Operations Manager

Brockholes is a nature reserve with a unique floating visitor village at its heart, welcoming visitors year round, a peak summers day will see us welcome 2.5-3,000 visitors in the space of 6 hours. As Operations Manager, you'll be the most senior manager on site responsible for the visitor operations. This is everything from the road in, the car park, visitor centre, the café and kitchens, the shop and our wedding and conference venue.

If you're a middle or senior manager in an events venue, hotel, restaurant, bar, cinema or leisure business, you might see "Wildlife Trust" and think this isn't for you… but it quite possibly is! We're not looking for a conservation expert, what we want is a commercially minded manager who knows how to use their team of managers to deliver an incredible visitor experience and run a busy site leading a big team of staff and grow income. 

What you'll be doing

• Driving over £750,000 of commercial income across catering, retail, weddings, conferences and events, while keeping a tight grip on costs, rotas, food GP and waste.
• Working with our sales team to build a busy activity and events plan that brings people through the door.
• Spotting new income opportunities, from local markets and wedding fairs to new menus and retail ideas.
• Keeping the site safe, compliant and looking its best, covering food hygiene, licensing, fire and health and safety.
• Supporting the manager of our smaller visitor centre at Mere Sands Wood, Rufford, and helping deliver improvement projects at our other commercial sites.
• Leading from the front. You won't be “on the tills/tools” all the time, but when it gets busy or you are trialling something new, you'll happily roll your sleeves up and get stuck in and lead from the front.

Who we're looking for

• Middle management / Senior level experience in a visitor attraction, large venue, hospitality or leisure business, hotel, gym or similar nature based outdoor attraction.
• A commercial head: you know your way around a budget and a P&L, and you're driven by profit and cost control.
• Experience managing several departments or managers at once.
• A solid grasp of the compliance that comes with visitor operations, catering, conferencing, weddings, alcohol, fire and health and safety.
• Confidence with EPOS, reporting and using data to make decisions.
• A full driving licence and access to your own vehicle.

Why join us

• Your work matters. Every pound you make helps fund our work protecting Lancashire's wildlife.
• A great place to work. Your workplace is a nature reserve, not a basement office.
• Great people around you. A supportive, capable team of staff.
• 28 days' holiday plus bank holidays (rising with length of service), pension, time off in lieu and a permanent contract.