Head of Workforce and Event Services

About:

SailGP is the world’s most exciting racing on-water. The annual, global championship – established in 2018 and now in its fourth season – features national teams battling in short, intense races at iconic stadium-style venues across the globe.

The high-tech, high-speed action features the sailing's best athletes racing in identical hydrofoiling F50 catamarans, flying at speeds approaching 100 km/h who compete for the sport's top prize money, with US$4.3 million at stake over the season.

SailGP also races for a better future, championing a world powered by nature. In 2020, SailGP set a new standard as the first climate positive sports and entertainment property and began delivering actions and innovations that advance the global adoption of clean energy. Underpinning the organization’s purpose-driven agenda is a diversification of the league, with the goal of immediately progressing gender and racial equity and inclusivity.

SailGP is a global organisation with defined values that shape the culture of its diverse team: deliver quality, break boundaries, make an impact, stand together and strike a balance.

Summary:

The Head of Travel and Event Services is responsible for building and leading a high performing, strategically driven travel and event services function. With ownership of the master event workforce list, you will drive workforce planning, ensure deployments align with the One Event Plan and transition the department from reactive booking to proactive planning and procurement. By reducing operational inefficiencies and maintaining strong financial discipline, you will build a scalable, professionalised operating model that supports efficient event delivery and SailGP’s 2030 growth ambitions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Workforce Planning & Optimisation

• Centralised Tracking: Maintain the ‘Single Source of Truth’ master ledger for all global event deployments to ensure total operational visibility.
• Roster Optimisation: Partner with department heads to audit and ‘right-size’ rosters, leveraging ‘dual roles’ and ‘leapfrog’ scheduling to maximise efficiency.
• Milestone Alignment: Link the Master Travel List directly to the ‘One Event Plan’ (OEP) so travel dates are driven strictly by operational necessity.
• Proactive Planning: Utilise a 12-month runway to lock requirements early, shifting from reactive bookings to cost-optimised group procurement.

2. Global Travel Operations & Systems

• End-to-End Management: Oversee global travel logistics, including flights, accommodation, ground transport, visas and immigration compliance.
• Policy & Governance: Develop, standardise and continuously improve global travel policies, processes and booking tools across all regions.
• Data & Sustainability: Monitor travel metrics, KPIs and financial data to drive continuous improvement, efficiency and cost control. 

3. Event Services Integration & Supplier Management

• Functional Integration: Align travel operations with wider event services (e.g., workforce management, crew catering) to ensure a seamless, high-standard delivery.
• Procurement & Performance: Lead global supplier strategy and negotiations for travel and event services, establishing robust KPI and SLA frameworks.
• Continuous Improvement: Lead comprehensive post-event reviews to identify optimisation opportunities across travel and event services.

4. Leadership, Finance & Stakeholder Engagement

• Team Leadership: Direct and develop the event services team, fostering a culture of high performance and collaboration.
• Financial Oversight: Manage the event services budget with direct ownership of the travel budget, ensuring strict cost control, accurate forecasting and transparent reporting.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Partner with internal business leaders to ensure travel solutions and resource allocations directly support league requirements.

Key Expectations:

• Promotes SailGP Values and contributes to a positive culture
• Fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, respected, and celebrated through inclusive leadership
• Develop creative solutions that allow for quality work to be delivered
• Drive collaboration and team work within their team and amongst wider department recognising their personal impact and utilising this effectively
• Promote working practices that enable a healthy work life balance within the team and celebrate wellbeing
• Supports and displays out of the box thinking guiding this to align with SailGP's strategic objectives
• Support teams with developmental goals and growth plans utilising a coaching mindset to enable and empower
• Seizes opportunities to impact Better Sport, Better Planet
• Strives for the commercial sustainability of SailGP considering this at all parts of budget management
• Effectively presents with impact

About You: 

• Experience auditing and right-sizing complex rosters, using scheduling approaches such as dual roles and leapfrog coverage to improve staffing efficiency.
• Strong experience managing large international deployments, including flights, accommodation, ground transport and visa/immigration requirements.
• Proven budget management skills, with experience moving organisations from reactive purchasing to planned 12-month procurement cycles.
• Strong vendor management and negotiation experience, including defining and monitoring KPIs and SLAs with travel and event service providers.
• Experience leading event services teams and managing relationships with senior stakeholders.

Location:

SailGP HQ in London, United Kingdom. Hybrid working model with a minimum of 3 days per week in the London Office.

This role will have some event travel. 

SailGP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.