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Hopetoun House is one of Scotland’s finest Stately Homes and is managed by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust. The Trust’s purpose is the preservation and conservation of the House, its contents and immediate grounds together with facilitating public access and making educational use of Hopetoun. Hopetoun currently welcomes around 50,000 visitors per year and is graded as a 5 Star attraction by Visit Scotland

To support its charitable objectives there are three main elements to the business of the Trust:
• Visitor Attraction and Education, being open to the public from Easter to September
• Corporate Events & Weddings, including gala dinners, conferences & filming
• Public Events, including fireworks night, lighting trail, Christmas shopping fair and concerts

www.hopetoun.co.uk

Position: Receptionist and Visitor Services Administrator
Status: Part Time – 3 days per week (Tues, Thurs and Fri) 9am to 5pm (with very occasional weekend/out-of-hours work)
Salary: £18,000 to £19,500 p.a. pro rata depending on experience. We offer 29 days (p.a. pro rata) paid holidays (including Bank Holidays) plus a discretionary 3 additional days at Christmas and various company benefits including pension contributions.

Place of work
Based at Hopetoun House, South Queensferry. Please note that there is no public transport near Hopetoun, so your own transport is essential.

The Role
The primary role is being the first point of contact for Hopetoun by phone, email and on site, supporting all sectors of Hopetoun, but more focused on supporting Visitor Services including managing all aspects of day visitor group bookings. Other duties include, office administration, some basic accounts support and a little P.A. support to the Finance Officer and General Manager. Working as part of a small team the successful candidate must be customer focused, enthusiastic, adaptable and above all a strong ambassador for Hopetoun.

This role has 3 core areas as follows:

1. Receptionist
As the first point of contact for telephone enquiries to Hopetoun you must be confident in dealing with a wide range of calls. Typically, phone calls from the public with questions about visiting Hopetoun House and grounds, also sales enquiries for weddings and corporate events (to be passed on to the Event Team). An excellent phone manner is essential. Likewise, general enquires are received by email and must be replied to promptly and precisely. The job holder will also meet and greet visitors in the reception area. All modes of communication require you to be polite, friendly, efficient and professional.

2. Visitor Services
The job holder will manage day visitor group bookings, liaising with tour operators and private groups. In doing so, they will work with the Head Guide, The Stables Kitchen (our onsite café) and our ticketing team ensuring that they are kept up to date with all the relevant information on group bookings. They will be trained to use VenPos (our ticketing software) so that they can check/amend online public bookings, run reports and cover lunch breaks in the ticket office. There is also occasional public event support, e.g. selling/checking tickets at the Christmas Shopping Fair.

3. Administration
Admin duties will include, placing orders (e.g. stationery, workwear, equipment and supplies), making bookings for courses and services, managing incoming and outgoing post, taking minutes at meetings, photocopying, laminating, filing, general correspondence with staff, volunteers, season ticket holders, tenants etc. A small amount of accounts admin is also required such as making payments online and issuing sales invoices and there will also be some P.A. duties for the General Manager and the Finance Officer.

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.

Key Skills and requirements
• Experience in a similar role
• Detailed working knowledge of Excel, Word and Outlook
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills internally and externally
• Manage time and differing workloads effectively
• Take accountability
• Demonstrate initiative and attention to detail
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• An interest in heritage/visitor attractions (advantage, not essential)
• Basic understanding of business accounts (advantage, not essential)

To apply please send a letter of application, telling us a bit about yourself, why you’d like this job and why you’re suitable, please also attach your CV. Send to: finance.officer@hopetoun.co.uk

Please note that we are unable to acknowledge all applications, only those selected for interview will be contacted. If you have not been contacted within four weeks, you have not been selected for interview. Only those with a right to work in the UK will be considered.

Direct applicants only. No Recruitment Agencies Please.

Application Deadline: Monday 14/02/2022