A bit about us...

Canopy & Stars is part of the Sawday’s group, which is a collection of travel brands all centred on a passion for special places to stay. Since 2017, the company has been 52% employee-owned, with the rest made up of a Charitable Trust and the founding family. We’re proud to be B Corp certified and recognised by them as one of the top 5% places for employees and a top 5 travel B Corp in the world.

We are leaders in sustainable and ethical travel, and every team in our business plays a vital role in achieving our impact goals. Our Impact Report outlines our five-year strategy and annual objectives, which form the foundation of our company-wide approach. These goals drive every decision we make, and we expect all team members to contribute to their success as part of our shared mission.

Your role – Managing Director

We’re looking for an experienced leader to step into this newly created role, to support our next phase of growth. This is a broad and influential position with responsibility across the entire Canopy & Stars business, spanning e-commerce, marketing, customer experience, product development and operations.

You’ll bring experience from an online B2C environment, with proven success in executing strategy, driving business development and scaling performance. You’ll combine clear strategic thinking with the ability to deliver results.

You’ll be an authentic and supportive leader, able to inspire and motivate a team and encourage them to exceed expectations and embrace new opportunities. With strong commercial judgement and the ability to lead through change, you’ll play a key role in shaping our future direction.

This is a hands-on role, suited to someone who enjoys working closely with a small but ambitious team.

Reports to

Group Managing Director

Works closely with

Marketing Department

Pricing & Revenue Management

Account Management

Business Development

Guest Experience Team

Platform Team

Leadership Team

Main tasks and responsibilities

Strategy Implementation & Revenue Growth

Ensure we continue to be the leading brand for breaks in nature, in the most inspiring places to stay
As a key member of the Leadership Team, the Canopy & Stars Managing Director will shape the long-term strategy, build a high-performing culture and ensure the business is positioned for continued success
Provide strategic leadership and overall operational responsibility for the brand
Accountable for delivering the company’s commercial objectives, driving sustainable growth, and ensuring strong performance across all areas of the business
Lead the execution of the brand’s five-year strategy and achieve revenue targets
Drive business growth, revenue performance and profitability
Ensure robust financial management, including budgeting, forecasting and performance tracking
Oversee day-to-day operations, ensuring efficiency, quality and consistency across all functions
Champion a high-performance culture aligned with company values
Bring together our key commercial data into a single, accessible system to improve visibility and decision-making across the business. This will support better commercial planning, more responsive operations and improved revenue performance
Develop our revenue management and pricing systems to support sustainable growth and strengthen the business as it evolves
Lead and develop the Canopy & Stars management teamproviding clear direction, structure and ongoing performance feedback
Identify and pursue new commercial opportunities

Marketing and Brand Development

Support the marketing team with our brand review outcomes
Brand health and awareness
Overview of commercial and marketing performance

Performance Analysis and Commercial Insight

Monitor KPIs, metrics and performance dashboards to keep targets firmly in sight
Conduct regular analysis, identifying trends, risks and optimisation opportunities
Ability to translate data into clear, actionable plans
Provide insightful reporting and recommendations to drive growth

New Place Development and Operations

Support expansion through identifying and evaluating new place opportunities
Work cross-functionally to launch and optimise newly onboarded places
Connect, build and develop successful partnerships with owners of our places and to ensure they receive an outstanding experience with us
Identity opportunities to improve operational processes and performance

Leadership and Collaboration

Inspire a small high-performing management team through coaching, support and clear expectations
Build reliable internal relationships to deliver cross-departmental business plans
Lead by example with energy, confidence and accountability
Ensure our core values of sustainability and ethics are adopted

Necessary Skills and Experience

Proven experience in a senior leadership role (Managing Director, CEO, or equivalent)
Commercial background including leadership in B2C sales and marketing with a proven track record of achieving ambitious targets within e-commerce businesses
Experience managing a P&L at scale
Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire senior teams
Strong strategic thinking combined with operational delivery capability
Experience working in a fast-growing business or start-up
Experience in purpose led brands
Creativity and innovation mindset
Insight led approach to growth and innovation

Salary & Benefits

Competitive salary
26 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays 
Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
This role requires a minimum of 3 days working in the office, however flexi time and hybrid working is possible, with the option to work some of the week from home (you must be commutable to Bristol).
Company pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions at 4%, and an optional salary sacrifice scheme 
An employee-owned company: after your introductory period, you will be eligible to a share of any dividends  
A special place to work: a colourful, upcycled, recycled, open plan office on Bristol’s buzzing harbourside  
DEIBA Team: focused on diversity & inclusion efforts for our employees and customers  
£290 per year towards staying in one of our special places  
20% employee discount and 10% family & friends discount on UK based Canopy & Stars breaks, 15% discount on EU based breaks.   
Enhanced maternity and paternity pay  
A volunteering day per year  
15 wellbeing hours per year
A ‘Climate Journey Day’ policy, which gives you the opportunity to earn up to two paid days per year to travel to and from a holiday destination using low-carbon transport.  
Social and wellbeing events held throughout the year

Applications

Applicants need to be within a commutable distance of Bristol for in office working
Closing date for applications: 31 July 2026

Our Behaviours and Values

How we work is just as important as the success we achieve at Sawday’s. During your time with us, you will be expected to treasure, protect, and embody our behaviours and values every day.

 We celebrate quirkiness and difference

We dance to the beat of our own drum

We encourage curiosity and creativity

We champion individuality and the ‘special’

We follow head and heart

We are solidly commercial while flexible and ‘human’

We are empathetic, generous and supportive

We make ethical, holistic, long-term decisions 

We do important things brilliantly

We use business as a force for social, environmental and economic good

We are committed to our craft and deliver with ambition and purpose

We relish our role in sustaining a happy, healthy world

We bring positive energy

We foster a genuine spirit of togetherness and family

We take pleasure in empowering and delighting others

We are driven to learn, grow, connect and contribute

Finally

We place a strong emphasis on ethics, people and the environment and it is important to us that you understand, strongly identify with, and are able to develop the company ethos.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and an inclusive company, where diverse backgrounds and perspectives are valued and where everyone can bring their full, authentic selves to work.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview to any disabled candidate who meets all the ‘Necessary’ skills listed above and is a commutable distance from the office. 

If you need any further assistance with your application, or require the application form in a different format, please email Charlotte oncharlotte@sawdays.co.uk or call 0117 204 7828.

Sawday&#039;s remote jobs

Administrative Assistant, Sawday's

Managing Director

Sawday's remote jobs