Operational Leadership

• Lead the successful day-to-day operation of Stadium Tours, ensuring a safe, efficient and consistently high-quality experience.
• Plan schedules, capacity and staffing levels to maximise customer experience and commercial performance.
• Work with the two Team Leaders to ensure effective daily management of the Tour Guide team.
• Develop and maintain clear operating procedures and service standards.
• Manage the impact of matchdays, events, stadium activity and other operational requirements on the tour.
• Work closely with Venue Operations and other Club departments to manage changes to the stadium environment.
• Manage the Stadium Tours budget and ensure resources are used effectively.

People Leadership & Development

• Lead, motivate and develop approximately 30 Tour Guides and 2 Team Leaders, creating a positive, inclusive and high-performing culture.
• Establish clear expectations and performance standards for customer-facing colleagues.
• Recruit, onboard and develop high-quality Tour Guides with a focus on customer service, storytelling and commercial awareness.
• Create and deliver structured training covering product knowledge, storytelling, customer experience, sales and operational standards.
• Coach and assess colleagues to ensure consistent delivery across all tours.
• Develop talent and succession within the team.

Heritage, Content & Archive

• Help ensure Stadium Tours tells the story of Newcastle United in an engaging, accurate and contemporary way.
• Develop and maintain compelling memorabilia displays that enhance the visitor experience.
• Support the growth, organisation and accessibility of the Club's archive.
• Build relationships with stakeholders who can contribute knowledge, stories, artefacts and content.
• Identify opportunities to use the Club's heritage and archive to create new visitor experiences, exhibitions, events and commercial products.

MEASURING SUCCESS

Success will be measured through:

• Growth in annual Stadium Tour visitor numbers.
• Growth in revenue, profitability and average revenue per visitor.
• Successful development and launch of new products and experiences.
• Improved capacity utilisation, conversion and customer satisfaction.
• Quality and consistency of the visitor experience.
• Team engagement, capability, retention and performance.
• Successful development of the memorabilia displays and archive.
• Effective operational performance and cost management.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Proven management experience within a high-volume visitor attraction, tourism, hospitality, entertainment, leisure, cultural, heritage, sporting or customer experience environment.
• Demonstrable experience of improving customer experiences and delivering measurable commercial results.
• Strong commercial awareness, with experience of growing revenue, visitor numbers, customer spend or profitability.
• Proven experience leading and developing a sizeable customer-facing team.
• Strong understanding of customer journey design and service excellence.
• Experience using customer, sales and operational data to inform decisions.
• Experience managing budgets and resources.
• Excellent communication, organisation and stakeholder-management skills.
• A proactive and entrepreneurial approach, with the ability to turn ideas into commercial initiatives.
• Strong digital and IT literacy, including experience with ticketing, booking, CRM or customer data systems.

Desirable

• Experience within a major visitor attraction or destination.
• Experience developing visitor products, tours, exhibitions or experiences.
• Experience of pricing, yield management or capacity optimisation.
• Experience developing commercial partnerships and distribution channels.
• Experience working with heritage, archives, collections or cultural assets.
• Knowledge of the tourism and visitor attraction market in the North East.
• Knowledge and understanding of football and/or Newcastle United.
• Relevant qualification in tourism, hospitality, business, visitor attraction management or customer experience.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

We are looking for an ambitious and commercially minded leader who:

• Puts the customer at the heart of decision-making.
• Is passionate about creating memorable experiences.
• Is commercially curious and constantly looks for opportunities to grow.
• Uses data to make decisions and challenge existing thinking.
• Has energy, creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Can inspire and develop a large customer-facing team.
• Works collaboratively across a complex organisation.
• Has excellent attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture.
• Is authentic, engaging and able to represent Newcastle United positively.

THE OPPORTUNITY

This is an opportunity to shape the next stage of Newcastle United's Stadium Tours operation.

The successful candidate will not simply manage the tours that exist today. They will be expected to grow the audience, grow the revenue, improve the experience and develop new ways for supporters and visitors to connect with Newcastle United and St James' Park.

We are therefore looking for an experienced visitor attraction or customer experience professional with the commercial ambition, leadership capability and creativity to turn Stadium Tours into a growing and increasingly significant visitor experience for the Club.