Management

Operating for 15 years as a successful community-owned and led tourism destination in the East Cairngorms, Braemar Castle is moving into a new phase of growth. After successfully securing £1.6 million from grant funding and donations, the team has developed and is in the process of delivering a restored building and a community-engagement program, as part of The Raising the Standard and made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The destination is on schedule to be re-opened in the summer of 2023 and is now seeking to appoint a Castle Manager / Head of Visitor Experience. The Castle Manager will lead a team comprising an Activity and Volunteering Engagement Manager, an Outreach Coordinator, the Evaluation team, and a building and ground Caretaker to ensure:
– the delivery of Braemar Castle’s Raising the Standard project which will complete in 2025.
– the smooth day-to-day running of Braemar Castle as a visitor attraction, maximising the opportunities offered by the recent refurbishment
– the preservation of the core values which have sustained the Castle as a community-led visitor attraction since its opening in 2007.

The Castle Manager will report to the Board of Trustees of Braemar Community Ltd (BCL), a Scottish charity (SCO38573) and Company Limited by Guarantee (SC276254) that works to achieve the sustainable economic, environmental, and social development of the community of Braemar.

To apply for this position please write with your CV and cover letter to:

federica@braemarcastle.co.uk
Closing date: 28 February 2023

Assistant Experience and Events Manager

Location: Lochnagar Visitor Centre, Ballater

Type: Permanent, Full-time

Closing date: 26th Feb 2023

The Assistant Experience and Events Manager is an integral role responsible for crafting and implementing our experience and events strategy in collaboration with the Regional Brand Home Manager and central Marketing team. You will lead and be responsible for the delivery of the Brand Home experience programme, on and off-site events, and festivals. This will involve having your finger on the pulse on industry trends to ensure we are providing leading experiences and events.

You will be responsible for:

– delivering outstanding and memorable experiences for customers

– providing attentive and quality service to visitors and the team

– leading the day-to-day management of the full Brand Home operations which include; experience, retail, F&B and ensuring compliance

– running overall operations, leading by example, and prioritizing time on the shop floor in order to encourage the team to deliver premier service.

– ensuring the visitor experience operation is ran with excellence

– providing strong and inspirational leadership while crafting an inclusive environment for your team to achieve set goals to ensure we are operating at an elite level

– setting the tone for customer engagement, encouraging people to discover Scotch whisky, and promoting responsible drinking.

– rostering large teams, leading various front of house sectors and have a strategic approach to help develop

– building all Experience operating procedures to ensure our guests leave with an unforgettable experience

– smoothly running operations, including but not limited to staffing, inventory management, behind the scenes operations, product knowledge, experience marketing execution, and event management.

This role will require weekend and evening work, with opening and closing responsibilities. The successful candidate will be based on site only.

To be successful in this role:

This is the perfect position for someone with strong management experience within a high-end visitor experience/hospitality business/events operation where world class service is a minimum expectation. You’ll be an inspirational leader and empower others to work collaboratively with a positive and enthusiastic approach and the ability to develop, support, train and encourage the team to strive for the best and ensure that you are all set up for success.

You will have a proven track record of working at pace, responding to sales performance, handling multiple priorities and you are results driven with an attention to detail. You will be able to monitor and manage financial KPI’s and be able to implement and execute processes and procedures. Along with this you will be able to harness your expert knowledge within operations, leading large front of house teams and your strong stakeholder management skills as you will be collaboratively working with the Operations, Supply, Retail, Compliance, Finance, and Leadership teams.

This role will have operational complexity and will require advocacy skills, with the ability to think analytically, independently, and strategically. Ideally you will have proven ability to develop strategy and fluently translate this into commercial and operational success.  You will be required to work multiple technology systems for rostering/planning/ticketing etc.

Full training will be provided for you, we just look for individuals who are either hardworking or have a desire to become true brand ambassadors for our whisky portfolio.

Working with Us

Flexibility is key to success in our business and many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time, compressed hours, flexible location. Please talk to us about what flexibility means to you and don’t let anything stop you from applying.

Join us and you can also expect a highly competitive and flexible rewards and benefits package including:

Contemporary work life balance policies and wellbeing activities
Contributory pension scheme
Competitive annual bonus (dependent on performance)
Generous holiday allowance
Celebrating our inclusive and diverse culture is core to Diageo’s purpose of “celebrating life every day everywhere”. This purpose is, in itself, inclusive in nature, as it values everybody irrespective of background, disability, religion, gender identity, sexuality or ethnicity.

