Head of People Operations/Staffing, Major Events & Sporting Events

Head of People Operations/Staffing: Major Events & Sporting Events

Location: Oxfordshire (with travel and on-site event work as required)
*Salary:* £50,000 – £60,000

When the Crowds Arrive, Who Makes Sure the Team Is Ready?

Behind every sell-out sporting weekend, every flawlessly served hospitality suite and every guest who leaves saying "that was incredible" is a workforce that was planned, recruited, trained, deployed and looked after with precision. We're looking for the person who makes that happen.

CoCo Group is delighted to be partnering with an innovative, award-calibre culinary, event and contract catering business to find their next Head of People Operations/Staffing. It's a rare chance to lead the workforce behind some of the biggest events in the sporting calendar.

Our client delivers inspirational food and exceptional experiences that redefine what guests expect from event catering. They are a small, dynamic team of event professionals with big ambitions: creating exciting, well-managed and sustainable events while building genuinely strong working relationships. The culture is fun, resilient, hardworking and supportive, and the business is growing from strength to strength.

The Role

You'll lead the People Operations function across a portfolio of major, high-profile sporting events, alongside private and corporate occasions.

This is a hands-on, high-accountability leadership position. You'll own the strategic planning, financial control and on-site deployment of large hospitality and catering contingent workforces, ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time, delivering a best-in-class experience for guests and workers alike.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading your team: line managing the permanent, part-time and freelance People Operations team
• Planning at scale: building end-to-end event resource plans that meet client expectations, covering recruitment, onboarding, training, rostering, travel, accommodation and deployment
• Controlling the numbers: producing accurate forecasts for variable labour, expenses, travel hire and accommodation on every project
• Keeping leadership informed: presenting fortnightly reports on event progress, performance and spend to date
• Being the voice of People Ops: representing the department in project and client meetings
• Running the show on site: directing accreditation, staff check-in, welfare, uniform distribution and day-to-day operational support
• Protecting standards: enforcing compliance with safety regulations, company policies and event protocols
• Delivering live insight: reporting real-time staffing levels and labour spend against forecast
• Closing events out properly: overseeing casual payroll and verifying and processing agency and freelancer invoices
• Staying compliant: regularly reviewing internal policies against relevant legislation
• Getting great supplier deals: managing agency relationships, negotiating competitive rates and monitoring SLAs
• Learning from every event: analysing timesheet data against sales and other KPIs to measure success and spot opportunities
• Driving improvement: producing ad-hoc MI reports and continually refining processes for efficiency

What You'll Bring

• 3–5 years of progressive People Operations/Staffing leadership in complex, fast-paced, high-volume environments (think major greenfield events, stadiums, large venues, events, festivals or arenas)
• Strong project management skills, juggling multiple projects and delivering under tight deadlines
• A track record of building lasting partnerships with internal leaders, clients, agencies and vendors
• Proven experience leading the full workforce lifecycle, from high-volume recruitment and event deployment through to reporting, payroll, financial wrap-up and offboarding
• Commercial astuteness and strong labour forecasting capability, with the ability to turn business objectives into clear team targets and roadmaps
• The ability to inspire, motivate and mentor diverse, high-performing teams in an inclusive culture built on engagement and accountability
• Genuine flexibility: this is not a Monday to Friday operation, and working outside normal hours is essential
• High computer literacy, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and SharePoint)
• Confidence with cloud-based WFM, LMS, ATS and payroll software (e.g. Humanforce, MAPAL)

Why You'll Want This Job

• Work on some of the most exciting events in sport and hospitality
• A salary of £50,000 – £60,000
• 33 days' holiday, including bank holidays
• A small, supportive, high-performing team where your impact is visible and welcomed
• A business with real momentum and a positive, empowering culture

Ready to Make Event Day Happen? If you thrive when the pace is fast, the stakes are high and the atmosphere is electric, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply now via CoCo Group to start a confidential conversation about this opportunity.