Visitor Services

JOB PURPOSE
To maximise our visitors’ enjoyment of National Trust for Scotland managed sites by maintaining excellent standards of service, optimising opportunities to generate income and ensuring that the site and its assets are safe and secure.
Specifically, to ensure the smooth and safe operations in Admissions, Tours, Retail, Catering and Events activities making the property the best possible place to visit and work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
To provide a consistently high standard of visitor care at all times
 Welcoming visitors to the site and processing their admission/retail or catering purchase in a friendly, efficient and knowledgeable manner.
 Welcoming visitors with special needs / impairments and providing a high level of service in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act.
 Welcoming International visitors and aiding with specific needs.
 Welcoming groups in an efficient and warm manner.
 Answering visitors’ queries about the site, education facilities and the local area.
 Providing information about the site, its history, contents, offers and merchandise.
 Promoting National Trust for Scotland brand to include our Membership scheme, events, upselling other properties and any promotional campaigns, being proactive in the selling of Membership and Gift Aid.

To maintain excellent standards of site and personal presentation at all times
 The general ongoing operational cleaning of all areas as necessary, toilet cleaning, emptying waste bins and as appropriate vacuum cleaning, mopping, sweeping, dusting and polishing when required.
 Ensuring site is ready to open and welcome visitors by the set opening time.
 Wearing correct uniform, name badges, or PPE as required.
 Reporting all instances of damage and wear and tear issues promptly to your line manager.
 Working in harmony with other departments; housekeeping, gardening, grounds maintenance and site repair employees/contractors.

Financial responsibilities
 To adhere to all financial procedures to include till operation and banking and safeguarding of monies: to implement amendments to standard procedure as instructions may dictate.

Retail/Catering/Events/Cashier duties
 To ensure good housekeeping of catering kitchens, serveries and back of house areas.
 To ensure that retail merchandising is in accordance with NTS policy.
 To assist in achieving site retail/catering/events targets and KPI’s.
 To actively upsell products and services to facilitate the visitor’s enjoyment.
 To actively feedback visitor comments to line managers to develop and improve offer, service, operations.
 To work flexibly across departments and sites as needed.
 To assist with the set-up, stewarding and break-down of events in liaison with the events coordinator.
 To assist with Heritage Hospitality events. Staff may be asked to work through into the night hours.

Health and Safety
 To ensure site meets with Health and Safety legislation in liaison with your department manager.
 To ensure that visitors vacate the site at close of business and that the site is secured at end of day.
 To use personal protection equipment as provided and directed by your line manager

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

Qualifications
 No formal educational qualification required.

Skills, Experience & Knowledge
Essential
 Demonstrable experience in a customer-facing role, delivering impeccable customer care through excellent inter-personal skills.
 Demonstrable experience in a catering based role, delivering impeccable customer care and food safety standards.
 Demonstrable experience in sales or ticket/event/admissions – ideally in a heritage/tourism context – with experience and confidence undertaking till-work and cash handling/reconciliation.
 Experience in EPOS style till operation.
 Excellent cash handling skills.
 Excellent “front of house” persona – warm, welcoming, patient, understanding.
 Excellent selling skills – adaptable to customer type and product.
 Demonstrable excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritise.
 Flexible, helpful outlook to customers and colleagues.
 An understanding and commitment to the aims and objectives of the National Trust for Scotland.
 Living the values of the National Trust for Scotland and encourage colleagues to do the same:
o The ability and willingness to understand others’ perspectives and to consider the impact of your actions on them and to adapt your actions as necessary.
o The ability and willingness to learn and try new things, to be flexible and step outside of your comfort zone.
o An open and honest way of communicating, ready to ask others for their ideas and to be open to hear and consider different points of view.
o A pro-active approach to taking initiative and to driving forward ideas and projects designed to improve daily operations and deliver an exceptional visitor experience.

Desirable
 Experience in storytelling and a passion for Scottish heritage and history.

The Key Responsibilities, Scope of Job, and Required Qualifications, Skills, Experience & Knowledge reflect the requirements of the job at the time of issue. The Trust reserves the right to amend these with appropriate consultation and/or request the post-holder to undertake any activities that it believes to be reasonable within the broad scope of the job or his/her general abilities.

Dalkeith Country Park has been enjoyed by visitors for 120 years and its woodlands, riverside trails, cycle tracks and events calendar are valued by locals and visitors from afar. Fort Douglas is an exciting adventure park for visitors of all ages, while the stable yard houses Restoration Yard, a unique venture comprising a retail store, restaurant, and wellness space.

In this exciting role you will provide support for our Events and Activities team, providing a friendly welcome to our Fort Douglas visitors. As well as dealing with summer camping and events, you’ll be responsible for overseeing our adventure playground, including opening and closing procedures, daily safety checks and daily cash reconciliation. With an organised approach and an eye for detail, you will coordinate event and activity bookings, respond to enquiries, and provide general assistance to the wider Visitor Services team.

