Senior Operations and CX Manager

Salary: Dependent on experience

Location: Central London, with hybrid working (2 days in-office, 3 days from home)

Contract: Full-time, permanent

Reporting to: CEO

Start date: ASAP

Help students turn an ambitious challenge into an experience they can be proud of.

Choose a Challenge is looking for an Operations & Customer Experience Manager to take ownership of the participant journey: from registration and fundraising preparation through to safe trip delivery, successful challenge completion and post-trip follow-up.

This is a hands-on management role for someone who combines strong group-travel operations experience with a proactive approach to participant support. You’ll organise the details, spot problems early and make sure the right action happens.

About Us

We organise adventure and fundraising challenges for university students across the UK and Ireland, working with charity partners, student groups and suppliers around the world. Our programme includes overseas treks, marathons and UK challenges.

We’re a certified B Corp and a small, ambitious team. Our work helps participants take on demanding experiences while raising money for charitable causes. You’ll have the opportunity to influence how we operate, improve the participant experience and see the results of your decisions.

The Role

Reporting directly to the CEO, you’ll lead our operations and customer experience function, supported by an Operations & CX Coordinator whom you will line manage.

You’ll be accountable for keeping participants engaged and prepared throughout the year, as well as delivering well-organised trips during our busy departure periods. That means combining supplier management, logistics and incident response with systematic monitoring of fundraising, group engagement and trip readiness.

You’ll also own operational systems, budgets and reporting. We’re looking for someone who can make sound decisions independently within agreed limits, keep colleagues informed and escalate significant risks promptly.

What You’ll be Doing

1. Own participant engagement and trip readiness

Build a consistent support journey from registration onwards. Regularly review each cohort’s fundraising progress, social activity, Challenge Leader involvement, cancellations and preparation milestones.

Identify individuals and groups that need support, investigate what is going wrong and organise targeted interventions. These might include individual follow-up, fundraising guidance, Challenge Leader coaching or activity coordinated with a charity partner.

Track actions and follow-up dates, assess whether support is working, and ensure participants meet payment, documentation, medical-review and preparation requirements before departure.

2. Plan and deliver our trips

Manage the practical detail of group travel, including departure planning, airline group bookings, ground suppliers, passenger information, contractual deadlines and supplier payments.

Negotiate good-value arrangements while maintaining appropriate service and safety standards. Recruit and prepare trip staff and medics, coordinate participant briefings and airport meet-and-greets, and ensure everyone has accurate information.

Monitor supplier performance, resolve delivery issues and use feedback to improve future itineraries and operations.

3. Manage safety, incidents and customer escalations

Maintain operational risk assessments, emergency arrangements and readiness checks, working with our medic and suppliers where specialist advice is required.

During live trips, you’ll coordinate responses to incidents with suppliers, medics and trip staff. Keep clear records, follow escalation procedures and ensure lessons translate into practical improvements.

Handle complex participant enquiries, complaints, booking changes and refunds professionally, applying participant terms fairly and making decisions within agreed authority. Safety and appropriate medical advice must guide decisions about participation.

4. Own budgets, forecasts and reporting

Manage trip and departmental budgets, monitor committed supplier costs and maintain rolling forecasts.

Work with the Finance Controller to reconcile actual expenditure, explain variances and recommend corrective action. Understand how changing participant numbers, cancellations and supplier commitments affect trip finances.

Produce clear reporting on cohort engagement, fundraising, readiness,…