We know that for our business to thrive and for Diageo to realize its ambition, we depend on having diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the 180 countries in which we operate and to reflect our broad consumer base. We view diversity as one of the key enablers that helps our business to grow and our values, purpose and standards set the conditions for us to respect the unique contribution each person brings.

About Us

This is a chance to be involved in an ambitious and truly one-of-a-kind team where our aim is to create remarkable and unforgettable experiences across each and every one of our venues across Scotland. Our Malt Brand Homes will take visitors on an immersive, multi-sensory journey through the flavours of Scotland, sharing our love for Scotch with a new generation of whisky drinkers. Visitors will lose themselves in the journey whisky-making in our experiences and make purchases from our fantastic retail offerings. We want our guests to embrace every minute with us and feel the same way we do about our heritage. Being part of Diageo means being a torchbearer for our brands and making them even better for the next generation. It’s a career-defining responsibility. If you have a genuine passion for our craft, our character and our products, help us continue the story and build a great career in the process. 

Lochnagar is an iconic visitor centre that provides extraordinary visitor experiences to all our visitors from around the globe.  We captivate and educate our guests whilst leading them throughout our full-sensory interactive tour and tasting experiences. Our people are making history every day and act as true ambassadors for this inspiring brand.  

Feel inspired? Then we may have the opportunity for you. 

Location: Adam Smith, Kirkcaldy
Working Hours: Full time
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary Banding: £40,254 – £48,373
Reference: ON000407

Our Opportunity

We are OnFife and as Fife’s largest cultural organisation we specialise in making jaws drop, hearts warm, eyes light up and imaginations run wild. We work with a huge range of partners, artists and creatives and our spaces are some of Fife’s favourite places. A leadership oriented organisation, we’re built on strong values, and those values make us who we are – Fearless, Inviting, Fair and Exciting. As our organisation continues to grow and develop, we are committed to keeping the needs of our customers at the forefront of our thinking – we need an exceptional individual to lead and inspire the talented team that supports our customer growth and influences service delivery.

The Role

Our organisation has had the honour of operating Adam Smith theatre since 2012, the building has been a local treasure for over 100 years and over the past 2 years it has been undergoing a huge transformation and will be returning to communities later this year.

The venue will be a creative and cultural focal point for Kirkcaldy and Fife and the right candidate will be someone who can bring the venue to life, bringing back communities who have been long term supporters whilst engaging new audiences and visitors to the venue. You will be the kind of person that is bursting with ideas and inspiration coupled with the mindset and attention to detail that brings your ideas into reality.

A people person you will be skilled at forming relationships and taking the lead when required, taking forward this new exciting venture will require a leader who can bring people together with a shared vision. An excellent communicator you will work collaboratively with OnFife colleagues, embracing an equitable and co-ordinated approach to service delivery and development, demonstrating the vision, empathy, and agility to contribute at the highest level.

You can view the full job and person spec on our current vacancies page.

The Successful Candidate

We’re looking for someone who has demonstrable experience in the field of venue management. You will be able to show an understanding of what is needed to run an operation that is people focused whilst meeting the demands of a large multi-faceted venue. Experience of budget management, meeting targets, ensuring a H&S conscious work environment and customer engagement across different fields is essential.

You love working with people and have a hunger and drive to push others to produce their best work, demonstrating your belief in the team as the sum of its parts. A solutions provider, you can think fast, multitask and translate ideas into action. Confident in who you are, you lead from a place of authenticity, demonstrating the resilience and adaptability to inspire others in the face of significant and complex change.

The successful candidate will join a coaching oriented company who are vested in personal development and who offer an exciting leadership development programme. In addition, you will profit from a contributory pension scheme, employee discounts, generous annual leave, flexible working along with a range of wellbeing initiatives.

This is a truly unique and exciting opportunity for the right person to join an organisation that’s committed to excellence in cultural delivery for the people of Fife.

How to Apply

Visit our current vacancies page where you can download our application form. When you’re ready to apply, submit your completed form along with a completed equal opportunities monitoring form to our HR Team.

We will review applications as they are received. We recognise that it is a competitive market for talented people right now and would encourage anyone interested in the post to get in touch and submit an application in a timely fashion.

For a conversation about the position please contact Marcus Kenyon.

Closing date for applications is 12noon on Friday 17 February 2023.

OnFife is an equal opportunities employer.

