Head of Trade Operations

Head of On Trade Operations

Function: On Trade – Customer Experience

Location: Edinburgh (St Andrew Square) a mix of office and home working

Salary: £75k - £85K + performance bonus + (depending on experience) plus 15% of base salary as a benefits allowance plus annual performance bonus, in addition to full benefits listed below.

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: Thursday 4th June 2026

As the UK’s leading pub, cider, and beer business, we’re home to some of the world’s best-loved ciders and beers, and a leading player in the international drinks industry. But there’s so much more to HEINEKEN than meets the eye.

This is your opportunity to step into a senior operational leadership role at the heart of our On Trade Customer Experience function, shaping how we deliver service excellence, operational resilience and consistent customer outcomes at scale.

• Own the operational agenda for On Trade Customer Experience, defining how Customer Care, Operations and Planning deliver service, productivity and resilience
• Lead and deliver the end-to-end operational roadmap, driving continuous improvement in performance, customer outcomes and colleague experience
• Lead Customer Care as a core service function, building a high-performance, customer-first culture focused on resolution, accountability and insight-led decision making
• Develop and evolve issue resolution capability, embedding automation, technology and external best practice to improve speed, quality and consistency
• Drive productivity across Sales and Customer Care, ensuring effective deployment of resource aligned to business priorities and demand
• Own end-to-end On Trade processes within the M2C framework, ensuring governance, control and compliance across operational change
• Ensure business continuity across On Trade operations, managing incidents and protecting service delivery and revenue
• Lead evolution of operating models through experimentation, organisational design and continuous optimisation aligned to customer and market needs
• Oversee operational performance, compliance and reporting, including health and safety, service standards and productivity metrics
• Own and manage key operational platforms including Salesforce Case Management and Genesis, ensuring scalable and efficient service delivery
• Contribute to the CX leadership team, shaping culture, engagement and cross-functional customer experience outcomes
• Lead, coach and develop your leadership team, building capability, accountability and a consistently high-performing operational culture

You’re an experienced operational leader who brings structure, clarity and pace to complex, high-volume environments. You know how to connect customer operations to commercial outcomes and lead large teams through change while maintaining strong performance.

In this role, you’ll lead in an inclusive, accountable and inspiring way, building capability through your teams, attracting strong talent, and creating an environment where people perform at their best.

• Significant experience (5+ years) in UK On Trade or a similar large-scale customer operations environment
• Proven leadership of large, multi-level teams (c.70 FTE or similar scale)
• Strong track record of improving operational performance, service quality and productivity
• Experience leading Customer Care or service-led operational functions
• Confidence working across data, platforms and operational systems to improve outcomes
• Understanding of agile ways of working and operating model design
• Strong stakeholder management skills in a matrix environment
• Evidence of driving change, improving processes and embedding continuous improvement
• A growth mindset with a focus on capability building and team development

• Lead with ownership, empathy and accountability.
• Bring strategic thinking and operational discipline.
• Communicate clearly and decisively.
• Collaborate effectively across teams and functions.
• Foster curiosity, adaptability and continuous improvement.

We’re committed to your growth too – this role offers scope to expand your influence and develop as an operational leader within…