Visitor Experience Manager in Godstone

Love people? Love creating brilliant experiences? Want to make a real difference?

Godstone Farm is an award-winning visitor attraction welcoming over 250,000 guests every year. We’re all about creating fantastic days out, memorable experiences and plenty of smiles and we’re looking for a Visitor Experience Manager who is just as passionate about making that happen as we are.

This isn’t a role where you’ll simply keep things ticking along.

We’re looking for someone who will challenge, improve, inspire and make things happen. Someone who can look at the way we do things and think “we could make this even better” and then have the drive and confidence to make it happen.

As Visitor Experience Manager, you’ll be the champion for customer service across the farm, helping to create a culture where every member of the team understands the difference they can make to a visitor’s day.

You’ll lead our Visitor Experience, Events and Education teams, giving you the opportunity to influence a huge part of the visitor journey from the moment someone makes a booking, to the moment they leave with a smile on their face.

And because we’re a busy farm attraction, you won’t spend all day behind a desk! This is a hands-on, varied and fast-paced role where you could be planning a major event one day, coaching a team member the next and jumping in to help solve a customer issue the day after.

The opportunity

This is a really exciting time to join us.

We’re continuing to develop and improve the business, and this role will have real scope to influence how we operate and how our visitors experience the farm.

You’ll have the freedom to bring ideas to the table, challenge existing processes and work with teams across the business to introduce positive change.

Whether that’s improving our customer journey, developing our education programme, introducing new ways of working, improving communication, creating better events or finding ways to make our teams’ lives easier you’ll have the opportunity to make a visible difference.

We want someone who doesn't just spot problems, but sees opportunities.

What will you be doing?

Putting the customer at the heart of everything

• Be the driving force behind excellent customer service across the business.
• Lead by example and inspire teams to go the extra mile.
• Look at the entire customer journey and constantly ask: how can we make this better?
• Listen to our visitors through feedback, reviews and conversations and turn their ideas into action.
• Take ownership of escalated customer enquiries and complaints, turning challenges into opportunities to improve.
• Develop customer service standards, training and coaching that make a genuine difference.
• Work with managers across the farm to make sure our visitors experience consistently high standards wherever they go.

Leading brilliant teams

• Lead, motivate and develop our Visitor Experience, Events and Education teams.
• Create a positive environment where people enjoy coming to work and are proud of what they do.
• Recruit, train, coach and develop team members.
• Hold regular one-to-ones, appraisals and performance reviews.
• Identify opportunities for development and progression.
• Plan rotas and staffing levels while keeping an eye on labour budgets.
• Be part of the wider management team and take on regular Duty Manager shifts.

Making education exciting

• Lead our Education team in delivering fun, engaging and curriculum-linked school visits.
• Help develop and grow our education programme.
• Build great relationships with schools and group organisers.
• Look for new ways to make educational visits even more engaging.
• Use feedback to continually improve what we offer.

Creating brilliant events

• Lead the planning and delivery of seasonal events and special experiences.
• Work with teams across the farm to turn ideas into brilliant visitor experiences.
• Make sure events are safe, organised, commercially successful and, most importantly, fun!
• Review what worked, what didn't and what we could do differently next time.
• Bring new ideas and fresh thinking to our events programme.

Keeping the visitor office running smoothly

• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the Visitor Experience Office.
• Make sure bookings, enquiries, payments, memberships and vouchers are handled accurately.
• Ensure our communication with customers is friendly, helpful and consistent.
• Look for better ways of doing things and introduce systems and processes that improve both efficiency and the customer experience.
• Create signage, communications and promotional materials using Canva.

Keeping everyone safe

• Champion a positive health and safety culture.
• Ensure risk assessments, procedures and safety checks are in place and regularly reviewed.
• Make sure teams have the training and support they need to work safely.
• Help maintain a safe, clean and welcoming environment for visitors, colleagues and animals.

Is this you?

We’re looking for someone who:

• Genuinely loves great customer service.
• Gets excited about making things better.
• Is confident challenging the way things are done and suggesting new ideas.
• Is a natural leader who can inspire, motivate and bring people with them.
• Enjoys developing people and seeing them grow.
• Is organised enough to juggle lots of things at once without losing sight of the important stuff.
• Can stay calm when things get busy because at a visitor attraction, they definitely will!
• Is positive, proactive and doesn't wait to be told what needs doing.
• Has excellent communication skills and enjoys working with lots of different people.
• Has a commercial mindset but understands that great customer service comes first.
• Is happy to get stuck in, whether that's helping a team on the floor, solving a customer problem or getting involved in an event.
• Most importantly, has the energy, personality and enthusiasm to have fun while getting the job done.

What experience do you need?

You’ll ideally have:

• Previous management experience within a visitor attraction, hospitality, leisure, tourism or another customer-focused environment.
• Experience leading, motivating and developing teams.
• A strong track record of delivering excellent customer service.
• Experience managing bookings, administration and customer enquiries.
• Event management experience would be great.
• Experience working with or leading educational programmes would be a bonus.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and Canva.
• Experience with Xero or similar financial systems would be useful.
• A relevant degree or professional qualification is desirable but definitely not essential.

What matters most to us is your experience, attitude, ideas and ability to make things happen.

Why Godstone Farm?

Because you won’t just be coming here to do a job.

You’ll have the opportunity to shape the way we do things, influence the visitor experience for hundreds of thousands of guests and make genuine, visible changes to the business.

You’ll work alongside a passionate management team, lead fantastic people and have the freedom to bring your own ideas to the table.

There will be plenty of busy days, unexpected challenges and probably the occasional muddy shoe – but there will also be lots of laughs, happy visitors and the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve helped make someone’s day.

If you’re the kind of person who sees an opportunity rather than a problem, loves working with people and wants a role where you can genuinely make a difference, we’d love to hear from you.

The practical stuff

Hours: Full-time
Weekends: Every other weekend
Bank Holidays: Required
Evenings: Some evenings required

As a visitor attraction, flexibility is important and working hours will vary depending on the needs of the business, events and seasonal programme.

Ready to make your mark?

If you’re excited by the idea of joining a growing visitor attraction, leading brilliant teams and having the opportunity to make real change, we’d love to hear from you.