Health club chain seeks innovator for regional role
The search is on for someone to take up the challenge of a newly created position
Getting in shape is not always just a New Year's resolution, for many it is a way of life. A career with a major player in the fitness industry holds the promise of providing career expansion, so your waistline won't have to.
California Fitness is part of 24 Hour Fitness, one of the world's largest private chains of fitness centres with more than 400 clubs worldwide. There are 23 California Fitness clubs around the Asia-Pacific region and the company is growing quickly.
It plans to have 100 clubs by 2016.
A regional fitness administration manager is needed to co-ordinate between back office and club level fitness department staff. This is a great opportunity for an ambitious person looking to be involved in the many aspects of the fitness centre business.
'This role involves working with human resources, administration and finance and work with different staff in different countries with different cultures,' said Rocky Chow Sze-ho, vice-president of fitness, noting that five people will report to the manager from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and the mainland.
As a newly created position, the appointee will need initiative to get the ball rolling. Once off and running, it should give the successful applicant a great deal of satisfaction from making his or her mark.
'Since we created such a solid fitness department in the fitness industry and no one did this before, this role does not have any past case studies or examples to work against,' Mr Chow said, adding that the company had about 2,000 staff working in the region.
Therefore, while it is important to have a finance background to handle the business analysis, a creative and positive personality will go a long way to aiding success.
Other necessary qualifications include a bachelor's degree and at least three years of work experience, preferably in the service industry.
Occasional travelling around the Asia-Pacific region will be required, not only to introduce new systems in existing clubs, but also to help establish new clubs.
'When new clubs open - for example, we just announced our first club in mainland China, the California Fitness-Yao Ming Sport Club, which will open in Beijing this August - this person will need to go there to help set up the fitness team,' Mr Chow said.
In terms of the selection process, shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by the human resources department, fitness department and senior management. Personality will be the key to making an impression during the interview. Someone with an outgoing nature and a genuine enjoyment of working with others is sure to be remembered.
Since this is a diversified role with no established processes, the company will provide any necessary training and support to help the incumbent to do the job better. There are excellent career prospects. In time and with good performance, the manager could be promoted to a director-level position.
