

If you are a recruitment agency please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect.

We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment.

By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities