Director of Commercial

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This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for shaping and delivering the organisation's commercial growth strategy. The organisation recognises significant unrealised potential across its venues and commercial activities and seeks a Director who can unlock this potential to deliver sustainable, long‑term income growth.

With the full support of the Executive, Senior Management Team, and both Trading and Charity Boards, the postholder will have genuine scope to influence strategic direction, strengthen financial resilience, and ensure commercial activity underpins the charity's mission and long‑term objectives.

The role requires a highly analytical, data‑driven approach to commercial income generation, setting clear financial targets, improving profit margins, diversifying income streams, and developing new market opportunities.

• Develop and deliver a commercial venue hire strategy that diversifies income and achieves ambitious growth targets.
• Lead strategic development of bars, concessions, and food and beverage provision across all venues, including the Museum.
• Set and deliver a retail strategy to maximise gross profit.

• Develop and lead a forward‑looking commercial growth strategy aligned with the charity's mission and long‑term financial sustainability.
• Identify and develop new commercial opportunities across the organisation, with a focus on maximising the potential of buildings, spaces, and public‑facing assets.
• Drive growth across existing income streams (venue hire, bars, retail) while identifying and testing new, innovative revenue opportunities.
• Work with the Director of Marketing & Sales to ensure market insight, audience behaviour, and competitor analysis inform commercial decision‑making.
• Report quarterly on commercial performance, risks, and opportunities to the Charity and Trading Subsidiary Boards.

• Provide strategic leadership of the venue hire function, ensuring strong pipeline development, yield management, and profitability across all hires.
• Lead on business development for new hire markets including corporate events, life events, conferences, filming, and expanded Museum use.
• Represent WTM externally, building senior relationships with businesses and stakeholders to strengthen reputation and generate demand.
• Ensure venue usage aligns with WTM's brand and values, working with the Head of Programming to balance commercial hire with artistic and public programming priorities.
• Set pricing strategy, review and benchmark hire rates, and approve venue hire agreements, managing political or reputational risk in liaison with the Executive.
• Ensure effective sales, CRM usage, client relationship management, and high standards of customer service across the hire journey, supporting the Head of Customer Experience in training the team to achieve sales‑driven targets.
• Work with the Head of Technical & Production to monetise technical equipment hire.
• Develop commercial packages and commission rates, and develop preferred supplier arrangements.

• Line manage the Head of Customer Experience, providing strategic direction and oversight of bars, concessions, and retail operations.
• Set and deliver a performance strategy to increase secondary spend across venues, informed by review of current provision, contracts, and working practices.
• Lead development of the Museum food and beverage operating model, including contract and lease arrangements.
• Work with the Head of Development to identify sponsorship opportunities linked to bars and concessions.
• Set retail and merchandise strategy to meet gross profit targets, reporting progress to the Trading Directors quarterly.

The Head of Customer Experience is responsible for operational delivery and reports to the Director of Commercial Growth.

• Provide leadership and oversight to ensure:
• Consistently high‑quality customer experience for all WTM users, including visitors, audiences, hirers, partners, and…