Business Development Manager - Thames Valley - Star Pubs

Job Description

Business Development Manager – Thames Valley

Function: Star Pubs
Location: Field-based role – across Maidenhead, High Wycombe and Reading – due to the nature of the work and to ensure you can achieve the right work-life balance, we’re looking for someone who lives in or close to this area

Salary: circa £55,000 base, depending on experience, plus full benefits listed below.

Closing Date: Tuesday 5th May 2026

Contract: Permanent

HEINEKEN has a long-held belief that pubs are an integral part of British culture and that well-invested pubs, run by skilled pub operators, can prosper and thrive. As the nation’s leading pub, cider and beer company and the name behind a host of brilliant brands, we’re looking for equally brilliant people to help us bring out the best in the great British pub.

Part of that future is supporting our pub operators to grow sustainable businesses and play a positive role in their communities. None of this is possible without colleagues who care about people, account management, and delivering commercial results.

About the role
As a Business Development Manager with Star Pubs, you’ll manage around 33 pubs across the Thames Valley region (Maidenhead, High Wycombe and Reading).

You’ll work closely with pub operators and lessees, supported by a virtual team including Pub Operations, Estates and Property. Together, you’ll focus on improving performance, strengthening relationships, and making sure each pub is set up to succeed and trading at its best.

You’ll combine commercial accountability with hands-on relationship management, helping operators run better, more profitable pubs.

What you’ll do

• Build trusted, long-term relationships with pub operators and lessees
• Develop and own clear, practical business plans for each pub in your patch
• Take ownership of P&L performance across your estate
• Identify opportunities to grow revenue and improve efficiency
• Support new lettings and operator recruitment where required
• Agree on commercial terms and review trading performance
• Work with internal teams to improve operations, marketing and customer experience
  
  

You’ll have freedom to structure your diary, with key touchpoints such as team meetings. We trust you to manage your time and deliver outcomes.

Who we’re looking for
You’ll likely come from an area/regional operational management role within a multi-site environment where you’ve balanced commercial targets with people leadership and customer focus.

This is not a pure sales role. It suits someone who enjoys coaching, influencing, and improving performance through strong relationships.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience in retail, hospitality, leisure or multi-site management
• Strong Profit & Loss (P&L) ownership and financial performance delivery.
• Ability to work across functions, balancing commercial delivery with long-term partnerships.
• Commercial thinking with the confidence to make sound decisions that grow profitability.
• Experience managing a varied patch and competing priorities
• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• A passion for creating exceptional customer and consumer experiences.

Experience in the pub sector is a bonus, but we’re open to candidates from other industries who bring the right commercial acumen and customer focus gained outside of the pub industry (retail, hospitality etc.) and who’re as passionate about consumers and customers as we are.

A full UK driving licence is essential for this role. Ideally, you'll have at least 3 months of professional driving experience, but if you don't, that's fine. We'll provide full on-road driver training during your first few months with us.

Why Join Us?
At Star Pubs, part of the global Heineken family, we believe in investing in our people and fostering a culture of collaboration and growth. This is a role where you can really make a difference, to both the business and the communities we serve. If you’re looking for a challenge and an opportunity to take your career to the next level, then we want to hear from you.

The Good Stuff!
In addition to your base salary, you’ll also receive:

• Annual bonus
• Company Car (a current and full Driving Licence is a must for this role)
• Meal and Broadband Allowance
• Company-funded Private Medical Healthcare
• Double-matched pension contributions (up to 10%)
• 35 days holiday (with the opportunity to buy/sell)
• A quarterly allowance towards purchasing our delicious ciders and beers (low and no alcohol options available)!
• Exciting opportunities to develop your career.

You’ll also get the opportunity to get involved with one of our colleague networks, where groups of colleagues from all over the business work together to ensure we’re always working towards being a diverse and inclusive company.

The Application
If you like what you’ve read and want to explore this opportunity further, please apply as soon as possible. We may close vacancies early when we receive significant numbers of applications, so don’t delay!

If you need any adjustments made to support your application, for example, if you require information in different formats, or if you have any accessibility issues, then we’re more than happy to review our processes – please feel free to get in touch with us as recruitment@heineken.co.uk

In all likelihood, the ideal candidate for this role won’t meet every single requirement in this advert; in fact, we all need the opportunity to grow and develop in the role. We understand some applicants are less likely to apply to jobs unless they feel they meet every single qualification. The team at HEINEKEN would encourage you to submit an application if the advert has piqued your interest rather than ruling yourself out based on any self-limiting beliefs. You never know, you may be exactly what we’re looking for!

Who We Are
Star Pubs is part of HEINEKEN UK. The vast majority of our 2,400 pubs are leased out to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Around 200 pubs operate on our Just Add Talent model (a managed operator agreement). Our ambition is to bring out the best in the great British pub – by attracting and retaining the best operators, investing to create great pubs at the heart of their communities and providing licensees with market-leading insight and support.

Apply today to discover Your Future, Untapped