The posting
As our Managing Director of Education, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of our Education business, leading an ambitious growth strategy across schools, colleges and universities. This is a pivotal role for a commercially astute, forward-thinking leader who can inspire people, build lasting partnerships and turn bold ambitions into lasting success. As part of our UK Leadership Team, you’ll have the influence, autonomy and opportunity to make a real impact on our business, our customers and the communities we serve. Job ID: 8289 What you’ll be serving up… As a member of the UK Leadership Team, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Elior, combining ambitious commercial thinking with a passion for exceptional food, outstanding service and meaningful client partnerships. You’ll set the vision for the division, inspire a high-performing senior leadership team and turn strategic opportunities into measurable results, strengthening our market position and delivering real value for our clients, customers and colleagues. Your key responsibilities will include:
Set the strategic direction: Develop and deliver an ambitious growth strategy that increases market share, strengthens our market position and drives sustainable revenue and profit growth across the Education sector.
Own commercial performance: Take full accountability for divisional P&L, revenue, profit, margin and cash performance, driving strong financial controls, effective pricing, cost management and operational productivity.
Grow and retain client partnerships: Build trusted, long-term relationships with key clients and stakeholders, identifying opportunities to develop existing business, secure new contracts and deliver outstanding client satisfaction and retention.
Champion innovation and customer experience: Evolve our food and service propositions in response to changing customer expectations, emerging food trends and market opportunities, embracing technology, insight and new ways of working to differentiate Elior in a competitive market.
Drive operational excellence: Ensure consistently high standards across a complex, multi-site portfolio, covering food quality, service delivery, health and safety, food safety, allergen management, compliance and contractual performance. Lead successful contract mobilisations and transformation programmes that improve efficiency, consistency and profitability.
Build a high-performing team: Lead, inspire and develop a strong senior leadership team, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement. Strengthen leadership capability, talent development and succession planning to support the division's long-term ambitions.
Shape a sustainable future: Embed sustainability, responsible sourcing, wellbeing, waste reduction and social value into our proposition, ensuring Education remains relevant, responsible and future-focused.
Lead with purpose and influence: Represent Education at UK Leadership Team level, working collaboratively across Elior UK and the wider Group to maximise our collective expertise, manage risk, uphold strong governance and deliver on our wider business ambitions.
The ingredients you'll bring... You'll be an accomplished senior leader with the commercial acumen, strategic vision and leadership capability to lead a complex, high-value business. You'll know how to translate strategy into action, build strong client relationships and empower teams to deliver exceptional results. You'll bring:
Senior leadership experience: A proven track record in a senior director or executive-level role, ideally within the Education sector, with experience across primary, secondary and further education or other complex, multi-site service environments.
A strong commercial mindset: Significant experience developing and executing successful growth strategies, with a demonstrable track record of delivering P&L performance, budgetary targets and sustainable profitability.
Strategic vision: The ability to identify market opportunities, anticipate industry challenges and develop compelling propositions that drive growth, strengthen competitive positioning and deliver long-term value.
Exceptional leadership skills: Experience leading and developing senior leadership teams and large, geographically dispersed workforces, creating a high-performance culture and successfully leading organisations through change.
Outstanding client and stakeholder management: Strong relationship-building, communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence at board level, navigate complex stakeholder environments and develop lasting commercial partnerships.
Operational expertise: Experience managing a high-value, multi-outlet operation across a substantial geographical area, balancing operational excellence, customer experience, compliance and commercial performance.
A continuous improvement mindset: A proactive, solutions-focused approach to business challenges, with the ability to use data, innovation and new ways of working to improve performance and create opportunities for growth.
A commitment to our values: A passion for developing people, championing inclusion and sustainability, and creating an environment where colleagues can thrive and deliver their best.
Above all, you'll be a forward-thinking, commercially driven leader who can bring people with you, challenge the status quo and turn ambition into action. You'll have the confidence to make bold decisions, the curiosity to embrace new opportunities and the drive to build a stronger, more successful Education business for the future.
