Director of Operations | Fast Growth Multi-Site Business | London (Hybrid)

Director of Operations | Fast Growth Multi-Site Business | London (Hybrid)The ClientA fast growing London operator rolling out an estate of premium, purpose built sites. Members buy flexible access to high specification facilities and to the community around them, a model that sits somewhere between a private club, a professional studio and flexible workspace.The business is profitable at site level, privately owned, and backed by institutional investors alongside a group of experienced multi-site operators. Growth is the story here: a further site opens next year, with an ambitious multi-site rollout plan behind it and the funding in place to move quickly.The RoleReporting directly to the CEO and sitting on the Senior Leadership Team, the Director of Operations will own the operational backbone of a business scaling at pace. General Managers, an Area Manager and an Operations Manager report into this role, with the Operations Manager absorbing day to day facilities, admin and emergencies.This is a strategic and commercial appointment rather than a firefighting one. The mandate is to design the organisation, own the standards and build the systems that let the estate grow quickly without diluting the quality members experience at any touchpoint, physical or digital.Six areas will define the first year: people and culture, the end to end digital member journey, the physical standard of every site, site level economics, an AI first approach to data and automation, and safety and compliance.Key ResponsibilitiesLead, develop and inspire the site and operations teams: hire well, manage performance decisively, build clear progression paths and delegate in a way that grows peopleSet the tone of the culture, host the all hands and become the person the whole team leans on when things get hardBuild a best in class onboarding experience and company wiki, structuring knowledge and experience that currently sits informally across the businessOwn the end to end digital member journey: sign up, invoicing, confirmation and onboarding emails, site handbook and member dashboard, stripping out friction and reducing inbound member queriesIntroduce the systems that hold the physical product to standard: mystery shopping, site scoring, checklists, inventory management and digital visibility of every site at any point in timeDrive site economics: review and tender all supplier contracts, redesign the operational org structure from first principles, and build a data backed view on which product lines to invest in and which to deprioritiseSupport the CEO and expansion team on new site decisions, particularly layouts and the opex lines that drive site level returnsMake the business AI first: introduce automation across the organisation in order of leverage, working with the Head of Finance on accurate dashboards and decision ready dataOwn health and safety, fire and compliance obligations across every site, and keep customer and vendor contracts consistent and adhered toEssential ExperienceAt least 5 years of multi-site, bricks and mortar rollout experience in a complex operation, for example members’ clubs, workspace, gyms, nurseries or care homesA proven track record of leading, hiring and developing multi-site teams, with clear evidence of the people who have grown under youStrong commercial and data fluency: confident on the key drivers of a P&L, the KPIs that matter and site level unit economicsExperience designing and rolling out operational processes, standards and systems across multiple locationsExperience selecting and implementing technology and automation in an operational business, and a genuinely AI first way of workingA working knowledge of H&S, fire and compliance obligations in a multi-site environmentUnreasonable attention to detail: the kind of operator who would write the cleaning checklist themselves and notice the one line that has been missedDesirable ExperienceOperational real estate, hospitality or members’ club backgroundExperience through a rollout that materially increased site countA genuine interest in the creative industriesComfort building structure where there is none yet, in an ambiguous and fast growing environmentPackageSalary: £80,000 - £100,000 + equityLocation: London, hybrid, three days in the office plus regular site visitsStart Date: ASAP, notice periods consideredBenefits: 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, one additional day for every year of tenure, and generous monthly member access to the company’s own facilitiesIf you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to scarlett.ward@harmonicoperations.comAt Harmonic, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace. We actively welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and assure you that every candidate will be thoughtfully considered for the roles we represent, without regard to race, religion, gender expression, disability, or sexual orientation.