Venue Director

Role Overview The Venue Director is a key leadership role within Co-op Live’s Executive Committee & Senior Leadership Team, responsible for overseeing all aspects of Venue Management, Ticketing, Fan Experience, Business Development, Special Projects & Experience, and Sustainability. The Venue Director will drive the strategic and operational excellence of the arena, ensuring seamless event delivery, exceptional guest experiences, and innovative commercial initiatives. The Venue Director will deputise for the General Manager when required and play a critical role in shaping the arena’s ongoing development as Europe’s best and most sustainable live entertainment venue. Key Responsibilities Develop and execute a comprehensive long-term venue operations strategy, ensuring alignment with the overall business vision and overall Co-op Live strategic plan. Act as deputy for the General Manager when required, to ensure continuity of service to all external parties. Participate as Duty Gold. Ensure leadership and support as part of the crisis management plan. Oversee and continuously improve the fan experience strategy, ensuring Co-op Live delivers best-in-class experiences for fans, artists, promoters, and partners. Assist the General Manager (GM) in achieving commercial and financial success for the business. This involves emphasising revenue growth across all business areas and creating a framework to optimise returns and profits. Own and manage the venue operations budget, ensuring cost efficiencies and strategic financial planning for both day-to-day operations and large-scale projects. Promote a customer service culture throughout the Venue operational departments ensuring that the reputation of Co-op Live is upheld. Maintain, monitor and improve Fan and Promoter satisfaction levels. Oversee the complaint management and resolution process. Establish and uphold areas of legal compliance and industry-leading best practices by creating and implementing operational manuals, standard operating procedures (SOPs), ISO accreditation and benchmarking frameworks. Own the end-to-end ticketing strategy and operations in collaboration with ticketing partners, ensuring systems and allocations support both commercial and fan-first priorities. Work with the Security & Facilities Director to implement a robust Security Strategy including effective Incident Management, Contingency and Crisis Communication plans, working with all relevant departments . Drive operational transformation by implementing strategic initiatives that enhance venue capabilities, efficiency and sustainability. across ticketing, venue activations, hospitality, and non-event day commercial use of the arena. Champion and manage Special Projects & Experience across the venue from pilot activations to venue innovation, using insights and feedback to shape future improvements. Ensure operational CAPEX requirements are identified, following the Co-op Live CAPEX process with focus on compliance, life cycle, customer experience and EBITDA improvement. Knowledge, Skills and Experience Candidates who are able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and experience are invited to apply . Essential Extensive event operational leadership experience in a similar mid to large-scale venue, in the entertainment or sports venue sector, with a proven track record of delivering operational excellence, in a General Manager, Assistant General Manager or Director capacity. Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, able to build relationships quickly with a proven ability to manage cross-functional stakeholders at all levels internally and externally. Possesses excellent strategic thinking and influencing skills, with the ability to shape direction and drive alignment across stakeholders. Highly results-focused, with a strong drive for success and a commitment to achieving operational and commercial goals. Strong capability of budgetary management, cost control and P&L responsibility. Facility Management experience preferred. Strong relationship builder, adaptable and flexible in responding to change, with the capability to lead confidently in fast-paced, dynamic environments. Holds a thorough understanding of governance, safety, and security requirements associated with large-scale events and venues. Demonstrated expertise in complex project management, stakeholder engagement and risk mitigation. Brings strong commercial awareness of operational delivery, recognising the balance between guest experience, efficiency, safety and security, and profitability. Offers extensive project mobilisation and project management experience, delivering complex initiatives from planning through to execution. Desirable Experience of obtaining and operating under a Premise License . Critical understanding of the Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide) Guidance and Venues . Senior experience in the music, sport or entertainment industry . H&S Qualification such as NEBOSH General Certificate, NVQ Level 5 Occupational H&S, NVQ 4 Spectator Safety . Understanding of the Construction, Design & Management (CDM) Regulations 2015 .