Visitor Services

About the Team

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is an agency of the Scottish Government. We manage Scotland’s Forests and Land on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. FLS Central region covers 92,000ha of forests, stretching from the Atlantic oak woodlands on Cowal in the West, across Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to the recreational pinewoods of Fife, and includes lowland raised bogs and former coal sites within the southern central belt area.

The Central Region Visitor Services team manage public access and safety across the geographically diverse holdings including 112 managed trails 1, visitor centre and 40 urban woodlands that support the mental and physical wellbeing of over 2.6 million visitors annually. The Region includes Glasgow, Edinburgh, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. This role will be situated in the eastern part of the national park: Queen Elizabeth Forest Park.

Queen Elizabeth Forest Park contains a number of popular visitor locations: The Lodge Visitor Centre, Sallochy Campsite, East Loch Lomond, 3 Lochs Forest Drive, Ben A’an, Ben Ledi, Strathyre, Achray Forest and Loch Ard Forest. The Visitor Centre Supervisor will work from the Lodge Forest Visitor Centre, Aberfoyle and receives over 200,000 visitors annually and is a national 5 star Visit Scotland destination delivering a wide range of visitor experiences on site.

The Visitor Service and Communities (VS&C) team is responsible for ensuring the delivery of high quality visitor experience through the management of the recreational facilities and engagement with: visitors, lease holders, event organisers and participants as well as planning future developments.

What you will do

Working with a small team at the Lodge you will deliver a high level of customer service and hospitality, hold events, promote the recreational opportunities in the area and maintain the trails leading directly from the Lodge. The post holder will supervise the day to day management of the Lodge and onsite FLS staff, deliver regular building and staff supervisor checks and be the onsite supervisor for FLS.

You will build working relationships with partners such as Café at the Lodge, Go Ape Tree Top Adventures, RSPB, Wildlife Tourism and the National Park Authority, to develop and oversee visitor engagement and infrastructure projects.

The Lodge is open 7 days a week and this post will be part of a 7 day rota. The role is a full time position (37 hours per week) with weekend, public holiday and occasional evenings a requirement for the role.

Main Duties
• Ensure that a consistent and high quality 5 Star visitor experience is delivered. Provide quality front of house services including advice and information to customers and stakeholders.
• Ensure the offer at the Lodge appeals to our audiences and remains fresh and relevant.
• Supervise onsite FLS staff and be onsite duty supervisor for Forestry and land Scotland. Ensure tasks undertaken by the team are to a sufficient standard.
• Deliver daily, weekly and monthly building and staff safety checks. Ensuring building maintenance is commissioned and delivered to a sufficient standard.
• Deliver our Volunteer offer at the Lodge.
• Respond to customer complaints and suggestions in a professional and courteous manner.
• Ensure all site Health and Safety protocols are adhered to and any incidents are appropriately recorded. Ensuring compliance with all relevant legislation and guidance, to meet visitor needs.
• Work closely with onsite partners and tenants, building on current strong relationships. Engage with stakeholders e.g. local community groups, neighbours, project delivery partners.

The successful applicant should be able to demonstrate that they are well organised, able to work proactively within a team and work positively with Tenant Businesses. A willing and flexible approach is required as the role varies greatly on a daily basis from organising repairs for boilers and water systems to facility cleaning and management.

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. An ambitious leadership-oriented charity, we’re built on strong values, and those values make us who we are – Fearless, Inviting, Fair and Exciting.

As an employer, we offer a local government pension scheme, generous holiday allowance and flexible working opportunities. If you need to travel for work, we can provide pool cars if you’re near head office or pay travel expenses so you are not out of pocket! Along with this, you can also access discounted gym/swim memberships and other employee benefits.

The Role

As a key member of the Creative Development Team, you’ll lead on the recruitment, retention, training, and co-ordination of volunteers across OnFife. You’ll support our volunteers, and our employees, working with them to ensure they have an excellent experience whilst helping us deliver our services and support local communities.

In addition to recruiting and supporting volunteers, you will develop a Volunteering Framework to ensure our ambition is strategic, relevant and well connected going forward.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join us as we embark on some exciting projects, including our highly anticipated Jack Vettriano; the early years exhibition.

The full job description can be found on our current vacancies page on our website https://www.onfife.com/vacancies/volunteer-coordinator/

About You

You’ll be friendly, approachable and highly organised with experience of working with volunteers with a wide variety of skills and backgrounds. You’ll be passionate about making the volunteer experience positive and meaningful.

How to Apply

If you would like to find out more information about this role before applying, you can contact Dan Brown, Head of Creative Development, for an informal chat. Please email dan.brown@onfife.com to arrange this. When you’re ready to apply, please download and complete our Application Form, and return this along with a completed Equal Opportunities Form to recruitment.fct@onfife.com

OnFife is an equal opportunities employer.

We are proud to support the Armed Forces community and are committed to the Armed Forces Covenant.

