Description
JOB OVERVIEW
The Director of the Tennis Center is responsible for providing strategic leadership and operational oversight of all programming, facilities, staff, and business operations of the Prospect Park Tennis Center, ensuring an exceptional visitor experience, expanding community engagement, and driving sustainable revenue growth and financial performance. Director leads a diverse team of full-time, part-time, seasonal, and contracted staff; coordinates the work of vendors and contractors; and collaborates closely with Alliance departments and NYC Parks to maintain and enhance facilities supporting year-round tennis activities.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS / KEY JOB OUTCOMES
Leadership, Strategy & Operations Management
- Collaborate with the Vice President of Visitor Experience and Business Development to create an overall vision and strategy for revenue growth around Tennis Center programming. Lead the planning and execution of Alliance strategic initiatives related to tennis operations, community engagement, customer experience, revenue growth, and facility enhancements.
- Oversee the day-to-day maintenance and operations of a complex public tennis facility including 9 clay courts, 2 hard courts, seasonal bubble structures, and a clubhouse, ensuring safe, efficient, and customer-focused operations.
- Develop and implement strategies to increase participation, customer satisfaction, player retention, and community access across all Tennis Center offerings.
- Develop and execute annual business plans that support growth in participation, court utilization, programming, and revenue in order to ensure long-term financial sustainability. Drive and improve the overall financial health of the Tennis Center by growing revenue consistently year-over-year and actively monitoring and controlling expenses.
- Provide leadership, coaching, performance management, and professional development for Tennis Center staff in partnership with the Alliance's People & Culture team.
- Foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, customer service excellence, and continuous improvement.
- Direct the recruitment, contracting, supervision, mentoring, and evaluation of tennis instructors as needed for tennis programming.
- In collaboration with the Alliance’s Marketing department, develop and implement an effective marketing and promotional plan to support the growth of the Center, including content for the website, advertising, social media, and other collateral.
Program Management and Partnership Development
- Cultivate and manage positive relationships with a broad array of stakeholders including the public, partner organizations, local community members, and professional tennis organizations.
- Encourage participation and engagement by planning and implementing tournaments, special events, exhibitions, clinics, and community-building activities. Identify opportunities to expand access to tennis through community partnerships, outreach initiatives, youth development programs, and special events.
- Identify and establish new programs that will create new access points and enhance visitor experience at the Tennis Center.
- Oversee the execution of tennis programming, ensuring quality instruction and efficient administration.
Administrative Management
- Establish annual operating budgets, quarterly financial forecasts, performance metrics, and business reporting systems to monitor financial and operational performance.
- Ensure compliance with all contractual requirements between Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks and other applicable regulatory requirements. Enforce all Alliance and NYC Parks policies, rules and regulation governing use of the Tennis Center.
- In collaboration with other Alliance staff, contractors, and vendors, lead operational planning associated with capital improvements and other facility projects, ensuring continuity of operations, customer experience, and revenue generation throughout periods of construction and transition.
- Oversee the selection, implementation, optimization, and ongoing utilization of club management software and related business systems.
- Utilize data and analytics to evaluate program performance, identify trends, optimize scheduling and court utilization, and support strategic decision-making.
- Assess existing programs, staff structure, workflow, and operations and make changes as required
Performs other job-related duties and functions as assigned
Requirements
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree in business management, sports management, or other relevant discipline.
- A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible management experience, including at least three (3) years in a leadership role overseeing recreation, sports, hospitality, membership, parks, nonprofit, or customer-facing operations.
- Experience in public recreational facilities or community-based sports programs.
- Intimate knowledge of the sport of tennis including rules and regulations; USPTA/RSPA, PTR, or equivalent racquet sports certification, a plus.
COMPETENCIES (Knowledge, Skills & Personal Attributes)
- Passion for the Alliance Mission & Core Values: A passion for public parks and environmental conservation combined with a commitment to treating others with respect, appreciating individual differences and embracing the values of diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Ethics & Integrity: Earns the trust and respect of others through a consistent commitment to integrity, honesty and professionalism in all interactions.