Purpose

To effectively manage day-to-day visitor operations at Almond Valley, leading the front-line staff teams responsible for visitor services and housekeeping, and putting everything in place to ensure that everyone enjoys a brilliant day out

Scope

Responsible for the planning and management of daily operations; anticipating likely visitor demand, based on factors such as bookings, holidays, and weather, and then rostering staff and timetabling resources to match requirements. Monitoring and maintaining standards of service, safety, and cleanliness and maintaining appropriate records. Anticipating visitor needs and responding effectively to all eventualities

Main Responsibilities

• To roster, supervise, and support our front-of-house and housekeeping staff and promote an effective, flexible and friendly team

• To monitor all parts of the visitor experience throughout the day, ensure that everything is as it should be, pre-empting problems, and solving any issues that might arise. To ensure that inspections are properly carried out and recorded, and all necessary action is taken to ensure safe and satisfactory operation.

• To direct and to contribute towards all front of house operations at reception, ensuring that every visitor receives a friendly welcome, clear information, and an efficient response to all queries

• To direct and coordinate cleaning and tidy team staff

• To respond to routine visitor enquiries or concerns received by phone, e-mail or social media. To undertake or oversee the processing of bookings, on-line ticketing, management of annual passes and related administration

• To undertake or oversee cash handling and the counting of tills, and associated record-keeping

• To attend to appropriate messaging to visitors though temporary signage, e-boards, social media and website. To coordinate daily timetables of visitors activities and respond to any changes necessary.

• To oversee operation of the gift shop, along with associated purchasing, merchandising and stock control

• To contribute to broader administration and marketing activities as capacity permits out-of-season

• To work with the Operations Manager in developing procedures and standards of service, and in the training and development of your team

• As part of the team at Almond Valley, to contribute inspiration, energy and good ideas to the continued improvement of every aspect of our visitor operations.

• To serve, by rota or other arrangement, as Responsible Officer, in daily charge of operation as a visitor facility and responding to all eventualities.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

You will be comfortable and competent in overseeing the operation of a popular family-based visitor attraction. The necessary skills and experience are likely to have been gained through service in the attractions, events or hospitality sectors, or in other environments where delivering happy experiences and satisfied customers come as second nature.

You will have well developed customer care skills, knowing what it takes to keep our visitors happy, and having the patience, presence, and initiative to help fix things should they go wrong. You’ll have an affinity with the children and families that make up most of our audience

You will be confident in leading a team, ensuring that standards are met and remedial action is taken when necessary, but also supporting and mentoring, and looking-out for your team. You’ll lead by example, accept responsibility, and command respect

You’ll be a quick-thinker with a cool head and a knack for finding practical solutions. Also good with words when responding to written enquiries

You’ll be digitally literate and comfortable in the use of software and tools associated with booking, ticketing, EPOS and other activities. You’ll be methodical and good with numbers

Practical Stuff

The post is based at Almond Valley. We work a 40 hour week, normally 9-5, working five days out of seven which will include a good proportion of weekends. Hours can vary to suit the needs of the business and may include some coverage of out-of-hours events

The Operations Team Leader will report to, and work closely with, the Operations Manager to deliver
brilliant days out, great events, and happy visitors

Purpose

To effectively manage the profitable operation of Almond Valley Heritage Centre as a popular and happy visitor destination, generating the income and footfall necessary to support the Trust’s charitable purposes

Scope

Responsible for overseeing every step of the visitor journey. Firstly by looking at things from a visitor’s perspective to shape and market appealing products, then by ensuring clear messages and easy processes when planning a visit, culminating in delivery of brilliant, memorable, visitor experiences that cultivate an ongoing affinity with our customers. In parallel to this magic, to apply an astute head for business to drive income and make best economic use of our resources

Main Responsibilities

• To maintain a broad insight into the nature and behaviours of current and potential audiences through feedback, research, and ongoing dialogue. To maintain an informed understanding of the market in which we operate; of market trends, and of the nature of our competitors.

• To apply market insight to the planning and implementation of promotion, advertising, and communication activities that raise awareness and promote an appealing image of Almond Valley as a family visitor destination. To drive footfall as consequence

• To develop and manage special events, programmes, and activities that add to the core visitor product, enhance footfall and income, and extend market appeal or better year-round use of facilities.

• To manage pricing strategy, discounts and promotions, and develop new packages and products, including the private hire of facilities or other out-of-hours operations

• To manage relationships with our customers, maintaining friendly dialogue with our audiences through contributing to social media and other channels. Overseeing the handling of visitor queries, and taking the lead on service recovery if things go wrong.