• Are you enthusiastic and able to use your initiative when required?
• Can you demonstrate excellent communication and customer service skills to comfortably engage with a wide range of visitors?
• Do you have a ‘can-do’ attitude and flexible approach to work?

If you are customer focused with an interest in the outdoors, events and activities then we would love to hear from you! Working hours will be 4 to 5 days per week (salary will be pro-rata for 4 days) and will include regular weekend working. Candidates should demonstrate strong admin and computer skills and will ideally have experience of booking systems.

Interested? Please email your CV and a covering letter to recruitment@buccleuch.com indicating if you are looking to work 4 or 5 days per week.

The closing date for applications is 7 August.

Please view our privacy policy at http://www.dalkeithcountrypark.co.uk/privacy/

Hours: Days available, 5 days per week over 7 days. 35 hours per week.
Pay: £11.25 per hour

Company benefits include:

– 10% employer pension contribution (no employee contribution)
– 33 days pro-rata annual holiday entitlement
– Enhanced long service holiday entitlement
– Life Assurance
– Performance and loyalty payment scheme
– Complimentary tickets
– Staff discount in the Gift Shop, Royal Deck Tea Room and The Lighthouse Restaurant and Bar aboard Fingal
– Free car parking for staff
– Uniform provided
– Full training

Our Visitor Experience department is now looking for a Visitor Assistant and Evening Guide who is enthusiastic, with a smart appearance, excellent communication skills and a passion for exceptional customer care.

The job is based in our Visitor Centre and on board Britannia. The position can be physically demanding as you will be standing throughout the duration of your shift.

Responsibilities include:

– Providing a warm welcome to visitors
– Interacting with visitors throughout their tour
– Helping visitors use their audio handset
– Work as a guide at Britannia’s exclusive evening events and private tours (£40 per event)
– Any other Visitor Assistant duties as required.

If you feel you have the personality, skills and experience we are looking for, then we would love to hear from you.

To apply, please send your CV and a short covering letter to: recruitment@tryb.co.uk

Colin Purnell
Visitor Experience Manager

Closing date: 30th July 2023

No agencies please.

Please note, due to the volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to unsuccessful candidates. If you have been selected for interview you will be contacted directly.

JOB PURPOSE

To assist and support the Head Gardener in the conservation, care and presentation of the property’s garden and policies, ensuring that all areas are maintained to the highest standards and to the enjoyment of all visitors and supporters, whether through delegation to other staff/volunteers, or personal work. The garden is managed, maintained, and developed as an internationally- recognised garden of outstanding horticultural importance, contributing to the property’s overall conservation and development, and its enjoyment by visitors and supporters.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Practical horticulture. This includes tree management & professional tree inspection; managing herbaceous plants, annuals, and bulbs; lawncare; pest/disease/weed control; composting and soil improvement; hard landscaping; glasshouse care, plant propagation; biosecurity.
• Resource management. Ensuring effective and efficient use of machinery, equipment, materials, and all other resources.
• Participating fully in the property’s wider Estate “management team”, deputising for the Head Gardener as required. This may include attendance at regional meetings & events when required.
• Plantsmanship. e.g., the identification, knowledge, and understanding & management of a large & diverse plant collection, including recording [using IrisBG database or other], labelling of plants, identifying and conserving rare plant collections.
• Staff and volunteers. Assisting with recruitment, induction, supervision, direction, development, and performance management, to a high level, to ensure they are fully equipped, organised, and motivated to undertake their duties to required standards, and further develop their skills into the future.
• Input into daily, weekly, yearly, and longer-term operational work plans and reporting in the context of the properties’ statements of significance and action plans (and contribution to these action plans) to ensure that activities are prioritised and planned to optimise the use of resources.
• Health, safety, and the environment in line with stated Trust policies and procedures to ensure the health and welfare of staff/volunteers/ visitors/ service providers. This will include shared responsibility for staff & NTS compliance paperwork, policies, and procedures.
• Working to the Trust’s Environmental Policy with respect to sustainable gardening activities & net zero ambitions, including energy, water, peat, and pesticide use.
• Customer service and care delivered to a high standard to ensure that the property’s reputation for excellence is maintained and enhanced.
• To work closely with the Head gardener in Research and development. e.g., research into historical precedents and practical contemporary solutions to inform proposed activities and projects; support to the design and implementation of restoration and/or development projects.
• Garden & Estate Interpretation, through the development and delivery of events, projects, literature, signage, talks, demonstrations.
• To play an active & pragmatic role in the assistance of administration to enable gardening activities to be undertaken and recorded efficiently.