Jobs

PURPOSE OF POST
Under the Trust’s new leadership, the role of Director of Heritage Properties has now been created. The role will be vital to the realisation of the Trust’s work and its strategic vision, and so is an exciting one of great opportunity to contribute at the highest level to the future care of Scotland’s outstanding heritage.
Reporting to the Chief Executive, the role will be a member of the Trust’s leadership team. This is a substantial management position, responsible for the oversight and support of teams operating within the visited heritage estate, and the direct line management of the Trust’s four regional managers as well as the manager of the distinct Mar Lodge Estate. Thus, the post holder will be responsible for the overall
operational management of all Trust properties, leading and supporting the regional managers, and ensuring liaison with all other departments within the organisation to achieve this. The heritage estate includes visited properties, non-visited properties, and a further portfolio of properties not owned by the Trust, but with which it has conservation agreements. Fundamental will be ensuring the appropriate ongoing conservation and care of properties and the collections they contain (reflecting the purpose and high standards of Scotland’s leading conservation charity), as well as the development of those properties and their interpretation, working closely with
colleagues across the organisation to provide inspiring visitor experiences which understand audience needs and the visitor journey.
Within the overall timescale of the new strategy, it is intended that considerable investment will be made across Trust properties, and so the post holder will have a substantial responsibility to work with colleagues in developing appropriate visions, and planning, implementing, and evaluating the success of
transformational capital projects.

The Trust’s properties are at the heart of generating income for the Trust’s operation, and so this will be a vital responsibility of the post holder, leading commercial initiatives and working with colleagues to encourage growth in Membership, commercial income generation (in particular through retail, food and
beverage, and events), and opportunities for philanthropy.
Access for audiences is vital to the Trust’s purpose, and so an audience-focused approach demonstrating an understanding of the Trust’s audiences, working to retain existing ones and diversify these will be an essential consideration in all aspects of the post holder’s work. The directorate of Heritage Properties has the largest staffing complement within the Trust, comprising employees and a very substantial workforce of volunteers. The Director of Heritage Properties will also work with colleagues within the directorate and elsewhere in the Trust in support of the Trust’s numerous
Members’ Centres, which support the organisation through fundraising activities and in other voluntary ways. Thus, the successful candidate will bring substantial experience in managing heritage properties at scale with the ability to manage a dispersed staff across the whole of Scotland, who contribute to the Trust through a very wide range of roles. In addition to strong strategic, operational, and planning skills, critical
will be the post holder’s ability to lead, motivate and inspire people.
This will be a highly visible leadership role within and without the Trust. Thus, the successful candidate will possess strong stakeholder management skills, working with multiple national and local agencies across Scotland and with local communities to promote the interests of the Trust and to market its places and activities.

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
The National Trust for Scotland’s operational management is provided by the Leadership Team. This comprises the Chief Executive, the Chief Operating Officer, the Director of Customer & Cause, the new role of Director of Heritage Properties, the People Director, the Head of Conservation & Policy, the Head of Heritage & Consultancy Services, four General Managers covering the Trust’s operational regions and the
Operating Manager of the Mar Lodge Estate. The role of Director of Heritage Properties will be directly responsible for the four regional General Managers and the Operating Manager of the Mar Lodge Estate. All other roles in the Leadership Team report directly to the Chief Executive. The Role of Director of Heritage Properties will be fully supported by an Executive Personal Assistant.

LOCATION
While it is envisaged that the role would be based at the Trust’s headquarters in Edinburgh, it will be an essential requirement to travel frequently and spend time at Trust locations, working with colleagues across Scotland. The Trust is currently developing a New Ways of Working strategy, which is intended to provide new ways of smart working, including remotely, from home and from Trust properties.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• To provide leadership, support and direction for the operation, care, development, and future vision of the Trust’s heritage estate.
• To play a key role in the Trust’s overall leadership, contributing to its direction for the future and helping to embed the new strategy across the organisation, and in particular the Heritage operations directorate.
• To contribute to the Trust’s long-term financial stability and organisational resilience.
• To recognise and manage strategic risks facing the organisation and implement strategies to reduce the impact of risk.
• To communicate in a clear and inspiring fashion the vision of the Trust and in particular the work and ambitions of the directorate of Heritage Properties, both within and without the organisation.
• To ensure that colleagues responsible for are accountable for the delivery of high levels of performance, from idea generation through to execution, by setting clear and achievable standards, plans, targets, and methods of evaluation.
• To continue to improve the organisational abilities of the Trust, in visitor service, conservation and maintenance care, cross-functional team working, problem solving and relationship management.
• To play a key role in the development of the organisation as a fundraising one and one which contributes more widely to Scotland, in particular at property level encouraging practical and financial support of the Trust’s work and promoting the Trust’s work more widely

Application Deadline: Wednesday 17/11/2021