General Manager - Swim School Operations

General Manager
Aqua-Tots Swim School - North Indianapolis | Swim School Operations & Team Leadership
Full-Time | $60,000-$70,000 Base Salary | Up to $10,000+ Bonus Opportunity | 75% Employer-Paid Health Insurance | PTO + Paid Closure Time

Aqua-Tots Swim School in North Indianapolis is hiring a General Manager to lead our school, develop our team, grow enrollment, and deliver an exceptional experience for the families we serve.

This is a full-time leadership role that comes with real responsibility, meaningful work, direct access to ownership, and a level of flexibility that is hard to find in most service-based management roles.

We are a family-owned, multi-location Aqua-Tots group with four schools across Indiana and Kentucky. At Aqua-Tots, we do more than teach swim lessons. We help kids gain confidence, support families, develop young leaders, and teach life-saving skills that make a real difference in our community.

About the Role

The General Manager is the leader of the school and is responsible for overall school performance, including team leadership, sales, customer retention, staffing, culture, facility standards, daily operations, and revenue growth.

This role directly leads the Front Desk and all dry-side operations, while partnering closely with the Assistant General Manager, who leads the aquatic team. Everyone in the school ultimately reports to the General Manager, and the GM is responsible for making sure the entire team is aligned, supported, trained, and held accountable.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The right person will be organized, confident, flexible, people-focused, and energized by leading a team from the front.

What You’ll Own

Lead the School

• Serve as the primary leader of the North Indianapolis school.
• Create a positive, professional, high-accountability team culture.
• Lead, coach, train, and develop the Assistant General Manager, team leads, front desk staff, and school team.
• Run weekly leadership meetings using our EOS Level 10 meeting structure.
• Lead monthly in-service trainings to align the team on service standards, sales processes, customer experience, school priorities, and operational execution.
• Build and develop the AGM as a future school leader and potential replacement-level leader.
• Make sure the school is staffed, trained, and ready to deliver a great experience every day.

Drive Sales, Revenue, and Retention

• Own school-level revenue growth, enrollment, and customer retention.
• Lead the front desk team in consistently following the sales process.
• Coach the team on phone calls, tours, lead follow-up, trial conversions, and enrollment conversations.
• Follow up on cold leads and make sure no strong opportunity is missed.
• Support sales contests and incentive programs that drive performance.
• Track key school metrics and use them to improve results.
• Manage cancellation notices and withdrawal conversations early in the role, then train others to handle them effectively.
• Proactively test new ideas to improve lead conversion, customer retention, and enrollment growth.

Deliver an Excellent Family Experience

• Build strong relationships with families and students.
• Ensure every family receives clear, helpful, and timely communication.
• Manage escalated customer concerns with professionalism and care.
• Own the school’s Listen360 process and help improve the customer experience and NPS score.
• Make sure families understand their child’s progress, next steps, and the value of staying enrolled.
• Create a school environment where parents feel welcomed, supported, and confident in our team.

Build, Train, and Retain the Team

• Lead recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, accountability, and performance management.
• Identify staffing needs and execute a hiring strategy to support school growth.
• Develop team leads and future leaders.
• Ensure the right people are in the right seats.
• Retain strong team members and address performance issues quickly and professionally.
• Create a culture where staff feel supported, challenged, and proud of the work they do.

Manage Operations, Labor, and Facility Standards

• Manage daily school operations with a focus on efficiency, cleanliness, safety, revenue growth, and customer retention.
• Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and professional facility.
• Manage labor within provided guidelines.
• Partner with ownership on budget, expenses, vendor needs, repairs, and operational priorities.
• Ensure the school has the supplies, retail products, chemicals, and tools needed to operate successfully.
• Support facility needs, vendor communication, and operational problem-solving.
• Become Water Safety Instructor certified as part of onboarding so you understand the business and can support coverage when needed.

What the Job Looks Like

This is not an office-only role. The best General Managers are visible, active, and involved in the daily rhythm of the school.

You will spend time leading the front desk and customer experience, coaching sales conversations, supporting enrollment follow-up, training and developing team members, supporting the AGM and aquatic team, solving customer concerns, reviewing staffing and labor needs, walking the facility, leading meetings and in-services, and working with ownership on school performance and priorities.

The GM may occasionally cover shifts when needed, but the long-term goal is to build and staff the team so coverage emergencies become rare.

