Ao Patron Operations Manager

At Tennis Australia, we’re creating a more playful world through tennis - for everyone.

From grassroots to Grand Slams, tennis brings people together, inspires communities, and builds champions on and off the court.

We’re a team of imaginative and passionate people who believe in the power of sport to make a difference. If you're ready to help us serve up real impact, we’d love to hear from you.

About the role

As the Patron Operations Manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering a world-class patron experience at the Australian Open. Leveraging your strategic leadership, you will drive the planning, coordination, and execution of key operational areas including Patron Operations, Ticketing Operations, Event Workforce, and Signage & Wayfinding.

You will lead cross-functional projects that foster collaboration and ensure operational excellence across every touchpoint. By embedding a culture of customer-led decision making, you will champion continuous improvement and introduce innovative solutions that elevate the patron experience.

In this role you will be responsible for:

- Lead the end-to-end delivery of the Australian Open patron experience across all touchpoints, pre-purchase to post-event, by overseeing the delivery of patron-facing services, driving cross-functional collaboration and leveraging customer insights to ensure a seamless, high-quality customer journey.
- You will drive innovation to deliver market-leading customer experiences that set new benchmarks in the industry, transforming every interaction into an opportunity to delight and inspire.
- Serve as the key liaison between Patron Operations and the Ticketing team and oversee the ticketing operations throughout the event cycle to ensure seamless execution.
- Provide end to end leadership of the customer experience workforce for the AO to ensure the highest quality people are hired to deliver a world class patron experience.
- Lead the overall AO signage and wayfinding project to ensure consistency, quality and alignment with the patron experience vision, while managing relationships with the contractors and suppliers.
- Take full ownership of all budgets within area of responsibility to ensure rigorous planning, forecasting and delivery is achieved in line with the organisational objectives.
- Support the Head of Precinct Operations with the strategic planning and operational delivery across nominated AO projects, ensuring alignment with the organisational priorities.

About you

To be successful in this role you will be a visionary leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution. With a passion for customer experience, you will combine creativity with operational discipline to continually elevate the Australian Open patron journey and bring our vision of creating a playful world through tennis to life.

In this role you will bring:

- Minimum of 5+ years’ experience leading large-scale customer service or patron operations, ideally coupled with a tertiary qualification in event management, customer experience, business, or a related field.
- Customer centric leadership with major event/venue expertise, preferably in sporting, entertainment, or international event environments, with proven ability to deliver world-class patron operations.
- Strategic project management skills, with experience planning and executing projects across multiple stakeholders, meeting critical timelines, and embedding continuous improvement.
- Extensive leadership skills, with demonstrated experience recruiting, onboarding, and managing large, diverse workforces (350+), fostering engagement, accountability, and performance in high-pressure environments.
- Ability to manage complex, high-volume operations while maintaining attention to detail, compliance, and safety standards.
- Financial and analytical capability, with experience in budget ownership, cost control, and identifying efficiencies and savings while balancing operational needs.
- Hold (or be willing to obtain) a current Police Check and Working with Children Check
- Preparedness to be flexible in regard to working hours and arrangements relating to work associated with Tennis Australia

If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every single requirement, we still encourage you to apply, we value potential and growth as much as experience

What’s to love?
- Career development with a range of formal education and on the job training opportunities
- Tickets to the Australian Open plus Superbox tickets to events at Rod Laver & Melbourne Arena
- Monthly health & wellbeing activities with access to CorePlus Pilates
- Onsite gym, tennis facilities & free onsite car parking
- Salary packaging & a range of discounts from our sponsorship partners
- Attractive leave benefits - with up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave for all primary caregivers and Sorry Business and Ceremonial Leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
- We are proud to be recognis