Guided Tours Operations Manager (Milan)

Location: Milan, Italy

Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: €50,000–€60,000 gross annual salary, depending on experience, plus a performance-based bonus of up to 10%, plus a guiding rate of €35/hour for tours personally led (negotiable)

Company: Empire Tours & Productions

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About the Role

Empire Tours & Productions is seeking a hands-on, entrepreneurial City Manager to build and operate our growing Milan business.

This person will essentially act as the local owner of Empire's Milan operation, with responsibility for people, products, partners, customer experience and day-to-day performance. This is a build-from-scratch role: the candidate will work directly with Empire's team to research, write, develop and test the tour portfolio we launch in Milan — and will personally guide tours as one of Empire's first guides there while the local guide team is hired and trained.

We are looking for someone who enjoys building an operation rather than simply inheriting one.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee Empire's daily Milan tour and experience operations.
• Work with Empire's team to research, write, test and launch Milan's tour portfolio from scratch — this is a hands-on product-development role, not managing an existing lineup.
• Personally guide tours as one of Empire's first guides in Milan during launch and ramp-up, until the local guide team is hired and trained.
• Recruit, train, schedule and manage tour guides and operational staff.
• Maintain high standards for customer experience and tour quality.
• Develop relationships with attractions, venues, hotels, restaurants, transportation companies and other tourism partners.
• Identify opportunities for exclusive inventory, partnerships, combinations and ancillary revenue.
• Manage scheduling, staffing levels, guide performance and operational logistics.
• Monitor product-level sales and financial performance.
• Work with Empire's marketing and distribution teams to improve product performance.
• Ensure operational issues are identified and resolved quickly.
• Assist Empire leadership with future expansion into additional Italian cities.
• Develop local processes that can eventually be replicated elsewhere in Italy.

Ideal Candidate

We are looking for a highly energetic operator who enjoys tourism, hospitality and building businesses. Candidates with experience in tours, attractions, hotels, travel companies, events, destination management companies, museums, transportation or other customer-facing businesses are particularly encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• Certified/licensed Tour Guide in Italy (required) — an important condition of employment, given the need to personally guide tours, especially during the early launch period.
• Fully bilingual in English and Italian (required).
• Prior operational or management experience.
• Strong knowledge of Milan.
• Experience hiring, supervising or developing staff.
• Excellent problem-solving and organizational skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building abilities.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to take ownership.
• Ability to work hands-on rather than manage exclusively from an office.

Compensation & Growth

• Base: €50,000–€60,000 depending on experience.
• The position will also be eligible for a performance bonus of up to 10% tied to agreed operating and financial targets.
• Guiding rate: €35/hour for tours personally led (negotiable), in addition to base salary and bonus. xlwpduy
• Empire is expanding rapidly throughout Europe, and a successful Milan City Manager could ultimately take responsibility for additional Italian cities, special projects, new-market openings or broader Italian operations.