Operations Director

Operations Director

Leger Shearings Group | Rotherham | Six-Figure Package

Shape the Future of the UK’s Leading Escorted Tour Operator

Leger Shearings Group is the UK’s largest escorted coach tour operator, welcoming around 90,000 holidaymakers every year through our trusted Leger and Shearings brands.

In October 2026 the Group completed a management buyout and is independently owned and led by its own management team. We are growing, profitable and ambitious, and the next decade is ours to shape.

We are creating a new Board-level position for an exceptional Operations Director to help shape the future of our organisation.

Reporting directly to the CEO and sitting on the Group Board, this role offers a rare opportunity to influence how one of the UK’s most established travel businesses operates for the next decade. Whoever takes this role will shape how the Group operates from the partner network it grows with and the vehicles it runs, through to the modern operation behind every holiday it delivers.

The Role

This is a strategic leadership role with responsibility for the direction, performance and future development of our operational model.

Working through an experienced management team, you will lead the evolution of our operations function while ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional customer experiences, strong commercial performance and industry-leading operational standards.

Key responsibilities include:

• Defining and delivering the Group’s operational strategy.
• Owning the strategy for our national network of operator partners, including selection, contracting, capacity planning, performance standards and long-term relationships. Expanding that network and building genuinely reciprocal partnerships is a key part of this role.
• Shaping fleet strategy across the network, including vehicle specification and standards, renewal, future investment priorities and future propulsion.
• Driving improvements in utilisation, partner costs, interchange, feeder networks and on-tour delivery efficiency.
• Maintaining robust governance, safety, compliance and assurance frameworks covering vehicles, drivers, licensing and operating standards, set and assured across a partner network we do not own.
• Leading operational technology modernisation, including planning, scheduling, communications, telematics and management information systems.
• Managing significant operational budgets and supplier spend running into tens of millions of pounds.
• Strengthening organisational resilience through effective risk, disruption and crisis management planning.
• Developing leadership capability across the operational management team to create a sustainable, high-performing function.

This is not a hands-on operations job. The day-to-day is delivered by the team, and our partners run their own vehicles and drivers.

We’re looking for

• Significant leadership experience within coach travel, passenger transport, touring, logistics or a related operational environment.
• A strong understanding of fleets, transport networks, drivers and the practical realities of moving people safely and efficiently.
• A proven track record of delivering operational transformation and technology-enabled change.
• Experience managing major supplier contracts, commercial negotiations and significant operational expenditure.
• Experience creating robust governance, safety and compliance frameworks across a contracted network. No operator licence or CPC is required, as those obligations sit with our contracted operators.
• A genuine track record of developing managers and building sustainable operational capability, with the ability to lead through others.
• A direct, resilient and low-ego leadership style, with the credibility to influence at Board level and the willingness to challenge constructively.

Package

• Six-figure base salary dependent on experience.
• Leadership bonus scheme linked to Group and individual performance.
• Private healthcare for you and your family.
• 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Option to purchase up to five additional days of annual leave.
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicle scheme.
• Birthday leave and Christmas Eve off.
• Free on-site parking at our Rotherham head office.

Location

Based at Sunway House, Rotherham, with regular travel across our operator partner network.

This is an office-based role, five days a week. Our busiest operational days are Mondays and Fridays, so presence in the business is essential rather than preferred.

Leger Shearings Group is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.