Service Team Member

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty; Dorking; On-site; GBP 12,000 - 18,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 10%

Free entry

Season ticket loan

EV car lease

Perks at work discounts

Holiday allowance

Job summary

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is seeking a Service Team Member at Polesden Lacey, near Dorking, Surrey, to support visitor operations across weekends and school holidays. You’ll handle till admissions, promote membership, and assist in other guest-facing areas as needed.

This is a fixed-term, hourly-paid role with flexible hours and shifts varying from full-day to short shifts.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to deliver excellent customer service.
• Confidence in communicating with visitors and solving problems.
• Willingness to learn new skills and work across sites.
• Able to adapt to busy periods and varying shifts.

Responsibilities

• Handle till admissions and promote memberships.
• Assist visitors and respond to enquiries across reception and other areas.
• Support car park or event areas as needed during busy times.

Skills

Customer service

Problem solving

Team player

Organised

Flexible

Job description

We’re looking for a Service Team Member to join us at Polesden Lacey - Surrey to support our busy teams across visitor operations, particularly over weekends and school holidays. You’ll help us meet targets, solve problems, and deliver great service across different locations.

Hours: 0 hours. Flexible hours available which includes weekend shifts; to be discussed at interview.

Contract/duration: fixed term contract until 31 March 2027 or 6 months from your first day of employment.

This role is an hourly paid, fixed term role. Wherever possible we aim to offer a consistent working pattern, but we’re looking for flexibility as it may be necessary for us to alter this pattern from time to time to suit the needs of the business. We’d give you as much notice of this as possible.

Shifts will be a mix of full day (6-7 hours) or shorter shifts ranging for 4hrs to 5.5 hrs.

Key dates for this role will be October Halfterm and our Christmas offer which launches on 22nd November through to 5th January 2027. February Halfterm 2027 and potentially Easter 2027.

This role requires you to be flexible to work weekends, school holidays and bank holidays, including Christmas. (Polesden Lacey is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

For this role, you’ll need to complete our online assessment instead of using a C.V. or online application form. This will help us understand more about your strengths and give you more information on the role.

Please check your abillity to travel to Polesden as we are not on a bus or train route.

What it's like to work here

Reporting to the Welcome Manager you’ll be part of a team of 8 Welcome and Service team members and 7 car parkers working at Polesden Lacey within the Clandon and Hatchlands property group.

Polesden Lacey hosts over 400,000 visitors in a year with many popular that bring the crowds in such as Lazy Jazz Sundays during the summer months and our Christmas offer which delighted 75,000 visitors in 2025. If you’re looking for a fast-paced environment this is the place for you. You’ll primarily work out of the visitor reception building, sometimes supporting pop up areas on busy days, our volunteers work alongside us to help bring the magic to the visitor journey. The main duties of the role are using the till for admission, promoting membership and dealing with customer enquiries. There may be occasions where we may ask you to support in the car park or on on an event.

What you'll be doing

The core part of your role will be working within Visitor Reception, helping us meet service and targets. You may be asked to help out in other departmental areas.

Day to day, you’ll deliver a great all-round customer service experience. At the till point you’ll be on hand answering queries and listen to what our visitors need so you can share the right information. You'll offer information on why Gift Aid is important to us as acharityas well as promote the benefits of membership to the National Trust.

Some days are slower in off-peak months where you have more time to get to know our visitors, whereas during peak times (2,500 + visitors per day) you'll need to adapt to visitor flow; dealing with the pressure of queues, fast-tracking visitors to our outdoor teams and still be keen to promote everything we do. This role would suit anyone with enthusiasm for delivering great customer service and enjoys the challenge and reward of public facing roles.

Who we're looking for

We’d love to hear from you if you’re:

• focused on giving great service to everyone you meet
• confident speaking with visitors and solving problems
• a team player, but also happy to work on your own initiative
• well‑organised, adaptable, and flexible to work across different sites
• willing to learn new skills and work towards shared goals

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)
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)
• 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.

National Trust place

Polesden Lacey, Great Bookham, Dorking, RH5 6BD

Documents

Service Team Member - Career Level A2.pdf

Requirements

Compliance.Eligibility to Work in the UK

Additional information

Closing Date: 20th September 2026

Equal Opportunities Statement

The National Trust celebrates diversity and is committed to creating a fair and equal society, free from discrimination. You can read more about our commitment to inclusion and diversity here.

Safeguarding Statement

The National Trust is committed to a safe recruitment processes to help the organisation attract and appoint the right staff/volunteer for the role and responsibilities as set out in the vacancy advert. We will not accept applicants who are not suitable to work with children, young people or adults at risk. If you have any questions around your suitability for this vacancy, please contact the people service centre.