As part of the Places for People Group, Places Leisure plays a key role in bringing this to life. Working with local authority partners across the UK, Places Leisure creates active, welcoming environments where people can get healthier, feel supported and build connections within their local community. From gyms, swimming pools and group exercise classes to targeted wellbeing programmes, the focus is always on helping people lead healthier lives and strengthening the communities we serve.
At Places for People, we hire People, not numbers! So, if you like the sound of one of our jobs, please apply, you could be just who we're looking for! Of course, experience and track record are important, but we're more interested in hiring someone that embodies our People Promises. That's someone that does the right thing, is enthusiastic and motivated to grow, believes in Community spirit, is respectful and enjoys their work. As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we're dedicated to creating inclusive and thriving Communities for both our Customers and Employees.
So, what are you waiting for? Join a community that cares about you!
More about your role
You will support the Head of Swimming and Sport to launch and grow participation sports, with an initial focus on Padel. You will lead the development and optimisation of products that are insight-led, customer-focused, and commercially viable, helping to drive participation and revenue growth.
Working cross-functionally, you will collaborate with teams including Commercial, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Customer Experience and Data & Insight to deliver successful product launches and continuous improvements. You will monitor performance, analyse data, and use insights to refine products, improve participation levels, and maximise return on investment.
You will also shape customer journeys, manage key supplier relationships such as app providers, and ensure products are delivered consistently, safely and to a high standard. Alongside this, you will identify new growth opportunities, contribute to business development activity, and play a key role in creating scalable, innovative participation sport products.
Essential criteria
- Proven experience working as a Product Manager within participation sports, ideally including Padel
- Demonstrable track record of driving revenue growth through product or process improvements
- Strong experience using data to analyse performance, identify trends and inform decision-making
- Experience delivering projects or product launches end-to-end, including planning, implementation and evaluation
- Recognised qualification or practical experience in project, programme or delivery management (e.g. PRINCE2, Agile, Lean or equivalent)
More about you
You are commercially minded and thrive in a fast-paced environment where you can prioritise effectively and make informed decisions under pressure. You enjoy working collaboratively across teams, influencing stakeholders at all levels to drive results. You are highly organised and detail-focused, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver impactful outcomes. With strong analytical skills and confidence using tools such as Excel and PowerPoint, you translate insight into action and are always looking for ways to improve products, enhance customer experience and increase participation.
Benefits
We are a large diverse and ambitious business, which will give you all the challenge you could wish for.
We know that there's always more we can do to make you smile, that's why we offer a comprehensive benefits package with each role, yours will include:
- Competitive salary with regular annual review
- Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
- Bonus scheme for colleagues at 2%
- Option to buy or sell days
- Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs - up to £500 savings per year
- Access to wellbeing support such as counselling and flu jabs
- Private GP and health support services available
- Access to a rewards platform with retail and lifestyle discounts
- Savings on groceries, travel, shopping and home products
- Ongoing training and development opportunities
- Access to professional qualifications and career progression
- Internal development programmes and learning support
- Recognition schemes such as Star Awards and Colleagues Awards
- Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
- Free membership to Places Gyms