Schedule

This is a full-time salaried leadership role with a minimum expectation of 40 hours per week in the building.
The General Manager has significant control over their schedule, as long as the key schedule expectations are met:

• At least one weekend day each week.
• At least one closing shift each week.
• At least one opening shift each week.
• Flexibility to support school needs, staffing, and family experience.

We are a retail/service business, so visibility during key operating times matters. At the same time, we are a family-owned business that works hard to provide real flexibility.
We believe great leaders should be able to build a career without missing out on life. Doctor appointments, kids’ school events, family needs, and important personal commitments are part of life - and we do our best to work around them whenever possible.

Compensation & Benefits

• $60,000-$70,000 base salary, depending on experience.
• Up to $10,000 annually in revenue bonus opportunities, paid quarterly based on school performance.
• Quarterly revenue bonus opportunity of up to $2,500 per quarter.
• Additional upside available when stretch revenue goals are achieved.
• Additional promotional sales bonus opportunities throughout the year.
• 75% of employee health insurance premium paid by employer.
• Access to dental, vision, accident, and other voluntary benefits.
• 10 days of PTO to start.
• Extensive paid school closure time throughout the year, adding nearly two additional weeks away from work.
• Paid major holidays.
• Multi-day closures around Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.
• Extended winter closure around Christmas and New Year’s.
• Laptop provided.
• Mileage reimbursement for approved work-related travel.
• Paid training and ongoing professional development.
  
   

Bonus note: The General Manager is eligible for meaningful performance-based bonus opportunities. We are looking for a leader motivated by building a strong team, improving customer retention, growing enrollment, and helping the school reach its full potential.

Training & Support

You will not be expected to figure this out alone.

• Paid training at Aqua-Tots Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona for approximately 2-3 weeks.
• Water Safety Instructor certification as part of onboarding.
• Front desk, sales, customer service, and operations training.
• Continued support from Jake, Lindsay, Katie, and the Aqua-Tots leadership team.
• Access to Aqua-Tots’ digital training resources and ongoing professional development.
• Hands-on support as you learn the business, the team, the systems, and the school.

First 90 Days

Timeline

Primary Focus

First 30 Days

Complete training and certification, learn Aqua-Tots systems, understand the school, and build relationships with the team.

By 60 Days

Evaluate staffing, understand team strengths and gaps, identify hiring needs, and begin executing a plan to improve staffing, training, sales, and retention.

By 90 Days

Build hiring and training momentum, strengthen accountability, improve communication, and move the school closer to its staffing, service, and performance goals.

Who We’re Looking For

We are looking for a proven leader who has successfully managed people before. A Bachelor’s degree is not required. Experience matters more than education.
This could be a great fit for someone who has been:

• A General Manager.
• An Assistant General Manager ready for the next step.
• A strong Assistant Manager, Operations Manager, or Department Leader.
• A retail, hospitality, fitness, childcare, restaurant, recreation, education, or customer service leader.
• A swim school or aquatics leader from a strong-performing location.

The right candidate must be able to lead people, train people, sell, retain customers, communicate clearly, and operate at ground level with the team.

Traits That Matter Most

• Organized, confident, flexible, and highly communicative.
• An active listener who likes kids and families.
• Training and development focused.
• Comfortable leading a team, setting expectations, and holding people accountable.
• Comfortable with sales, customer retention, and direct customer conversations.
• Able to have hard conversations in a professional and respectful way.
• Energized by building people, systems, and culture.
• Willing to be hands-on when the school needs it.

Why This Opportunity Is Different

This is a chance to lead what should be our flagship school.

The North Indianapolis location has significant growth potential, and we are looking for a quality General Manager who can help rebuild momentum, develop the team, improve retention, grow enrollment, and lead the school toward stronger performance.

You will have the responsibility of running a serious service-based business, but without the cold corporate feel of big-box retail. You will work directly with ownership, have real influence over your work environment, and lead a team that does meaningful work every day.
At Aqua-Tots, we are not just teaching swim lessons. We are helping prevent drowning, building confidence in kids, supporting families, and developing young leaders.

If you want a leadership role with purpose, flexibility, growth opportunity, and the ability to make a visible impact, we would love to meet you.

Apply today to lead Aqua-Tots Swim School in North Indianapolis as our General Manager.

 

For questions and inquiries please contact our talent acquisition team at View email address on aquatotsswimschools.applytojob.com