Visitor Operations & Experience Manager

Are you someone who loves to inspire others to be their best? Do you enjoy programming events and developing memorable experiences for visitors?  

We're looking for a Visitor Operations and Experience Manager to join the Property Leadership Team at Buscot and Coleshill.

This is a fantastic opportunity to lead for excellence in outdoor visitor engagement.

This is a fixed term contract due to end when the previous employee returns from maternity leave.  At this point we cannot confirm exactly how long this contract will last, but it is unlikely to be more than 12 months.

Salary: £36,621. This salary will be applicable from 1st April 2024.

Reporting directly to the General Manager, you’ll lead a team of four direct reports who manage the visitor-facing teams at each property and oversee the visitor journey whether online, onsite or at events and exhibitions. 

You’ll join a fun, friendly and delivery-focused team that works hard but still makes time to enjoy the privilege of looking after some very special landscapes. You’ll be working in a traditional estate office within a National Trust village with its own café and pub and the magical Coleshill Parkland for lunch time escape.  

You’ll be leading for great engagement and improved access across the West Oxfordshire portfolio properties, predominantly outdoor sites including the iconic White Horse Hill, the much-loved Chastleton House, Ashdown House built for a Queen and acres of countryside with key sites including Badbury and Buscot. 

Click here for more information about this location

Working closely with the General Manager and Leadership team, you’ll build on the 2023 opening of the Heritage and Rural Skills Centre in Coleshill, making the most of the new carpark, exhibitions spaces and new course studios. You’ll also lead on stakeholder mapping and developing our community work, which includes Children and Young people.

You’ll take the lead on the National Trust’s fist Heritage & Rural Skills Centre, engaging people with the heritage and conservation crafts and skills required to looked after these outstanding places. You’ll be leading a team to promote the National Trust’s work to local communities, building partnerships and new ways of working.

Establishing new visitor experiences both temporary and more permanent with exhibition spaces and the outdoors, you’ll use your new ideas to unlock the potential of these special places, while ensuring we protect what makes them special.

We'd love to hear from you if you have: 

• an in-depth understanding of visitor operations and high-quality engagement

• ability to engage with our partners and collaborators with ease and confidence

• ability to keep a calm presence at a busy property

• proven abilities in leading an operation (including rotas, budgets and planning across a complex site)

• a collaborative leadership style, taking time to support your team and everyone across the portfolio

• experience of developing and delivering programmes of events and exhibitions supported by effective marketing campaigns

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)

• Tax-free childcare scheme

• Rental deposit loan scheme

• Season ticket loan

• 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

• Independent financial advice

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.