Commercial Director

Overview

A bit about us

The Sawday's group is a collection of exciting travel brands all centred on a passion for special places to stay (Sawday's, Canopy & Stars, Paws & Stay and Crown & Canopy). Since 2017, the company has been 52% employee-owned, with the rest made up of a Charitable Trust and the founding family. We're proud to be B Corp certified and recognised by them as one of the top 5% places in the world for employees.

We are leaders in sustainable and ethical travel, and every team in our business plays a vital role in achieving our impact goals. Our Impact Report outlines our five-year strategy and annual objectives, which form the foundation of our company-wide approach. These goals drive every decision we make, and we expect all team members to contribute to their success as part of our shared mission.

We're looking for a dynamic, experienced and commercially driven leader to join our amazing business and deliver our brand strategies. This is a pivotal role with full responsibility and accountability for steering the commercial success of all four of our brands. You'll oversee sales, marketing, customer service, product development, operations & account management, pricing, data and budgets, ensuring all departments work in harmony to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive growth.

This is a hands-on position suited to someone who thrives in a fast-paced online B2C environment. You have a proven record in business development and a history of driving growth in fast-paced environments while maintaining the highest standards of quality and guest experience.

If you're a strategic thinker with the confidence, commitment and commercial acumen to lead change, inspire a high-performing team, seize new opportunities, and develop our culture we'd love to hear from you.

Reports to

Managing Director

Works closely with

• All heads of departments and teams within our brands
• Part of the leadership team

Commercial Leadership & Strategy

• Contribute to the commercial strategies that support sustainable, scalable growth
• Explore and develop new opportunities, partnerships and revenue streams
• Lead on forecasting, budgeting and reporting to ensure targets are met or exceeded
• Use market trends, customer insights and performance data to inform decisions

Sales & Customer Success

• Oversee sales, acquisition and e-commerce, ensuring consistently high conversion
• Champion exceptional customer experience across onboarding, support and account management
• Build collaborative relationships internally and externally
• Develop processes that enable scalable, high-quality customer journeys

Marketing, Pricing & Brand Growth

• Work with our marketing managers to shape brand development, marketing activity and content strategies
• Ensure marketing activity reflects our values, aligns with business goals and supports our leadership in sustainable and ethical travel
• Leads and optimises pricing strategies to enable profitability using the revenue management system

Operations & Development

• Support operational planning and delivery across business functions
• Work closely with product and development teams to evolve and strengthen our offering
• Introduce and refine ways of working that encourage efficiency, performance and scalability
• Encourage clear, open communication and alignment across teams

People & Culture

• Provide supportive, inclusive, motivational leadership for a small cross-functional team
• Foster a culture of trust, shared accountability, creativity and continuous improvement
• Encourage professional development through coaching, feedback and mentorship
• Contribute to, and help nurture, our positive, employee-owned culture

• Significant experience in senior commercial leadership
• Strategic and analytical, with a strong track record in shaping and delivering growth plans
• Experience in high-growth environments, ideally within an online business
• Background in supporting cross-functional teams
• Collaborative and empowering, with the ability to motivate teams and enable high performance
• Flexible and comfortable working through change and uncertainty
• Deeply customer-focused, committed to delivering exceptional service at every touchpoint
• Strong communication and people leadership skills
• A creative, entrepreneurial and forward-thinking mindset

• Circa £80,000 per annum, depending on experience
• 26 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays
• Full-time, 37.5 hours/5 days per week
• This role requires 4 days working in the office, 1 day can be remote if that suits you
• Company pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions at 4%, and an optional salary sacrifice scheme
• An employee-owned company: after your introductory period, you will be eligible to a share of any dividends
• A special place to work: a colourful, upcycled, recycled, open plan office on Bristol's buzzing harbour side
• DEIBA Team: focused on diversity & inclusion efforts for our employees and customers
• £290 per year towards…