Head of Interpretation & Programming - Maternity Cover

BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums); United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent wildlife organization in South-West England is seeking a Head of Interpretation & Programming on a 12-month fixed-term contract. You will lead the development of visitor experiences, requiring extensive experience in the arts and cultural sector, strategic thinking, and strong leadership skills. The role offers competitive benefits including 33 days of annual leave and hybrid working opportunities.

Benefits

33 days annual leave

Free entry to all wetland centres

Contributory pension scheme

Life Assurance

Cycle to work scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in the development and delivery of events and visitor experiences.
• Strong experience in managing annual budgets up to £500k.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of excellent visitor experiences across all sites.
• Support strategy delivery through visitor experience programming.
• Collaborate with Head of Experience Development and other department heads.

Skills

Experience in developing visitor experiences

Strategic thinking

Partnership building

Leadership and team motivation

Budget management

Writing creative briefs

Communication and influencing skills

Job description

Head of Interpretation & Programming - Maternity Cover

WWT Slimbridge (Centre)

South-West England - Closing date for applications is: 16th Dec 2025

Do you have a track record of developing and delivering experiences for visitors in the natural environment, arts, culture or attraction sector? Do you want to enable WWT to captivate our audiences as Head of Interpretation & Programming? If so we would love to hear from you.

Reporting to the Director of Operations you will work alongside the Head of Experience Development, Head of Living Collections and Head of Learning to support sites to develop and deliver inspiring experiences for our visitors which connect them with our cause.

You will be the lead specialist advisor for interpretation and programming, and along with your team, play a critical role in supporting the development of excellent visitor experiences across all our sites, creating opportunities for people to experience nature in ways that inspire and move them and embedding nature connectedness in our programmed approach.

This is a 12 month Fixed Term Contract working full time, Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours a week.

About You

• Extensive experience in the development and delivery of events, visitor experiences and engagement in the natural environment, arts and culture or attractions sectors.
• Ability to think strategically and identify areas where experiences can support the delivery of organisational strategy.
• Experience of building partnerships with external creatives and organisations.
• Ability to lead, inspire and motivate teams, both in a direct and matrix management capacity.
• Strong experience of managing annual budgets and projects up to £500k.
• Strong experience of writing creative briefs, managing creative consultants and designers.
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiating skills including internally at a senior level and externally with partners.

While this post is based in Slimbridge Wetland Centre with the opportunity for hybrid working, it is expected that the role would work from site twice a week and as required for key meetings.

We reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a sufficient number of applications from candidates who meet the required skills and experience. We therefore encourage early applications.

About Us

We’re WWT, and we’re on a mission to restore the super-powered ecosystems we call wetlands. There’s never been a more important moment for our work, and we’ve got some phenomenal people on the case.

Whether they’re taking a new visitor under their wing, or conducting ground-breaking research further afield, our team are second to none. And there’s nothing we love more than watching them soar.

Whatever you do here, you’ll be helping to restore wetlands and unlock their power. So, the only question left is, what role will you play?

Why you’ll love working at WWT

• Wake up every day knowing your work is helping to restore wetlands, and our world
• Be surrounded and inspired by our team of passionate, dedicated people
• 33 days annual leave (which goes up to 38 days after 5 years of service) – this includes bank holidays and you have flexibility to take those days whenever you want
• Free entry to all our wetland centres, including your family
• Free car parking and secure bike storage areas
• Colleague discount on shopping and memberships
• Cycle to work scheme
• Contributory pension scheme
• Life Assurance of three times your salary, for peace of mind for your loved ones
• Independent personal, workplace and financial advice from our Employee Assistance Programme

WWT is an equal opportunities employer and all applications will be considered solely on merit.