• To line-manage the Operations team leader(s), and be responsible for all visitor services, tidy team, and cleaning staff; attending to their recruitment, training, performance and development

• To oversee and develop all aspects of the visitor experience, coordinating with the Farm & Facilities Manager, the Catering Manager, Curator and the Office Manager in their respective areas of activity to ensure an alignment that best serves the needs of our visitors, and our commercial interests.

• To work productively with other teams, especially when planing for the seasonal cycle of business (during which who-does-what may vary), in order to make best use of resources.

• To design and manage all aspects of the visitor-facing operations, devising and enforcing systems, operational standards, procedures, and record-keeping that ensures visitor satisfaction and promotes safe and efficient working.

• To oversee the management and ongoing development of the Almond Valley website and the associated back-office booking and sales functions. To manage the administration and processing of bookings, passes and other visitor products, and to timetable resources.

• To be responsible for the successful and profitable operation of the gift shop and effectively use of EPOS software and other technology to record sales, visitor statistics, stock levels and performance.

• To coordinate with, and contribute towards, the wider purposes of the Trust. Promoting and developing our playful family-facing brand while remaining in harmony with our wider purposes.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Being the leader of a small team responsible for such a big range of activities calls for initiative, resourcefulness, flexibility and a give-it-a-go mentality. You’ll need to wear many hats. Keeping sight of the fun behind everything that we do also helps. The needs of the job requires an entrepreneurial instinct, and self reliant approach that has been shaped by relevant experience. Useful skills and judgement will have been acquired along the way

This experience is likely to have gained in commercially-focussed roles, providing insight into marketing and growing businesses, perhaps in the attraction, event or wider hospitality sectors. Insight into our family audience and empathy with them is important, while delivering happy experiences and satisfied customers should come as second nature.

You’ll have a head for business, seeing opportunities, knowing how to respond to them, and being bold when required.

You’ll think and act creatively to solve problems and create new opportunities, but at the same time be analytical and work logically through a process.

You’ll have a nice turn of phrase, expressing ideas simply and clearly, and ensuring a happy dialogue with the families and children who are our most important customers.

You’ll be a wise leader, getting the best out of your team, and making the best of every opportunity

You’ll be digitally literate and eager to explore the advantages of digital technologies

Practical Stuff

The post is based at Almond Valley. We work a 40 hour week, normally 9-5 or 8-4, working five days out of seven. With this senior post, we would expect some flexibility in working hours to suit the needs of the business.

The Operations Manager will report directly to the Director/CEO and may deputise for him in certain areas. They will lead and develop a team of between ten and twenty staff (depending of the season) engaged in visitor services, tidy team and cleaning duties. By rota, or other arrangement, the Operations Manager will serve as duty Responsible Officer

Job Title: Operations Manager – Blair Castle
Reporting to: Head of Tourism
Responsible for: The daily operation of Blair Castle, delivering a 5 star customer experience to both independent travellers and the coach trade. You will manage and deliver sales and costs budgets through key performance indicators. Motivation and direction of the reception, guides and housekeeping teams is fundamental.

Role Objective
The Operations Manager is a vital role in the delivery of the five star Visit Scotland experience for our visitors and can only be delivered by leading the team to achieve consistently high standards and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement. As this is a 7 day a week operation with many evening functions high standards will only be delivered through strong team working, an eye for detail and a tenacious approach to removing any barriers to achievement. The Castle is a key contributor to Atholl Estates and the Operations Manager needs to be sales focussed, delivering direct and secondary sales and working proactively with the marketing team to identify trends and new sales opportunities. The management of costs budgets, particularly salaries, is fundamental to the role and the correct balance needs to be achieved for an efficient operation.
Effectively communicate with castle colleagues in other areas such as maintenance, events, catering, retail and gardens is essential, as is support of the team on the wider estate, particularly Caravan Park, Historic Lodges, Trekking, Safaris, Tractor tours and Rangers.

