Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Are you a passionate, commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader? Do you possess an entrepreneurial spirit with a forward-thinking and growth orientated vision, keen to deliver quality within all areas of the visitor experience? Come and join our leadership team to help shape the future direction of our Charity and visitor attraction.

Job title: Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Hours: 37.5 per week. Flexibility will be considered working a minimum of 30 hours per week / 0.9 full time equivalent. Salary and pay will be adjusted accordingly.

Work pattern: 5 days per week. The majority of hours will be worked during office hours Monday to Friday, however Winchester Science Centre offers a 7 day a week experience with events on several evenings per week. To best support the team there will be occasional work, meetings and events in evenings, early mornings and at weekends which will be compensated by time off in lieu.

Salary: £60,000-£70,000 per annum depending on experience (pro rata if working fewer than 37.5 hours per week)

Contract: Permanent

Line manager: CEO

Responsible for: Head of Visitor Experiences, Head of Events, Head of Marketing and Head of Curiosity

Holiday: 27 days per annum plus bank holidays based on working 37.5 hours per week. Option to buy/sell some leave and gain additional days for continuous service after four years.

Location: Winchester and Eastleigh. Occasional travel within the UK will be required.

Benefits: Cash health scheme, life assurance, buy/sell annual leave, long service holiday bonus, café and shop discount, free tickets to WSC and partner attractions, family friendly leave, wellbeing policy, mental health first aiders, cycle to work scheme, financial loans, flexible IT, casual dress, staff events, free parking, pension contribution, inflationary pay rise and more.

Application deadline: 6th January 2025 09:00

About us

Wonderseekers (the Charity behind Winchester Science Centre) strives to engage all children with science so they can live happier, healthier and more sustainable lives and contribute to improving life on earth. The Charity runs Winchester Science Centre - a vibrant, hands-on experience for young children. Promising an exciting day out for families, with curriculum-linked trips for schools and an evening events programme, the Science Centre welcomes over 170,000 visitors every year. Through our magnificent planetarium and live science experiences, science is brought to life in imaginative, fun and accessible ways that means everyone is included.

The Role

Are you a passionate, commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader? Do you possess an entrepreneurial spirit with a forward-thinking and growth orientated vision, keen to deliver quality within all areas of the visitor experience? Come and join our leadership team to help shape the future direction of our Charity and visitor attraction.

This is a key period of growth for our Charity, with the delivery of our new strategy and exciting capital and activity Masterplan in the pipeline. This will be the single largest development in our 38 year history, whereby we are investing over £6m in further expanding our base of operations in driving further financial resilience and reducing risks to the charity. The growth will enable our Charity to maximise its social impact: empowering thousands of children to develop the science skills and nature agency to act on the climate and biodiversity crises.

This newly-created role will play a vital part in enabling and shaping the very exciting future of Wonderseekers.

The post-holder will lead all of our of Charity operations at Winchester Science Centre including;

• Visitor experiences (including customer services, exhibition, retail and catering)
• Events (for families and adult audiences)
• Curiosity (education, planetarium, and live science engagement)
• Marketing

Working alongside the Chief Financial Officer, the post-holder will deputise for our CEO from time to time representing the charity to external stakeholders and partners.

The Chief Operations Officer (COO) will be a commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader who possesses an entrepreneurial spirit. Through their inspirational, values-based, and collaborative approach, they will always look for new opportunities to innovate and drive growth.

The post holder will bring their wealth of experience as an operational leader with a proven track record within a large visitor attraction to provide expert knowledge to lead a large and diverse team to success.

The COO will be an integral part of the SLT to support business planning by translating the vision, goals, and strategy for the Charity into operational and business plans. They will demonstrate strong financial leadership helping to provide best value and deliver on agreed targets.

Key accountabilities

• Delivery of Commercial Objectives – Drive the commercial performance of our visitor centre, growing revenue whilst managing costs.
• Strategic development - As a member of the leadership team, the COO will play a key role in supporting the CEO with the strategic development of the Charity, bringing a commercial and operational mindset. The COO will attend Board meetings and other Trustee committees.

Main responsibilities

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives within the commercial operations team to enhance business performance and standards whilst driving efficiency
• Deliver effective, empowering and engaging operational leadership across a large and diverse team of over 80 people
• Lead on the commercial operational strategy and translate strategy into actionable steps for growth and increased impact
• With the CFO manage all aspects of commercial operational risk including reporting and monitoring
• Manage and deliver transformational change through a period of significant growth
• Closely manage income and expenditure targets for a turnover of over £3.5m ensuring best value is delivered for the Charity.
• Represent the Charity at various offsite meetings including public speaking
• Collaborate with the senior leadership team to set and drive organisational vision and support the strategic direction of the Charity
• Ensure that the commercial operations teams activities are aligned to the Charity’s sustainability strategy and plans

Interview process:

Provisional interview dates are 14th or 23rd January (stage one), 27th, 28th or 29th Jan (stage two)

We look forward to getting to know you through our friendly and welcoming two-stage interview process. This will include panel interviews with Ben (CEO), Lizi (CFO) and some Trustees. There will also be a pre-interview task / presentation and the opportunity to informally meet the wider senior leadership team (SLT).

We can’t wait to hear from you! Please contact us if you’d like to arrange an informal chat, or have any questions about the role before applying.

Ready to Apply?

When you are ready to apply, please submit your application through our recruitment portal https://www.wonderseekers.charity/vacancies.

You will be asked to submit your contact details and answer a few questions so we can get to know you.

Please keep your responses concise, this is your opportunity to really stand out. After answering these questions, please upload your cover letter and CV.

If you have any other questions or wish to arrange an informal phone call prior to applying, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Need information in a different format or would like to apply in an alternative way? Just get in touch using the email address above, or call our office and book a call with HR.

No recruitment agencies, thank you.