Head of Operations

Join our team at Cricket St Thomas, part of the Warner Hotels Group. This 239‑bedroom Grade II listed hotel with a theatre, spa, and restaurant is surrounded by 160 acres of parkland in the West Country.

The Head of Operations leads all front and back‑of‑house functions to deliver seamless guest experiences across Reception, Leisure, Spa, Housekeeping, Entertainment, and Nights teams. With a Guest‑Hearted approach, the role ensures service excellence while driving commercial performance through effective sales execution and collaboration with HUB teams. By applying Limitless Thinking, the Head of Operations identifies efficiencies, pilots new initiatives, and elevates leisure and entertainment propositions to meet brand standards and guest expectations.

The position owns its impact by maintaining compliance, safeguarding reputation through complaint resolution, whilst balancing labour costs with operational quality. Success is achieved by winning as one, recruiting, developing, and inspiring teams, fostering collaboration, and deputising for senior leaders to ensure business continuity. Distinctive in scope, the role combines daily operational delivery with strategic improvement to secure both immediate service excellence and long‑term growth.

• Operational delivery – oversee day‑to‑day operations across reception, leisure club, spa, housekeeping, entertainment, and nights team; ensure seamless guest arrival, check‑in, and service delivery across all touch‑points.
• Sales and commercial execution – drive on‑site sales performance across leisure, spa, and entertainment; implement hotel‑specific propositions and external marketing initiatives in partnership with HUB teams to maximise revenue.
• Entertainment and leisure leadership – provide oversight of entertainment delivery and calendar development; ensure leisure club and spa operations (including memberships and day spa services) are executed to brand standards and guest expectations.
• Housekeeping and nights management – lead and quality‑assure housekeeping operations and nights team delivery; maintain service standards, guest satisfaction, and operational efficiency across both functions.
• Labour and rota management – forecast and produce efficient rotas across reception, leisure, spa, housekeeping, entertainment, and nights; control labour spend while maintaining required cover to deliver service excellence.
• Guest experience and complaint resolution – monitor and enhance arrival, check‑in, and post‑stay guest experiences; lead complaint handling and feedback resolution to protect reputation and drive loyalty.
• Compliance and safety – ensure 100% adherence to health and safety requirements across all operational departments; oversee leisure audits including lifeguard compliance, paperwork, and administration.
• People management and retention – recruit, train, develop, and performance‑manage team members across all operational departments; foster teamwork, morale, and succession planning to maintain engagement and retention.
• Deputising and collaboration – undertake Duty Management shifts, manage rotas, and deputise for senior leaders and the General Manager when required; collaborate closely with HUB teams, Sales, Events, HR, and Marketing to maintain brand standards and business continuity.
• Continuous improvement and strategy – identify operational efficiencies and service improvements across leisure, spa, reception, and housekeeping; pilot commercial and guest experience initiatives to scale successful practices within Head Office parameters.
• Governance – operate within approved financial sign‑off limits and procurement processes; escalates issues outside delegated authority to the General Manager.

• Makes choices that prioritise guest needs and champions a culture of warm, effortless service across all operational teams.
• Anticipates guest pain points, removes friction from the arrival to departure journey, and continuously elevates service standards.
• Identifies opportunities, efficiencies, and innovations across leisure, spa, entertainment, reception operations; confidently tests and pilots new ideas.
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