Jobs

Area Visitor Services Manager

Organisation: Forestry and Land Scotland

Salary: £28,678 - £30,762

Location: Aberfoyle

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 Visitor Services Team are responsible for providing a high quality visitor experience through the management of the recreational facilities and engagement with: visitors, lease holders, event organisers and participants.

The Visitor Services team manage public access and safety across the geographically diverse holding 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.

What you will do

Working with a small team, you will manage a diverse range of sites. This includes The Lodge Visitor Centre, Aberfoyle along with Sallochy camp site on East Loch Lomond. You will work with colleagues to provide a high quality, 7 day, visitor experience, in a safe and cost effective way. The Lodge is currently accredited by Visit Scotland as a 5 star visitor attraction. Part of the role is to encourage new audiences to our sites across the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and central belt, working with neighbours, groups and communities to enhance visitor experience.

You will also build working relationships with partners to develop and oversee visitor engagement and infrastructure projects.

Occasional evening, weekend and public holiday working is a requirement for the role.

Main Duties

• Work positively and proactively with customers, stakeholders, communities, businesses and partners;
• Represent FLS at community, business, partner and stakeholder meetings;
• Deal promptly and helpfully with any enquiries and complaints;
• Develop strong and positive relationships across the region and promote excellent internal communications;
• In line with national strategy and regional plans seek out new ideas, opportunities and projects to develop the business within your area: revenue opportunities, partnerships and enhanced experiences;
• Specify and monitor routine safety checks for your sites; support colleagues as necessary to carry out these checks;
• Specify and monitor routine maintenance work for your sites; liaise with colleagues to support standards;
• Specify project work for your sites to maintain and develop high quality recreation facilities: create work plans as needed and work closely with delivery colleagues to get this work done;
• Manage your local visitor services staff by agreeing clear responsibilities and work programmes in line with regional and national priorities;
• Promote a high level of customer focus and high standards of delivery amongst staff;
• Monitor and support skills and knowledge development for staff, through coaching and access to training;
• Promote a safety-first culture in all aspects of the role: a safe and healthy environment for visitors and staff, in line with corporate standards and industry best practice.

Application Deadline: Sunday 20/02/2022