- Tennis & Sports Center Management: Intimate knowledge of the sport of tennis including rules and regulations in addition to operating and leading a sports center including all relevant programming, facility management, customer and P/L management.
- Relationship Building: A natural relationship builder with excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to think strategically and build constructive and positive working relationships with internal stakeholders characterized by a high level of acceptance, cooperation and mutual respect.
- Communication Skills: Superior written and oral communication skills, including the ability to convey technical information in a clear, culturally competent and understandable manner. Demonstrates effective listening skills and openness to other people’s ideas and suggestions.
- Leadership: Promotes organizational mission and goals and demonstrates ways to achieve them. A natural leader with the ability to inspire and meaningfully engage colleagues in support of the work of the Tennis Center. Ability to gain other’s support for ideas, proposals and solutions. Ensures policies, procedures and measures are in place to support achievement of department goals.
- Staff Management & Coaching: Inspires confidence and motivates team members. Enables staff to grow and be successful in achieving goals through meaningful feedback, instruction, encouragement, support and professional development.
- Decision-Making & Judgment: Integrates broad knowledge of information sources, garners insight from abstract data that can be used to assess problems and exercises sound judgement to make decisions. Thoroughly analyzes impact of possible solutions and decisions and shares probable impacts based on experience. Is proactive in deciding best course of action, anticipating likely outcomes or implications.
- Organization & Accountability: Meticulously well-organized with diligent attention to detail, ability to set priorities, meet deadlines and takes pride in consistently producing accurate, timely and quality work products with minimal supervision.
- Collaboration & Teamwork: Committed to working in collaboration with others, promoting cooperation and commitment to others and being a positive team contributor.
- Results and Impact Focus: Ability to set priorities, meet deadlines and highly motivated to consistently produce high quality work and achieve desired outcomes and results.
- Project & Budget Management: Makes effective decisions about department priorities. Proposes defensible budgets and works to control expenditures. Ensures appropriate resources are available to meet capability and capacity required by objectives. Ensures policies, procedures and measures are in place to support achievement of objectives.
- Customer Service: Exhibits a strong commitment to delivering excellent and responsive service to internal and external customers.
- Technology: Proficient with automated technologies that support area of responsibility including G-Suite and Microsoft Office Suite.
WORKING CONDITIONS & PHYSICAL DEMANDS
- Work is performed in both an interior office setting which does not subject the employee to any hazardous or unusual elements and in the field, which subjects the employee to various external elements including potentially adverse weather conditions. Additionally, involves frequent exposure to challenging elements such as extreme dirt, dust, fumes, smoke, loud noises, chemicals, etc.
- Requires use of a desktop, laptop, or video display terminal.
- Requires minor physical exertion - lifting, pushing, and carrying, etc. up to 25 lbs. regularly.
- Requires communicating information with co-workers, stakeholders and/or the public; reading correspondence, instructions and/or technical documents; writing correspondence and/or reports and filling in forms.
- Travel to different locations in the park as needed to carry out duties.
- Work evenings, nights, and weekends as needed
TOTAL REWARDS (Compensation + Benefits)
- Job Grade: 3 (Mid-level Managerial)
- Annual Salary: $110,000 - 120,000 (annual gross earnings)
- FLSA Status: Exempt
- 20 Vacation Days
- 14 Paid Holidays
- Comprehensive Health Benefits offered, including:
- Medical, Dental, Vision
- Supplemental: Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care FSA, Commuter Benefits, AFLAC & Pet Insurance
- 403b Contributions + 2% Employer Contribution
Diversity Makes Us Stronger Together: Prospect Park Alliance serves park users of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and strives to reflect this diversity throughout our operations and in our leadership, staff, stakeholders and supporters. We know that by creating an equitable and inclusive workplace built on mutual respect and the appreciation of difference, our employees will feel safe to express themselves, voice their opinions and work together to find common ground and solutions. Integral to this vision is our longstanding commitment to provide equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment.
