Flexible location | Band 1.2

At Serco, we deliver essential public services across defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering services that matter to millions of people every day. Our work is complex, operationally demanding and often high-profile — but at its heart is a simple purpose: to impact a better future for the people and communities we serve.

We are now seeking an outstanding Managing Director to lead Serco Leisure - a £115m revenue business operating across more than 55 leisure and community facilities, with over 90,000 health and fitness members, more than 50,000 children learning to swim, and circa 4,000 colleagues.

This is a significant leadership role within Serco’s UK & Europe division, with full accountability for the continued performance, growth and evolution of one of our most visible and community-facing businesses.

Serco Leisure is a high-performing business with a strong reputation for operational delivery, customer experience, innovation and community impact. Working in close partnership with leisure trusts, local authorities and community stakeholders, the business plays an important role in improving health, wellbeing, participation and access to services across the UK.

The opportunity now is to build on an already strong platform: sustaining excellent operational performance, maintaining the highest standards of safety and compliance, deepening customer and local authority partnerships, and continuing to evolve a commercially successful leisure business with real social purpose.

We are looking for a leader who can combine commercial edge with public service purpose. Someone who understands how to run a large, distributed, customer-facing operation; who can continue to drive growth through stronger propositions, customer insight and operational excellence; and who is excited by the opportunity to remain at the forefront of technology and AI adoption in the sector - improving margin, efficiency and productivity, but most importantly enhancing the experience for members, customers, colleagues and partners.

What you’ll be doing

• • Reporting into the managing director, transport and community services you will have full accountability for strategy, commercial performance, operational delivery, customer experience, safety, compliance and growth.

• Building on an already strong operational platform, ensuring Serco Leisure continues to deliver safe, high-quality, customer-focused and commercially successful services.
• Owning the P&L for a large, multi-site portfolio, driving revenue growth, margin improvement, cost discipline and cash performance.
• Setting the future direction for the business, balancing commercial growth with community impact, health outcomes and social value.
• Sustaining and enhancing operational standards across leisure centres, gyms, pools, studios and community spaces.
• Strengthening performance across key revenue streams including memberships, learn-to-swim, programming, health and wellbeing services, secondary spend and new propositions.
• Continuing to pioneer the use of technology, data and AI to improve customer experience, member engagement, workforce productivity, operational efficiency and commercial performance.
• Building trusted relationships with local authority partners, health bodies, schools, community organisations and other stakeholders.
• Driving growth through strong contract performance, customer propositions, mobilisation of new opportunities and disciplined bid and retention activity.
• Creating a culture of operational grip, commercial accountability, customer focus and community pride across a workforce of circa 4,000 colleagues.
• Building leadership capability across regional, contract and site teams, ensuring the business has the talent, pace and resilience required for future growth.
• Maintaining robust governance, assurance and risk management across a complex operational estate, with safety, safeguarding and compliance at the centre of decision-making.
  
  
  

What you’ll need to do the job

• Significant experience leading a large, complex, multi-site operational business, ideally in a customer-facing, consumer, leisure, hospitality, health, wellbeing, transport, facilities or public services environment.
• Strong full P&L ownership, with a track record of improving revenue, margin, cost control, customer outcomes and operational performance.
• Proven ability to lead through a regional or multi-layered structure, creating clarity, pace and accountability across a large workforce.
• Strong commercial judgement, including the ability to grow participation, optimise pricing and yield, improve customer propositions and identify new sources of value.
• Deep understanding of safety, compliance, governance and risk in an environment where customer and colleague wellbeing are critical.
• A thoughtful, commercially grounded approach to technology, data and AI — focused on improving customer experience, productivity, efficiency, decision-making and margin.
• Credibility with public sector customers, local authorities, partners and senior stakeholders, with the judgement and presence to represent the business externally.
• A leadership style that combines ambition with humility, commercial focus with community purpose, and strategic thinking with hands-on operational grip.
  
  
  

What we offer

• • This is a rare opportunity to lead a major UK leisure business with national scale, strong public service purpose and significant future growth potential.
  • Strong six figure base salary
  • Exceptional bonus potential
  • 40% Long Term Incentive Plan
  • Company car or car allowance (£9000)
  • 10% contributory pension
  • PMI for you and a partner
  • 25 days annual leave
  • A range of corporate benefits
    
    
    

You will be joining a business with strong foundations, an excellent operational reputation and a clear ambition to keep improving. For the right leader, this is an opportunity to build on success, continue driving growth, champion innovation and technology, and lead a business that improves lives in local communities while delivering strong commercial performance and long-term value.

All Serco employees must ensure that their current line manager is aware of their application. For confidential enquiries please contact MyHR. Serco are Disability Confident Leader employers and are committed to employing and retaining people with disabilities. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview. For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000.