Visitor Services Manager - Retail

This is an exciting leadership role within the team that manages Glencoe National Nature Reserve and Glenfinnan Monument. We welcome three-quarters of a million visitors from across the globe to our visitor centres at these popular Highland attractions and aim to give them all an enjoyable experience. An attractive retail offer and exceptional customer service are vital to this.

You will manage and develop two flagship National Trust for Scotland shops, leading the retail team in delivering a strong commercial performance and maximising income-generating opportunities. You will lead your team to create enticing retail displays and maintain high sales floor standards, whilst playing a part in developing distinctive product ranges and partnerships with local suppliers. You will also foster a friendly, efficient service environment in line with the National Trust for Scotland’s policies, priorities and targets, coaching and motivating your team to be the best they can be.

As Scotland’s largest conservation membership charity, every penny we take through our shops supports our work protecting the nation’s natural and cultural heritage, making these special places sustainable in every way. You will also be part of a broader duty management team responsible for smooth and safe visitor services provision, inspiring visitors with ideas for things to do here and sharing your enthusiasm for the conservation activities their purchases help to fund.

• Retail operation: With a flair for visual merchandising, design eye-catching displays that make effective use of space and are in line with the projected sales mix. Be accountable for effective stock control and management – managing the goods receipting process, storage and stock taking of all retail products. Develop and embed robust processes and routines for the replenishment of stock, ensuring that high standards of display are maintained throughout the trading day. Build the team’s product knowledge, encouraging personal recommendations, upselling, cross-selling and the promotion of special offers. Understand and adhere to the sale of alcohol legislation as a Premises Manager. Contribute to range reviews and the identification opportunities for the development of new and bespoke products. Seek opportunities to support local enterprise and creative talent, working with the central retail team to build relationships with local suppliers and partners. Work closely with our central retail and other NTS shop managers to share best practice and ensure our offer is closely aligned with Trust-wide strategic goals.
• Visitor experience: Create a culture of exceptional service, every time, leading by example with the warm welcome you give to a varied audience of individual visitors, international tourists, travel trade groups and our local community. Monitor customer reviews, visitor survey and mystery visit results, developing action plans to address feedback and improve the visitor experience. Take a lead role in developmental projects to enhance our retail offer and on-site facilities. Generate inspirational content for social media and media promotion.
• People management: Recruit, train, develop and performance manage your team to ensure they are fully equipped and motivated to undertake their front and back-of-house duties. Coordinate the production of rotas to ensure we deploy staff resources effectively, in line with business needs and budget allowances. Oversee a safe and smooth visitor centre operation as part of the duty manager team, minimising the risk of incidents or accidents and providing leadership in the case of an emergency.
• Finance performance: Deliver a £million retail turnover, working closely with the Operations Manager to set budgets, monitor, analyse and report on income and expenditure targets, making proactive/reactive adjustments to deliver strong, sustainable commercial performance for our charity. Supervise secure and accurate till operations, perform end-of-day income reconciliation as a duty manager and conduct month-end and year-end financial management procedures. Champion environmentally sustainable practices in all aspects of the shop operation and ensure the longevity of our equipment through appropriate maintenance regimes.