Gracie Barra Tooting: Academy Programme Director
About Us
Gracie Barra Tooting is more than a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy — we are a thriving, values-driven community focused on personal development, confidence, and long-term growth. Our mission is to provide a welcoming, professional, and inclusive environment where students of all ages can progress and belong.
The Opportunity
We are now looking for an exceptional Academy Programme Director to play a key role in driving our next phase of growth.
The Academy Programme Director exists to help grow a strong, engaged, and sustainable academy community. At its core, the purpose of the role is to increase membership, strengthen retention, and create an environment in which students and families feel connected, well supported, and proud to belong.
Key Responsibilities:
Community & Membership Growth
- Manage and respond to all inbound enquiries from digital ads, search, referrals, and website forms
- Ensure prompt follow-up and accurate data entry into CRM/communication workflows
- Own and manage the full lead journey from initial enquiry to introductory class attendance
- Manage delivery of intro class bookings and maintain accurate, up-to-date records
- Achieve lead to member conversion targets through structured follow-up and consistent engagement
- Deliver an exceptional enrolment experience, including account setup, onboarding, and first interactions with the academy
- Process payments, waivers, and membership details accurately, ensuring full compliance with academy procedures
A Welcoming Academy
- Create and maintain a clean, professional, and genuinely welcoming front-of-house environment that reflects the academy’s standards and values
- Deliver a consistently high-quality experience for all visitors, parents, and students, ensuring every interaction reinforces a sense of belonging
- Ensure every new member feels welcomed from onboarding to uniform fitting and integration into the academy community
- Provide clear, structured orientation on academy processes, expectations, and culture, setting members up for long-term success
- Communicate key standards, procedures, and etiquette in a way that builds confidence, clarity, and alignment
- Promote a safe, inclusive, and positive training environment where students feel supported to progress
- Proactively monitor attendance and engagement to identify early signs of member disengagement or risk
- Deliver timely and effective actions to re-engage members, supporting strong retention outcomes
- Collaborate with coaching team on define retention initiatives, strengthen member connection, energise member engagement and the overall Academy experience
- Celebrate member milestones and achievements to reinforce progress and deepen community connection
- Manage all membership administration (pauses, upgrades, cancellations, billing queries) accurately and efficiently
- Ensure all membership changes are handled in line with academy policies, best practice and service standards
- Plan and deliver consistent, high-quality community communications, including social media content and updates, through calendar management
- student progress, academy events, and culture to strengthen engagement and local brand presence
Ensuring Excellence
- Take ownership of academy performance by compiling, analysing, and presenting operational data to support informed decision-making
- Produce clear and consistent weekly “Pulse Reports” covering lead pipeline, class bookings, attendance, and revenue performance
- Track and manage key performance metrics (lead generation, conversion, attendance) using systems such as GoLeadFunnel and TeamUp
- Use data proactively to identify at-risk members, monitor engagement trends, and support timely re-engagement actions
- Report weekly revenue performance across memberships and retail, ensuring accuracy and visibility of performance
- Prepare monthly executive reports that clearly reflect academy growth, performance, and financial health
- Analyse key metrics including student growth, revenue breakdown, and target vs. actual performance
- Translate data into qualitative & quantitative actionable insights, highlighting operational strengths, opportunities, and areas for improvement
- Monitor retention and churn trends, including cancellation reasons and recovery success rates, to strengthen long-term member outcomes
- provide clear commentary on performance “highs and lows” to support continuous improvement across the academy
Profile of the Ideal Candidate
Experience & Background:
- Relevant Commercial or Operational Experience: Demonstrable success in a membership or sales based premium service preferably in leisure, fitness, hospitality, or customer-facing environment, with responsibility for sales, service delivery, or front-of-house performance.
- Systems & Reporting Capability: Confident using CRM, booking, and membership management platforms, with the ability to maintain accurate records, interpret performance data, and produce clear operational reports.
Core Competencies & Soft Skills:
- Operational Organisation: Ability to manage multiple priorities in a busy academy environment, maintain strong attention to detail & prioritise effectively.
- Commercial & Analytical Judgement: Comfortable working with performance data, identifying trends, and translating operational information into practical actions that support growth, retention, and service quality.
- Relationship Management: Strong interpersonal skills, professional judgement, and a strong track record of building trust & relationships with prospective members, existing students, parents, coaches, and academy leadership.
- Strong verbal and written communication Skills: Able to clearly, accurately & politely communicate both face to face & in writing, in English as a minimum.
- Working Styles: Able to work independently with minimal direction & also able to collaborate effectively within a small team. Ability to work within organisational policies & procedures.
Why Work With Us:
- Competitive Base Salary with strong earning potential
- Uncapped Commission Structure to directly reward your performance
- Company Pension Scheme to support your future
- Discounted Training to support your personal development and BJJ journey
- Exclusive Staff Discounts on Gracie Barra merchandise and apparel
- Paid Sick Pay allowance
- Generous Annual Leave: 33 days of annual leave (including bank holidays)
Pay: From £27,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Sick pay
- Store discount
Education:
- GCSE or equivalent (preferred)
Experience:
- Sales: 2 years (preferred)
Language:
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Location:
- London SW17 9NA (preferred)
Work Location: In person
