Director of Operations – Live Events/Venues

Role Overview

An exciting senior leadership opportunity overseeing a portfolio of some of Ireland’s best-known entertainment and live event venues.

Our client is a major organisation operating within Ireland’s live entertainment and venue sector. They are now seeking an experienced Director of Venue Operations to take responsibility for driving operational excellence, consistency and commercial performance across a diverse portfolio of venues ranging from approximately 1,000 to 14,000 capacity.

Reporting directly to the CEO and leading a team of Venue General Managers, this is a highly influential position combining multi-site operational leadership, commercial performance, people development and stakeholder management.

The Role

The Director of Venue Operations will provide leadership and direction across the venue portfolio, ensuring consistently high operational standards while supporting individual General Managers to maximise performance.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead, coach and support Venue General Managers and senior operational leaders across multiple locations.
• Develop and implement consistent operational policies, procedures and best practices across the venue portfolio.
• Conduct regular operational reviews, identifying opportunities to improve systems, processes, efficiency and service delivery.
• Support new venue openings, including operational setup, recruitment and coordination.
• Work with General Managers and Finance to improve profitability and ensure financial and operational KPIs are achieved.
• Drive labour efficiency, workforce planning and effective organisational structures across the portfolio.
• Partner with HR to strengthen management development, succession planning, recruitment and training.
• Ensure consistently high standards of governance, licensing, Health & Safety and regulatory compliance.
• Act as a key operational link between the CEO, General Managers, venue owners and central support functions.
• Champion a culture focused on accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement and an exceptional customer experience.

About You

We are particularly interested in speaking with experienced senior operational leaders who have:

• Significant multi-site operational leadership experience, ideally within hospitality, entertainment, venues or another high-volume customer-facing environment.
• A proven track record of leading and developing General Managers and senior management teams.
• Strong commercial and financial management capabilities, with experience managing operational KPIs, profitability and labour efficiency.
• Experience implementing consistent operating standards and processes across multiple sites.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and the confidence to operate with senior executives, site leadership teams and external partners.
• A genuine passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences within fast-paced, high-profile environments.