Location: St Mary's Stadium | Staplewood Campus

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Criminal Record Check: DBS Enhanced with Childs Barred List

What is the role?

The Estates and Operations Manager will take ownership of the daily operational management of Staplewood Campus, ensuring all facilities, services and stakeholders are effectively coordinated to support the demands of professional football.

Working closely with internal departments, external contractors and senior football leadership, you will help maintain a high-performing environment that reflects the standards expected across Southampton Football Club.

You will lead and develop a small operational team, manage budgets, oversee site readiness and improvement projects, and ensure compliance with all relevant health, safety and operational standards.

What will you be doing?

You will lead the day-to-day running of the Staplewood Campus, ensuring facilities, pitches, rooms and support services are maintained to the highest standards. Acting as a key operational contact for football leadership and site stakeholders, you will resolve issues quickly and ensure effective communication across the campus.

Working closely with external facilities providers, including CBRE and approved suppliers, you will oversee maintenance activity, monitor service levels and ensure work is completed efficiently. Through regular site inspections and operational reviews, you will identify opportunities to improve the environment, enhance service delivery and maintain a safe, clean and professional workplace.

You will support the planning and delivery of operational projects, manage facility booking systems, coordinate site schedules and oversee operational budgets. The role also includes providing support to the catering operation, ensuring exceptional standards of food service, hygiene and compliance are maintained.

As manager of the reception and front-of-house function, you will oversee a small team to deliver an excellent experience for staff, players and visitors. You will also act as a key link between Stadium and Staplewood Operations, ensuring information is shared effectively and services are coordinated across both sites.

A significant part of the role will involve supporting the changing demands of football operations, including training schedules, academy activities, fixtures and visiting teams. You will be expected to respond positively to short-notice operational changes while maintaining discretion and confidentiality at all times.

In addition, you will lead, coach and develop your team, ensuring clear objectives, regular development conversations and a positive, high-performing culture that reflects the Club's values.

Is this you?

You are a highly organised and solution-focused operations professional who excels in fast-paced environments. You enjoy building strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and can balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational delivery.

You are calm under pressure, adaptable to changing priorities and passionate about creating environments where people can perform at their best. With strong leadership skills and a commitment to continuous improvement, you take pride in delivering exceptional standards across every aspect of site operations.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven experience in facilities, site or operational management within a complex and fast-paced environment, ideally within professional football, elite sport or a similar high-performance setting.
• Experience of leading, managing and developing teams to consistently deliver high standards of service.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across operational, football and support departments, as well as with suppliers and contractors.
• Experience managing operational budgets and working closely with finance stakeholders.
• Sound knowledge of health and safety, compliance and operational risk management.
• Excellent planning, organisational and project management skills.
• Strong communication and decision-making abilities, with the confidence to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• A proactive, professional and solutions-focused approach, with the flexibility to respond to changing operational demands.