Senior Visitor Experience Officer

National Trust; England; On-site; GBP 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading heritage organization in England is seeking a Senior Visitor Experience Officer to enhance visitor interactions and manage events at Kingston Lacy. This full-time role involves developing engaging experiences, overseeing operations, and managing diverse teams, including volunteers. The ideal candidate will have strong leadership, interpersonal skills, and a commitment to high standards of service. The position offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits, including a substantial pension scheme.

Benefits

Substantial pension scheme

Free entry to National Trust places

Rental deposit loan scheme

Season ticket loan

EV car lease scheme

Gym membership discounts

Holiday allowance up to 32 days

Qualifications

• Experience in devising and running activities for engagement.
• Strong communication skills and able to build relationships.
• Familiarity with interpreting collections to diverse audiences.
• Highly organised and able to work efficiently under time constraints.
• Confident in managing various situations and customer service.

Responsibilities

• Develop engaging visitor experiences as part of a team.
• Plan and deliver seasonal events and activities.
• Ensure smooth operation of events and activities for visitors.
• Assist with duty management and team coordination.
• Engage visitors and manage volunteer teams.

Skills

Knowledge of audience engagement

Leadership and team co-ordination

Operational agility

Budget monitoring

Health and safety awareness

Job description

Summary

Important notice

In line with our redeployment policy, we’ll prioritise applications from employees who are under formal notice of redundancy.

We’re looking for someone with great people skills, who loves to inspire and delight by providing top-quality experiences for visitors, to join us as a Senior Visitor Experience Officer at Kingston Lacy, Dorset. This role supports the Experiences and Programming Manager and wider Visitor Experience team in making sure everything runs smoothly in what is a complex and lively visitor business.

Salary: £26,793 per annum

Contract: Permanent

Hours/ working pattern: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

What it\'s like to work here

The outstanding art collection is one of the main attractions to this beautiful Italian-inspired mansion. As one of the National Trust’s ‘treasure houses’, the 45 strong team have exciting times ahead following a major infrastructure project to improve visitor facilities and are ready to welcome an increased number of visitors to enjoy the 8,500 acre estate and its rare collection of artefacts. A Japanese garden and tearoom and community growing spaces are also among the key attractions at Kingston Lacy. The property has a rural location, so it’s likely you will require your own transport to get here.

For more information about our property please visit

What you\'ll be doing

As part of the Visitor Experience team, you\'ll be focused on developing great visitor experiences as part of a team. This could range from planning and delivering events and activities for Easter and summer to supporting new cultural focused programming linked to the stories of Kingston Lacy. You will work to constantly improve presentation standards and customer service across public facing events and activities.

You’ll work alongside colleagues and volunteers in all departments to ensure the smooth development and delivery of events to make sure everyone who visits has everything they need to enjoy their day.

You'll carry out duty management as needed, and will work weekends on a rota basis. Sometimes you may need to get stuck in and help wherever you’re needed, to keep the whole place running smoothly.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to talk to visitors, introducing them to all that makes Kingston Lacy so special. You may also be managing and supervising others, including volunteers.

You can view the full role profile for this role in the document attached. You don't need to have all the knowledge, skills and experience listed in the role profile; this is just to provide a full picture of what’s possible in this role.

Who we\'re looking for

Applications from redeployees are assessed against the minimum criteria for the role. In your application, please provide details of how you meet the minimum criteria below:-

• Knowledge of audience engagement and inclusive programming in heritage or cultural settings
• Strong leadership and team co-ordination skills
• Ability to respond to operational challenges with agility and professionalism.
• Ability to effectively monitor budgets and track performance
• Deep understanding of health and safety, safeguarding, and compliance in public environments

Additional criteria for all other applicants.

• experienced in devising and running activities to inspire and engage people
• skilled at communicating, and building good working relationships with people in your team and beyond
• aware of ways to interpret precious collections of art and objects to a wide variety of people
• well-organised, and able to work at pace and keep to time
• confident that you can deal with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations
• flexible, yet with a focus on always giving high standards of customer service
• used to working with and supervising volunteers

The package

The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places