Job description

Visitor Experience
A highly visible, floor based manager of the castle team, leading by example.
Ensure that a friendly, welcoming and personal approach is delivered by all members of the team.
Deliver a consistent, high quality experience for each visitor consistent with a 5 star accredited venue.
Maintain and improve the high standard of housekeeping and display across all internal and external castle areas.
Monitor and respond to customer feedback data.
The key point of contact for any visitor queries and problem resolution.
With the archivist, maintain the quality and security of room presentation.
Improve the level of additional activities for castle visitors to encourage repeat visits.
Human Resources
Recruitment, induction and on-going coaching of seasonal teams.
All team members are kept updated through daily updates and weekly itineraries.
Control of flexible weekly rotas reflecting business need.
Team development using an inclusive style with regular feedback and annual performance reviews.
Manage and control holiday entitlement and sickness

Operations
Accept a leading role in the delivery, maintenance and operation of our EPOS ticketing system
Liaise with restaurant and shop to ensure that there is a seamless continuity of standards to the castle operation.
Work with castle maintenance team to deliver a planned schedule of works and have a speedy response to reactive works.
Ensure that H&S controls are effective and recorded.
Ensure that all fire procedures are followed and that regular drills are carried out.
Operational point of contact for IT and telephone system issues.
Ensure that all opening and closing procedures are followed for the castle and gardens.

Sales & Marketing
Agree and deliver annual budgets for tickets sales, guidebooks and tours.
Use weekly and monthly KPI’s to respond to under-performance and identify reasons for high performance.
Oversee high volume coach trade bookings ensuring that we respond and adapt to their needs.
Identify areas for development to improve future product and service offer.
Liaise with marketing team to ensure that print and advertising meets business need.

Finance
Agree and deliver annual costs budgets, specifically wages through clear weekly controls.
Tight management of cash controls, liaising with the office administrator to achieve accurate tills function.
Use the castle purchase order system to allocate spends against budget.

Please send your cv to kerryw@blair-castle.co.uk to apply

An exciting opportunity for an experienced and creative individual has arisen to join our team to continue to grow our retail offerings in our amazing venues across Edinburgh.

We are looking for an individual to be creative in establishing attractive displays of merchandise in order to maximise sales.

Responds to visitor inquiries and requests and to offer alternative solutions to meet customer needs.

Regular contact with suppliers and payments/vendor units. Works in collaboration with colleagues to achieve targets. Deals with visitors of all ages and abilities, local, national and international, and has daily contact with Museum and Council colleagues.

Some who has the experience and confidence to make daily decisions about the operation of the shops. Manages staff rotas and allocates work daily. Assists with recruitment of staff. Makes decisions on stock and suppliers to replenish. Ensures that EPOS transactions and stock control paperwork are correct and accounting procedures adhered to.

Daily decisions on amount and level of information to give to visitors. Prioritises courses of action when venues are very busy and there is pressure from customers. Responds to complex situations when manager is absent. Makes time management decisions to achieve daily/weekly objectives.

Supervise stock control procedures and administration on EPOS system including annual stock-check.

Supervise EPOS retail management system in liaison with Retail and Reception Manager. Collate and analyse data with Retail and Reception Manager for use in merchandising and buying decision-making. Checks the work of Retail and Reception team including casual staff and associated HR system and IT processing of forms including creation of rotas in conjunction with team leaders to ensure building operations.

DCA’s Head of Print Studio is responsible for the leadership of the Print Studio at DCA, an internationally renowned centre for print production, collaboration and research, with a diverse range of standard and specialised print and CNC equipment, offering open access facilities, workshops, courses, residencies, editioning and special projects. The print-based activities developed and delivered by the team engage a broad range of users including artists, community partners and members of the public, as part of DCA’s creative and cultural programme.

Working closely with the Director to fulfil DCA’s vision, the post holder is responsible for bringing their experience and expertise as a print maker to lead the team, and manage and develop the Print Studio workshop, facilities and wider offer.

The Head of Print Studio is a member of DCA’s Senior Management Team, with the Heads of Cinema, Exhibitions, Learning, and Operations, the Deputy Director – Head of External Relations and the Deputy Director – Head of Finance. Strong working, supportive and strategic relationships with all SMT members is key. The Head of Print Studio manages the Print Studio team, which includes five Co-ordinators, the Editions Manager, a Technical Assistant. From Spring 2023, the Emeritus Head of Artist Projects will join the team for two years.

The post holder is also responsible for working closely with the Head of Exhibitions, Head of Operations, Head of Learning and the Communications team to ensure the delivery of activities.

A creative and focused individual, with strong print making and innovative collaboration experience, you will lead the team, and work with the wider organisation and a range of external partners and peer organisations to ensure the Print Studio continues to be a model of excellence regionally, nationally and internationally and which supports DCA’s mission, vision, aims and values. A commitment to equality, anti-racism, social justice and accessibility in all areas of your work is essential.