Job summary
Cadw is the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, working for an accessible and well-protected historic environment for Wales.
We do this by:
- helping to care for our historic environment for the benefit of people today and in the future
- promoting the development of the skills that are needed to look after our historic environment properly
- helping people to cherish and enjoy our historic environment
- making our historic environment work for our economic well-being
- working with partners to achieve our common goals together
This post sits within the Marketing and Business Development team, reporting reports to the Senior Commercial Manager. The commercial team comprises one SEO, two HEO s (including this post) and one EO.
Role
Cadw is the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, working for an accessible and well-protected historic environment for Wales.
We do this by:
- helping to care for our historic environment for the benefit of people today and in the future
- promoting the development of the skills that are needed to look after our historic environment properly
- helping people to cherish and enjoy our historic environment
- making our historic environment work for our economic well-being
- working with partners to achieve our common goals together
This post sits within the Marketing and Business Development team, reporting reports to the Senior Commercial Manager. The commercial team comprises one SEO, two HEO s (including this post) and one EO.
This role is key to improving the commercial performance of Cadw sites. It does this by maximising existing income streams and identifying, researching and developing new commercial opportunities. The post holder will manage Cadw’s third party holiday-let properties and the third party food and drink offer; ensure the right licences are in place across all sites to enable trading; develop commercial pricing policy; and oversee the third-party hire programme and related processes, including health and safety. The role will also grow income from filming, trading, weddings and photography, and take a proactive approach to meeting annual income targets across the Cadw estate.
The purpose of this role is to lead on maximising income from Cadw’s holiday lets and catering, and to manage Cadw’s commercial hire operations. The main objective is to meet and exceed annual income targets (£11.030m achieved in FY 2024- 2025). The Commercial Manager works closely with the Senior Commercial Manager to develop, deliver and report on Cadw’s overall commercial offer.
Person specification
- Lead the management of Cadw’s holiday lets (currently 10 properties) with commissioned agents. Act as the first point of contact for all letting issues, ensuring regulatory compliance, maximising income, and reporting.
- Lead the management of Cadw’s catering offer at five Cadw sites, including all pop-up catering operations. Act as the first point of contact for operators, ensuring compliance, maximising income, and reporting.
- Assess applications for the commercial use of Cadw’s historic places. In 2025/26, commercial income (including travel trade, weddings, events, filming, holiday lets and cafés) reached £910k (from total Cadw income of £11.030 million).
- Develop coherent pricing structures for all commercial activity (including holiday lets, catering agreements and private hire), ensuring an appropriate economic return to meet stretching income targets for 2026/27.
- Work closely with the Senior Commercial Manager and Head of Branch to identify and deliver additional income streams, in line with Cadw’s 3 year Business Plan objective: “Commercial opportunities at our properties in care are enhanced so that they maximise their economic, community and social contribution.”
- Liaise with colleagues across Cadw (e.g., site staff, Inspectorate and conservation teams) to ensure commercial use aligns with planned maintenance, conservation work and other events, and that approvals are thorough and legally compliant.
- Carry out robust financial evaluation of all activity and provide recommendations to the senior team on streamlining work and improving effectiveness (e.g., reviewing the holiday-let model and changing catering operations).
- Proactively engage with, and build relationships across, customers, internal teams and external organisations regarding the hire and use of monuments.
- Act as the senior contact for Custodian staff across Wales on third-party hire, holiday lets and catering. Provide H&S instructions, assess risk assessments, and advise customers on site restrictions.
- Ensure the correct licensing is in place to support income-generation activity, and ensure all licence conditions are met.
- Attend trade and commercial events to promote Cadw’s commercial offer (maximum six per year).
- Work alongside colleagues to add value to the core activity set out in the Heritage in Arts Framework, Community Archaeology Framework, Lifelong Learning Strategy and Events Framework, ensuring potential commercial opportunities are fully exploited.
- Manage and develop staff within the team to ensure day-to-day operations are supported effectively. This role will manage between 1 and 2 staff in the commercial department at EO and TS level.
- Exact duties associated with the role may change over time in accordance with business priorities.
Licences
Do you have a valid UK driving license?
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Changing and Improving
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £37,111, Welsh Government contributes £10,751 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
The selection process and stages are:
Number of Stages: Stage 1 | 2 stage process: Application Form
Number of Stages: Stage 2 | 2 stage process: Interview
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact
Recruitment team