The closing date for applications is 12pm on Wednesday 6 April 2022 Interviews will take place on 21 April 2022.

Eden Scott is delighted to be working with Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) a leading conservation charity who connect people to nature and safeguard wildlife across the globe.

At Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park, diverse and dedicated teams care for almost 3,000 amazing animals and carry out cutting-edge science and research. The wild experts based in RZSS zoos support an incredible range of projects and direct conservation action, from the Highlands of Scotland to the wetlands of Brazil and rainforests of Uganda.

As our natural environment faces a biodiversity crisis, RZSS is inspiring and empowering communities to help save animals from extinction.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the team as Visitor Experience Manager for their Highland Wildlife Park situated in the Cairngorms National Park, seven miles south of Aviemore.

This role will lead the visitor experience and catering team(s) including the day-to-day operations of visitor experience and manage Highland Wildlife Park as an accessible, exciting, and secure visitor attraction, ensuring five-star customer service standards and generating income levels in line with agreed targets. As part of the management team, this role will contribute to strategic planning in support of RZSS achieving its mission and aims.

Key responsibilities of the role:

• To manage Visitor Experience operations, including admissions and catering in line with visitor numbers in the region of 200K per annum
• Direct line management of the Assistant Visitor Experience Manager and administrator, Catering Coordinator indirectly Visitor Experience Team Leaders, and all visitor experience assistants
• Ensure the delivery of a five-star visitor experience
• Manage and oversee gate income of approx. £1.5M making sure gift aid is maximized
• Act as the visitor duty manager, responding to incidents on site such as first aid and security
• Work alongside the membership and adoptions team to promote these income streams to visitors
• Gather face to face visitor feedback and contribute to the improvement process
• Manage, oversee, and contribute to departmental budgets of approx. £300,000 (including payroll, end of year accounts and financial spreadsheets, Loomis contracts, Park signage, vehicle presentation/maintenance and coordinating printing of Park maps/information leaflets) and oversee the daily operations of the site during opening hours

Key skills and experience required:

• Experience of working in a similar visitor attraction or similar environment
• Significant experience of team leading in a customer service environment including catering management
• Significant experience of providing a positive, first-class customer care service, including dealing with customer queries and complaints

This role offers an excellent competitive salary circa £35k DOE for the right candidate with significant company benefits including 34 days holidays and a re-location package and assistance with accommodation for a candidate moving to the area.

Eden Scott are dealing exclusively with RZSS on this vacancy so to be considered for this exciting opportunity with a truly unique and best in class employer, please submit your CV online clearly stating salary expectation or to sally.rae@edenscott.com and for an informal chat or to receive the full role information pack and job description please email or call Sally on 07776 662506.

No closing date has been set.

Eden Scott is delighted to be working exclusively with one of Edinburgh’s visitor attractions who offer history walks and ghost tours.

They choose their Storytellers for their enthusiasm and skill – and never ask them to read from a script. Each one brings their own energy to the story, whether they’re telling you about Adam Smith, the father of economics – or the city’s rioters, rebels, torturers and murderers. The stories are all true – with no artificial jump scares or tricks on their tours.

They’ll take you deeper into the past than a bus tour or guidebook ever could. In the words of their Storytellers, they bring the city’s stories alive in rich, engaging detail. And whether you choose one of their history or ghost tours, you’ll see a side to Scotland’s capital that most visitors miss.

An exciting opportunity has now arisen to join their team as Visitor Experience Manager, they are seeking a lively, confident and responsible individual who delights in giving a 5-star visitor experience and nurturing their team to become and share their very best.

This organisation has a unique approach to looking after their team and everyone in their team is respected, encouraged and celebrated for the individual they are. They promise to work hard with their employees to understand and support them to be the best they can be.

Key responsibilities of the role:

• Lead as a positive, supportive member of their great team
• Responsible for 5-star visitor and team experience
• Communicate, support and work with Storytelling, Sales and Marketing teams to ensure a first class, visitor focused experience
• Involved in delivering all aspects of visitor facing and operational roles across the business
• Responsible for team and visitor safety and security
• Contribute to business planning and shaping of targets as a member of the Leadership Team
• Share ideas on how to improve the organisations service and develop new business
• Help drive the growth of the organisation in a positive, sustainable future as part of their dynamic team

Key skills and experience required:

• We are seeking candidates who have experience in a similar customer focused environment
• People orientated
• Support others to thrive to benefit themselves, their team, visitors and the organisation
• Positive and effective communicator
• Take ownership with positive and proactive approach to problem solving
• Calm under pressure
• Responsible, reliable and trustworthy

This role offers an excellent competitive salary circa £35k plus significant company benefits including many health & wellbeing and lifestyle benefits.

Closing date 5.00pm Tuesday 15th March 2022
Eden Scott are dealing exclusively with our client on this vacancy so to be considered for this exciting opportunity with a truly unique and best in class employer, please submit your CV online or call Sally on 07776 662506