Commercial Manager

A bit about us... 

The Sawday’s group 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 in the world for employees.

 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. 

This role involves working for Paws & Stay, the UK’s only dog-first travel website, created by animal lovers to take the frustration out of finding genuinely dog-friendly places to stay. It’s run on the same solid principles, but with a focus on dogs in everything from the places chosen to the walks and pubs recommended. 

Your role – Commercial Manager 

Calling all dog lovers! We’re seeking someone to take up a key management role in our growing dog-friendly team. This role holds responsibility for all aspects of the business, including sales, marketing, customer onboarding, support, development and operations. The ideal candidate will have worked in an online B2C environment with a record of successful business development, scaling-up and growing sales without compromising exceptional account management. With a sales, business development and marketing background, you’ll bring authentic leadership skills, along with the capability and motivation to inspire your team to exceed expectations and to embrace new opportunities. If you’re a strategic thinker with the confidence, commitment and commercial acumen to manage change, we want to hear from you. This is very much a hands-on role, where you’ll be rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in with a small but mighty team (dogs often included in meetings!). 

Reports to 

Managing Director 

Works closely with 

The Marketing Department 

Pricing & Revenue Management 

Operations 

Business Development 

Guest Experience Team 

Platform Team 

Main tasks and responsibilities 

Sales and Revenue Growth 

• Enable the team to achieve and exceed revenue targets
• Develop robust customer acquisition and retention plans
• Improve booking conversion rates through effective sales and marketing strategies
• Identify new opportunities and revenue streams

Marketing and Brand Development 

• Work with the wider marketing team to develop strategy and annual budget to meet commercial targets for growth 
• Bring business insights, data and market trends to help shape impactful marketing campaigns

Performance Analysis and Commercial Insight 

• Monitor KPIs, metrics and performance dashboards to keep targets firmly in sight
• Conduct regular analysis of results, 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 commercial 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 

• Commercial background including in sales and marketing with a proven track record of achieving ambitious targets
• Demonstrable experience in performance-led environments
• B2C online/e-commerce background
• Experience in a senior or management role
• Leadership with clarity, motivation and direction to the team
• Excellent communication and management skills
• Experience working in a small fast-growing business 

 Salary & Benefits 

• Up to £45,000 per annum 
• 26 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays 
• Full-time, 37.5 hours/5 days per week 
• This role requires at least 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 (needs to be commutable from 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. 
• 15% employee discount and 10% family & friends discount on Paws & Stay breaks in the UK. 
• 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: 27 November 2025 

 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 on [email removed - click apply for more details] or call 0117 204 7828.