Visitor Experience Team Lead

Pukaha Mount Bruce, National Wildlife Centre; Wellington; On-site; NZD 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre in New Zealand's Wellington region is seeking a practical, positive Team Lead to deliver an exceptional visitor experience across our front-of-house operation. This hands-on role involves leading permanent staff, casuals and volunteers, ensuring a warm welcome, clear information and a consistently high standard of service throughout visitors' stay.

Flexibility to work weekends and public holidays is essential.

Qualifications

• Experience in a busy customer-facing environment.
• Some experience leading, supervising or coordinating others.
• Confidence dealing with customers and resolving problems.
• Strong communication and organisational skills.
• Ability to remain calm and practical when priorities change.
• Willingness to get involved and work alongside the team.
• Good commercial awareness and confidence promoting products or experiences.
• Positive, accountable and solutions-focused approach.

Responsibilities

• Leading the day-to-day delivery of the visitor experience.
• Coordinating permanent staff, casual employees and volunteers during shifts.
• Leading by example and maintaining high customer service standards.
• Ensuring visitor-facing areas are ready, welcoming and well presented.
• Helping coordinate daily talks, tours, activities and visitor programmes.
• Making sure staff have the information they need about promotions, events and visitor activities.
• Supporting staff training, coaching and cross-skilling.
• Following and reinforcing Health & Safety procedures across the visitor operation.

Skills

Team leadership

Customer service

People management

Communication

Organisation

Job description

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Lead the day-to-day visitor experience at Pūkaha, supporting a busy team while helping every visitor feel welcomed, engaged and connected.

Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre is looking for a practical, positive and customer-focused Team Lead to help deliver an exceptional visitor experience across our front-of-house operation.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who enjoys working with people, leading by example and making sure the day runs smoothly.

You will support and coordinate a team of permanent staff, casual employees and volunteers across our visitor-facing areas, helping ensure visitors receive a warm welcome, clear information and a consistently high standard of service throughout their visit.

You won’t be standing on the sidelines directing others. You’ll be part of the operation, supporting the team, solving problems, helping visitors, keeping things moving and stepping in wherever needed.

Lead the day-to-day visitor experience at Pūkaha, supporting a busy team while helping every visitor feel welcomed, engaged and connected.

Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre is looking for a practical, positive and customer-focused Team Lead to help deliver an exceptional visitor experience across our front-of-house operation.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who enjoys working with people, leading by example and making sure the day runs smoothly.

You will support and coordinate a team of permanent staff, casual employees and volunteers across our visitor-facing areas, helping ensure visitors receive a warm welcome, clear information and a consistently high standard of service throughout their visit.

You won’t be standing on the sidelines directing others. You’ll be part of the operation, supporting the team, solving problems, helping visitors, keeping things moving and stepping in wherever needed.

The opportunity

Working at Pūkaha is not like working in a typical retail or hospitality environment. You’ll be surrounded by native wildlife and ngahere, helping create experiences that connect visitors with the conservation work happening around them every day.

You’ll play a key role in making sure our visitor programme is delivered well, the team is organised and informed, and opportunities to enhance the visitor experience are acted on. This is a great opportunity for an experienced supervisor, shift leader or senior customer-service person who is ready to take on more responsibility.

What you’ll be responsible for

• Leading the day-to-day delivery of the visitor experience

• Coordinating permanent staff, casual employees and volunteers during shifts

• Leading by example and maintaining high customer service standards

• Ensuring visitor-facing areas are ready, welcoming and well presented

• Helping coordinate daily talks, tours, activities and visitor programmes

• Making sure staff have the information they need about promotions, events and visitor activities

• Supporting café, retail and visitor centre operations as required

• Encouraging appropriate upselling of tours, memberships, retail and other visitor experiences

• Responding to visitor feedback and resolving issues professionally

• Supporting staff training, coaching and cross-skilling

• Helping manage breaks, shift coverage and changing operational priorities

• Supporting stock control, merchandising and day-to-day operational checks

• Following and reinforcing Health & Safety procedures across the visitor operation

• Working closely with the Visitor Experience & Site Lead to continually improve the way we operate.

What we’re looking for

You may currently be a team leader, supervisor, duty manager, senior retail or hospitality employee, or an experienced customer-service professional ready to take the next step.

You will ideally bring:

• Experience working in a busy customer-facing environment

• Some experience leading, supervising or coordinating others

• Confidence dealing with customers and resolving problems

• Strong communication and organisational skills

• The ability to remain calm and practical when priorities change

• A willingness to get involved and work alongside the team

• Good commercial awareness and confidence promoting products or experiences

• A positive, accountable and solutions-focused approach

• The ability to work effectively with permanent staff, casuals and volunteers.

Experience in tourism, attractions, hospitality, retail, conservation or a similar visitor environment would be an advantage, but it is not essential.

Why Pūkaha?

This is an opportunity to work somewhere genuinely different.

You’ll spend your working day in a nationally significant conservation environment, surrounded by native wildlife and forest, while helping thousands of visitor's experience and understand what makes Pūkaha special.

Every great visitor experience helps support the conservation work happening here.

As a seasonal visitor operation, hours will be higher during our busy summer months and reduce over winter. Flexibility to work weekends and public holidays is essential.

If you enjoy leading people, love delivering great customer experiences and want your work to contribute to something bigger, we’d love to hear from you.