Head of Commercial / Business

Reference Number: XL194

Closing Date: 19th September 2025

Hours: 37 hours

Rate of Pay: £42,000 – £44,000 per annum (potential for commission payment)

Are you highly motivated, with a track record of generating business growth? Want to lead on a new Commercial Strategy at a growing and diverse Leisure and Cultural organisation, that delivers an excellent level of customer service in sport, cultural, and leisure activities within the city of Coventry.

CV Life provides a quality leisure and cultural offer to the diverse communities of Coventry and visitors to the city, offering everything from destination venues, museums, leisure centres, educational programmes and community outreach projects. As the Head of Commercial and Business you will lead, grow and manage all aspects of the CV Life commercial offer. You will be responsible for Hospitality and Events, Food and Beverage, Retail and Paid Admissions. You will grow sales and develop a network of corporate relationships to deliver the commercial strategy.  A combined focus on developing new strands of commercial opportunity and forging new commercial partnerships within the city/region respective sectors, you will drive revenue growth opportunities through the application of a new CV Life commercial strategy. The successful implementation of the commercial strategy and the future growth of CV Life should further grow the post towards a Commercial Director.

This role requires the following key activities:

• Work with the creative teams to develop business modelling with the aim of commercialising the creative programme, market the CV Life portfolio and maximise revenue.
• Create and deliver a new Commercial Strategy to manage and maximise profitability of the CV Life offer.
• Target growth of CV Life business partnerships, establishing new partnerships in emerging sectors.
• Lead all commercial activities and work with internal and external stakeholders to convert enquires into new business closures.
• Manage the Food & Beverage and Retail / Merchandising processes across CV Life facilities and venues.
• Management of staff, ensuring clear objective setting, performance management and development to meet the organisational objectives.
• Management of budgets and cascading sales targets to encourage ownership amongst teams to achieve CV Life commercial objectives.

CV Life is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Job Description

Reporting to: Chief Operating Officer

Responsible for: Retail Manager, F&B Supervisor, Catering Coordinator, Events Coordinator, Events and Booking Coordinator.

Scope

Coventry Sports Foundation and Culture Coventry Trust are operating as CV Life, so that the scope of this Job Description as a CV Life document extends to cover the employment contracts held with either Coventry Sports Foundation or Culture Coventry Trust.

It is envisaged that the successful creation and delivery of a CV Life – Commercial Strategy could lead to this role growing into the formation of a separate Commercial Department, led by a post at the level of Commercial Director.

Overall purpose and objective of the role

The Head of Commercial and Business is responsible for leading the commercial strategy and revenue growth of the organisation. This role drives sales, business development, strategic partnerships, pricing, and customer success to ensure long-term business sustainability and profitability. As a member of the senior management / Leadership team, the Head of Commercial plays a key role in shaping and executing the CV Life’s overall business strategy.

Main duties of the role:

Commercial Strategy and Planning

• Work with the Executive Directors to create and deliver upon a CV Life – Commercial Strategy, which encompasses a strategic approach to the management and profitability of the hospitality and events; food and beverage; retail; and paid admission offers, along with a strategic approach to forging new commercial partnerships;
• The analysis of market trends and competitor activity to identify key areas for commercial growth
• To lead a fees and charges strategy, revenue forecasting, and profit margin optimisation

Customer and Market Insight

• The development of and on-going monitoring of a CV Life sales strategy to achieve annual revenue targets
• To identify new business opportunities and partnerships including representing CV Life on key business forums / boards such as Destination Coventry and chamber of commerce.
• To build and grow a high performing corporate sales and business development team.
• The development of and on-going monitoring of a CV Life sales strategy to achieve annual revenue targets
• The review and development of strategies to improve the growth of the CV Life customer base, customer retention, and overall customer satisfaction.
• To ensure there is a ‘CV Life’ customer-centric approach across all the commercial functions.

Food and Beverage,  Retail, and Events and Bookings

• To manage all aspects of the Food and Beverage, Retail offers and events and bookings across CV Life facilities and venues, either internally or through the management of agreements with external providers and suppliers;

Contracting & Negotiation

• To oversee commercial contract negotiations, mitigate commercial risk and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory standards.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• To Collaborate with all teams including but not limited to Cultural, Marketing, Community  Development Finance, and Operations to align commercial goals.
• To continually contribute to company-wide strategic planning and operational decision-making.
• Report on commercial performance and KPIs to Executive Directors and the various boards.

People Management

• To effectively manage and Lead the Commercial team, including regular 1-1 meetings, professional conversations and team communications.
• To support the Training and Development Manager to implement and embed the CV Life Training and Development policy and strategy. To identify the commercial team’s training needs and develop team training plans to ensure that staff are equipped with the skills required to deliver high quality service. 

This job description is neither exhaustive nor exclusive and may be reviewed and updated depending upon operational requirements and staffing levels.

Responsibilities for all employees

• TTo embrace and lead by example on the Company’s key values of PRIDE, PASSION and PERFORMANCE or those that might at any time be subsequently re-defined.
• To support the Company’s commitment to providing a safe environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults, ensuring awareness of the Company’s Safeguarding Policy, Procedures and Practice Guidance, and to be vigilant, reporting any safeguarding concerns without delay.
• To undertake all duties and fully comply with all of the Company’s general standards and those relating to the specific requirements of the role.
• To take care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their actions at work, and to co-operate with health and safety matters to help everyone meet their legal requirements.
• To co-operate with managers and colleagues to ensure environmental responsibilities are complied with.
• To carry out tasks at a range of sites that are either operated or managed by the Companies / Trusts or where services are delivered by the Companies / Trusts
• To be involved in any aspects or opportunities for sharing of good practice, expertise and responsibilities within the Companies / Trusts. To generally help promote the work and public image of the Companies / Trusts, always maintaining high standards of customer service and personal appearance.
• To attend and fully engage with all internal training and development requirements and opportunities, and maintain such qualifications as required by the demands of the role.
• To interact positively with customers adopting a friendly and professional approach at all times.
• To comply with the General Data Protection Regulations when dealing with, maintaining, sharing and storing information.
• To undertake other duties as specified, which are appropriate to the qualifications, experience and general level of the post.

Person Specification

Essential Personal Attributes

• Excellent communicator to various levels of internal and external representation.
• Approachability to staff.
• Positive assertiveness.
• High levels of self-motivation and organisation.
• Outwardly enthusiastic and confident.
• Show a flexible approach to work.
• Supportive qualities that will encourage staff in their pursuit of personal goals.
• Ability to be positively persuasive and motivate individuals and teams.
• High standards in relation to the presentation of facilities and staff

Essential Knowledge and Experience

• Knowledge of Health and Safety at work regulations
• Experience of dealing with franchise and property agreements
• Knowledge of Food Hygiene regulations
• Experience of managing a budget
• Experience of people management
• Experience of Microsoft including Teams, Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint.
• Experience of developing marketing strategies
• Industry knowledge

Essential Special Skills

• Negotiating skills
• Presentation skills
• Digital/IT skills
• Report writing and analytical skills

Special Circumstances

• Ability to work unsociable hours including evenings, weekends, and Bank Holidays.
• Ability to travel between sites.
• Interest in working with underrepresented and disadvantaged community groups/individuals.

If you have any enquires, please contact our Human Resources Team by emailing recruitment@cvlife.co.uk