Operations Lead, Hospitality

Job description

The Operations Lead, Hospitality is accountable for the end-to-end hospitality operating model and matchday execution across the Club’s premium experience ecosystem.
 
The role owns the translation of commercial intent into consistent, scalable and exceptional experience delivery, ensuring every premium matchday experience is delivered in-line with the Club’s guest experience standards, brand integrity and long-term commercial growth opportunities.
 
Working closely with multiple internal and external stakeholders – including sales, member services and experience, catering and ticketing - the role sets and enforces our hospitality operating standards, leads matchday readiness and execution, and acts as the senior operational authority for hospitality on and around event days.
 

Job requirements

The Operations Lead, Hospitality must have:

• Proven experience owning and leading hospitality or live-event operations within premium sport, entertainment or other high-expectation service environments.
• Demonstrable accountability for complex, live event delivery, including readiness planning, inventory and manifest control, and real-time issue resolution.
• Strong stakeholder management capability, with the confidence to challenge, influence and hold internal teams and external partners to account.
• A structured, detail-driven approach, able to manage complex delivery environments without losing control, pace or standards.
• Experience working cross-functionally with commercial, customer and operational teams to align expectations with delivery reality.
• Confidence using CRM, ticketing and operational systems (MS Dynamics and Ticketmaster XR, or equivalent) to manage guest data, delivery accuracy and operational insight.
• A proactive, accountable mindset, comfortable owning outcomes and making decisions under pressure.
• Flexibility to work matchdays, evenings and weekends as required by the fixture and event calendar.

 
 
Ideally, the Operations Lead, Hospitality will also have:

• Experience launching, scaling or materially improving premium hospitality or live-event products.
• Strong understanding of best practice across the post-sale to matchday customer journey, including communications, access and on-site experience.
• Exposure to luxury, high-end or membership-based service environments.
• A clear understanding of how operational delivery impacts retention, renewal, margin and long-term customer value.
• Familiarity with high-volume hospitality inventory, manifest and capacity management in live environments.
• A genuine interest in football, live events or elite hospitality environments.

 
 

Job responsibilities

• Lead, develop and continuously improve our hospitality operating model, including the standards, processes and controls that govern consistently exceptional delivery across matchdays and associated events.
• Lead and manage the hospitality operations team, setting clear roles, accountability and performance expectations.
• Be accountable for the end-to-end hospitality delivery lifecycle, including pre-event planning and readiness, hospitality inventory and guest manifests, ticketing accuracy, logistics, live delivery and post-event review.
• Act as the senior operational authority for hospitality on matchdays, owning live decision-making, issue resolution and escalation to protect guest experience, brand standards and delivery credibility.
• Own the post-sale hospitality journey, ensuring guest communications, experience itineraries, access arrangements, wayfinding and on-the-day logistics are accurate, complete and operationally deliverable.
• Ensure commercial commitments are operationally deliverable, working closely with Sales, Account Management and Membership Experience to identify, challenge and escalate delivery risk early.
• Lead cross-functional hospitality delivery, owning operational relationships with Catering, Ticketing, Staffing and event-day suppliers, and holding them accountable to industry-leading service levels.
• Define, implement and maintain hospitality operating standards and procedures, ensuring delivery is repeatable, scalable and not reliant on individual intervention.
• In partnership with the Membership Experience Manager, identify and deliver measured experience improvements across service, food & beverage, activations and entertainment.
• Use operational performance data, guest feedback and delivery insight to drive continuous improvement and inform the evolution of premium hospitality experiences at the Riverside.
• Protect retention, renewal and margin through consistent, credible delivery, reducing reliance on reactive make-goods, refunds or discounting.