Head of Commercial

at  Rotorua District Council

THE ROLE

This role is responsible for the leadership and management of the Commercial Team of RotoruaNZ which has a primary focus on growing the visitor economy and commercial performance of the Energy Events Centre (EEC) and Sir Howard Morrison Centre (SHMC).
The successful candidate will oversee the delivery of strategies that “lift the bar” on supporting growth in value delivery. The role is multi-faceted and encompasses venue programming and sales, business events for the destination, international tourism trade activity, delivery against Rotorua’s event strategy and venue operations.
Central to the role, is the aim is to increase sales, and therefore revenue for both Rotorua and RotoruaNZ, through acquiring new commercial clients and satisfying the business needs of existing ones. This role will develop and monitor growth strategies and work across a range of roles from collaborating with customers, to monitoring the status of projects and providing guidance to the various teams.

In this role, you will:

• Deliver the Rotorua Events Strategy.
• Deliver and develop key strategies for optimising growth of the visitor economy for the Rotorua through venue programming, events, business events, and tourism trade.
• Deliv sales and vibrant programming across the Energy Events Centre (EEC) and Sir Howard Morrison Centre (SHMC) which maximise revenue, and wider economic benefit. This will be balanced against community events ensuring a particular focus remains on the performing arts at SHMC.
• Utilise insights and technology to provide “customer journey insights” to target potential customers and share with industry.
• Efficient and effective delivery of operations at EEC and SHMC.
• Deliver key programmes that support growth in value of the visitor economy.
• Foster and leverage strategic alliances to accelerate outcomes and achieve impact.
• Build rapport and trusted relationships with business and industry leaders, and key stakeholders.
• Achieve key performance measures including venue utilisation and growing visitor expenditure in the destination.
• Devise and implement strategies that boost the overall commercial growth of RotoruaNZ.

To succeed in this role, you’ll need:

• Bachelor’s degree in business management, marketing, administration, or a related field.
• Ideally an in depth knowledge in one of the following areas, tourism or tourism related sector, events or venue management.
• Results driven and is dedicated to exceeding expectations and requirements.
• Proven ability to lead and influence discussions with companies and industry stakeholders at the Senior Management level.
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to think strategically
• Experience in sourcing and packaging opportunities and projects.
• Evidence of leading and developing strong and motivated teams. Be able to bring existing teams together effectively.
• Proven ability in developing and maintaining strategic relationships with companies and key industry stakeholders.
• Strong ability to work collaboratively as part of a wider team and experience as part of a Senior leadership team.
• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proven ability in developing and delivering results-based strategies