Visitor Operations & Experience Manager

The Opportunity: Bamburgh Castle is one of England’s most iconic coastal fortresses and a privately owned family estate welcoming around a quarter of a million visitors each year. With its dramatic setting, rich history and strong reputation as a visitor attraction, the Castle is now seeking an experienced and commercially minded leader to take its visitor operation into the next phase of development.

The Role: As Visitor Operations & Experience Manager, you will be the senior on-site lead for the day-visitor business, responsible for delivering an exceptional end-to-end visitor journey while driving operational excellence and sustainable growth. Reporting directly to the Estate Manager and the Owner, you will have a broad remit covering people leadership, visitor experience, events, retail performance and day-to-day site operations. You will play a central role in ensuring Bamburgh Castle continues to thrive in a competitive visitor economy while remaining true to its heritage and character. This is a fully site-based role, requiring strong visibility, practical leadership and the confidence to take ownership in a dynamic, live environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a large, diverse on-site team (c.50 staff across visitor welcome, guides, retail, car parks, maintenance and seasonal teams).
• Own the end-to-end visitor experience, from arrival and welcome through to retail and departure.
• Ensure consistently high standards of presentation, customer service, health & safety, security and compliance.
• Develop and deliver an engaging events and experiences programme that encourages repeat visitation and increased dwell time.
• Drive improvement in retail and secondary spend performance, working closely with the Retail Manager.
• Act as an ambassador for Bamburgh Castle within the visitor attraction sector, attending industry events, conferences, exhibitions and networking opportunities to maintain sector awareness, build relationships and inform future development.
• Oversee daily operations during peak periods, including weekends, Bank Holidays and live events.
• Manage rotas, performance, training and people issues with fairness, clarity and confidence.
• Play a key role in interpretation projects, filming and location hire activity, working with internal and external stakeholders.
• Take responsibility for visitor-facing systems including online ticketing, website content updates, mailing systems and cashless payment operations.
• Act as a trusted, senior presence on site, handling issues calmly and professionally as they arise.

About you: We are looking for a confident, people-centred leader with experience managing complex, high-footfall environments. You do not need to come directly from a castle or heritage background, but you must bring strong operational judgement, commercial awareness and a genuine passion for delivering outstanding visitor experiences. You are likely to bring:

• Senior operational leadership experience within a visitor attraction, heritage site, hospitality, leisure, retail or comparable live environment.
• A proven track record of managing large teams with mixed contracts and seasonal demand.
• Strong people-management capability – visible, hands-on and comfortable leading from the front.
• Commercial awareness, with experience of events, retail performance or revenue-driving initiatives.
• The ability to balance creativity and growth with structure, standards and heritage sensitivity.
• Confidence working within a privately owned, non-corporate environment with close owner interaction.
• Practical resilience and flexibility – this is a role where no two days are the same.

Other information:

Location & Working Pattern: This is a fully site-based role at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland. Salary: Competitive. Holiday: 28 days including Bank Holidays. Hours: 40 hours per week, on-site. Regular weekend working required. Hours are worked on an annualised basis, with flexibility required around peak trading periods.

This is a unique opportunity in one of Northumberland’s most picturesque locations. If you’re ready to bring energy, ideas, and leadership to a growing, visitor focused business, we’d love to hear from you. All CVs and enquiries must be directed to Nigel Wright Group. Please do not contact the venue directly, as Nigel Wright is the exclusive point of contact for this recruitment process.