Associate Director of Estates - Commercial

About the role

Job reference: PSX-031636 Salary: Competitive Salary Faculty/Organisational Unit: Professional Services Location: Oxford Road Employment type: Permanent Division/Team: Directorate of Estates Hours Per Week: 35 hours per week/ 1.0 FTE Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 09/07/2026 Contract Duration: NA School/Directorate: Directorate of Estates and Facilities The Role: The Associate Director of Estates Commercial will provide strategic leadership and end to end operational management of the University's commercial services portfolio - catering, retail, bars, hospitality, conference & events, venues and delivered catering. Ensuring safe, compliant, customer centred and financially sustainable services that enhance the experience of students, staff, visitors and external clients. You Will: Lead the strategic direction of all Operations Commercial services lines, setting a clear vision, service standards, SLA's and KPI's that support income growth, customer satisfaction and value for money. Own the commercial strategy and P&L for catering, retail, bars, conferences & events, venues and delivered catering; deliver agreed revenue, contribution and cash targets. Develop brand, menu, merchandising and venue strategies aligned to audience needs and the University's values and reputation; lead demand generation for conferencing and venue hire. Negotiate, procure and manage commercial relationships with our inhouse catering vehicle UMC Ltd., and our partnerships, franchises, supplier frameworks and concession arrangements; ensure robust contract management and performance review. Lead multimillion pound operational budgets and capital programmes for outlets and venues; deliver accurate forecasting, cost control, stock integrity, cash controls and productivity gains. You Will Bring: Extensive senior leadership in complex, multi-site commercial operations (hospitality, catering, retail, events, venues) with accountability for significant revenue and cost budgets. Proven delivery of service transformation, brand/offer development, and measurable improvements in financial and customer outcomes. Advanced financial acumen (forecasting, pricing, margin management, capital appraisal); data driven decision-making; contract negotiation and supplier/partner performance management. Excellent stakeholder engagement, negotiation and presentation skills; ability to influence at senior levels internally and externally, including partners and regulators. Why Join Us: This is an opportunity to shape the future direction of Estates & Facilities. You will play a pivotal role in delivering transformational change across a major estate, helping to build a digitally enabled, sustainable and high performing organisation that supports the University's Manchester 2035 strategy. What will you get in return: Fantastic market leading Pension scheme Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays. Additional paid closure over the Christmas period. Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers. Interviews for this role will take place in July. We reserve the right to close the role early if a high volume of applications are received. For informal enquiries please contact the Talent Attraction Team talent.attraction@manchester.ac.uk . Competitive Salary

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