Head of Weddings & Social Events
Hand Picked Hotels
Lead the future of unforgettable celebrations
Hand Picked Hotels was founded in 2001 by owner and Chairman, Julia Hands MBE, and today still remains a family-owned group which has 21 unique luxury country houses and coastal retreats, each hand picked for their individuality. Architecturally distinctive and quintessentially British, every hotel boasts an extraordinary location from Scotland to the Channel Islands, offering breathtaking views from vast countryside to expansive beaches, to lush woodlands.
Dedicated to creating unique and enchanting stays, curated personalised service runs through the heart of every hotel. Whilst each hotel is individual, each property fulfils the company values of family, individuality, community and care, with a team commitment to aiming higher and delight their guests with magical experiences that offer a true escape from the every day.
Hand Picked Hotels are committed to protecting the environment for a sustainable future, and all of our hotels have received the ‘Green Tourism’ accreditation. A Recognition of our progress in reducing energy use and waste, supporting biodiversity, and sourcing responsibly from local and ethical partners.
We're now looking for an exceptional Head of Weddings & Social Events to lead the commercial growth and evolution of one of our most important business segments. This is new role based from our commercial office in Central London.
This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of Weddings & Social Events across our collection of luxury hotels, developing market-leading propositions, driving commercial performance and ensuring every guest experience reflects the quality and individuality of the Hand Picked Hotels brand.
About the role:
Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, you'll work across Sales, Marketing, Revenue, Digital, Food & Beverage and Hotel Operations to strengthen our Weddings & Social Events proposition from enquiry through to delivery.
You'll combine commercial thinking with operational credibility, helping our hotels attract more guests, convert more enquiries and deliver exceptional celebrations that generate lasting memories and outstanding business performance.
Working closely with General Managers, Sales & Events teams and central support functions, you'll identify opportunities for growth, improve customer journeys and ensure our hotels remain among the UK's most sought-after wedding and event destinations.
Shape an industry-leading proposition
- Develop and enhance the Weddings & Social Events proposition across the Hand Picked Hotels portfolio.
- Create distinctive experiences that reflect changing customer expectations and luxury hospitality trends.
- Identify opportunities to grow premium wedding business, including high-value celebrations.
- Review customer journeys to ensure every touchpoint inspires confidence, excitement and exceptional service.
Drive commercial performance
- Lead initiatives that increase enquiries, conversion, revenue and profitability.
- Work with Marketing and Digital teams to improve brand visibility and demand generation across digital channels.
- Develop compelling customer-facing content, packages and commercial offers.
- Analyse market trends, guest behaviour and competitor activity to identify new opportunities for growth.
- Support hotels in delivering ambitious Weddings & Social Events revenue targets.
Improve sales performance and conversion
- Establish best practice across enquiry handling, proposals and follow-up processes.
- Introduce clear performance reporting and KPI management across the estate.
- Share successful approaches between hotels to improve consistency and commercial results.
- Drive improvements in enquiry conversion and average event value.
Lead through collaboration
- Act as the central commercial lead for Weddings & Social Events across the Group.
- Bring together Sales, Marketing, Revenue, Operations and Food & Beverage teams to deliver a consistent, market-leading guest experience.
- Support capability development and coaching across hotel teams.
- Ensure new initiatives are successfully implemented across multiple properties.
About you
You'll be an experienced Weddings or Events senior sales professional with a strong commercial mindset and a passion for creating exceptional guest experiences, driving sales and converting business. You will have solid connections within the industry including key relationships with exclusive wedding planners.
You'll also bring:
- Significant experience leading premium Weddings and Social Events within hospitality or luxury venues.
- A strong understanding of the complete customer journey—from inspiration and enquiry through to flawless event delivery.
- Experience developing propositions that increase demand, conversion and revenue.
- Commercial awareness with strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret performance data.
- Knowledge of digital marketing, customer acquisition and conversion strategies.
- Outstanding stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across multiple teams.
- A collaborative leadership style and a hands-on approach to delivery.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Willingness to travel regularly to our hotels.
Why join Hand Picked Hotels?
At Hand Picked Hotels, you'll have the opportunity to shape one of the UK's most exciting luxury hospitality brands.
You'll work alongside passionate colleagues, influence strategy at Group level and help create extraordinary celebrations that guests will remember forever.
This is a rare opportunity to combine commercial leadership with creativity, innovation and exceptional hospitality.
If you're passionate about luxury events, love driving commercial success and want to shape the future of Weddings & Social Events across an award-winning hotel collection, we'd love to hear from you.
Our Benefits
- Competitive salary package plus performance bonus (discussed at interview).
- Company pension scheme, life insurance, single private medical.
- 33 days holiday (including bank holidays) and enhanced sick pay.
- Access to wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme.
- Ongoing career development with in-house and external training, including apprenticeships and industry-recognised courses.
- Colleague discounts on hotel stays, food & drink, and annual loyalty rewards.
Access to retail and wellness discounts via our online benefits platform.
- A welcoming, inclusive culture where long-term friendships and diversity are celebrated
