Full Time

Looking for a job with plenty of variety? Come join us. We’re currently looking for a friendly, enthusiastic person to join our Retail & Admissions Team. The successful applicant will enjoy plenty of variety & have the opportunity to learn new skills, dividing your day between Reception, the Gift Shop and Xplore Store. Full training will be provided.

Ever had fun just being at work? We have opportunities to work on a wide range of exciting attractions – including water coasters and ropes courses! Successful applicants will enjoy plenty of variety as staff rotate throughout the day. Full training will be provided. Both part-time and full-time positions available.

Personal Attributes

Our main aim at the park is to make sure visitors have a great day. To achieve this our Attraction Assistants need to be friendly and helpful. Simple!
You’ll be working as part of a team, so you should be able to communicate with other team members
We will provide you with full training – you should therfore be someone that can follow instruction
Help promote a healthy working environment by listening to and encouraging others
Be flexible and able to respond quickly to the changing requirements of the business

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Work across a variety of attractions throughout the season – training provided!
Carry out pre-opening checks before the park opens
Engage with and encourage visitors whilst on attractions
Report any H&S incidents to Attractions Supervisors
Contribute to the smooth running of the department and all areas of responsibility
Support the Attractions Supervisors with additional tasks as required

KEY PURPOSE
To ensure that the garden and related policies of Brodick Castle Garden and Estate are managed and maintained as a nationally-recognized garden of outstanding historical and horticultural importance; contributing to the property’s overall conservation and development, and its enjoyment by visitors and supporters.

The role of ‘Gardener’ as a key member of the Brodick Castle team will be heavily involved in the development plans of the garden and wider designed landscape, with future projects aimed at creating gardens of international significance. Hence this post will be vital to realize this ambition of the gardens as a top visitor attraction. This post is likely to include frequent work in the woodland garden.

CONTEXT
The garden comprises a listed walled garden containing an impressive collection of tender plants that may be grown due to the effect of the Gulf Stream. It also features a large woodland garden containing a world class collection of Rhododendrons and plants from temperate regions of the world.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Key Purposes of the job will be met by:
1. Undertaking practical maintenance of the garden (e.g. managing trees and shrubs, herbaceous plants, and bulbs; turf care; pest/disease/weed control; staking, plant nutrition, composting and soil improvement to the required standards expected by the Trust and for the maximum safety of, and enjoyment by visitors including other professionals in the horticultural industry;
2. Fostering positive relationships with local communities and organisations and promote the work of the Trust.
3. On occasion, supervising and working with volunteers and/or staff members to ensure they deliver required outputs at the appropriate standard, and gain benefit/satisfaction from their activities;
4. Demonstrating self motivation, organizing, planning, and prioritizing and good time management;
5. Undertaking such other reasonable duties as may from time to time be required to ensure the smooth running of the property as required by the Head Gardener.
6. Ensuring compliance with the Trust’s health, safety, and environment policies and procedures.

The current duties of this job do require a criminal records (Disclosure Scotland) check to be carried out.

SCOPE OF JOB

People Management
 Not a line manager but will, on occasion, supervise volunteers and staff under instructions from Head Gardener;
 Will work closely with other property colleagues, and will have some interaction with other technical/specialist advisory colleagues based in other locations and departments (e.g. other NTS gardens in Ayrshire and Arran)
 Will have regular (daily) interaction with members of the public and guests of all ages and abilities.

Finance Management
 Not a budget-holder.

Tools/equipment
 Will be a user of driven vehicles such as ride-on mowers and tractors;
 Will be a frequent user of powered tools such as mowers, strimmers and hedge-cutters;
 Will be a frequent user of hand-tools such as spades, forks, trowels, rakes, hoes, shears, and secateurs.

Pitmedden Garden welcoming over 30,000 visitors each year and a visit to The Garden Tearoom at Pitmedden Garden is popular with locals and tourists alike.

We focus on providing a traditional tearoom experience, with guests relaxing in the sumptuous surroundings of Pitmedden House, overlooking the historic gardens, with outdoor seating also available during the warmer months.

We are enthusiastic about food and ‘Taste our Best’ and are looking for a Tearoom Supervisor to join our team and help put our afternoon teas on the map.

JOB PURPOSE

You will be responsible for the operational delivery of the visitor experience in the Food & Beverage department at Pitmedden Garden.
Delivering performance standards and targets to ensure enjoyment of the property by visitors and members is maximised and key commercial, financial and development objectives are achieved to make the property fully sustainable.

You will be part of a broader management team responsible for delivering an overall visitor service strategy, promoting good communication across the site and a joined-up service provision. You will report to the Food and Beverage Visitor Services Manager for Aberdeenshire North

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Visitor experience
• Offer excellent customer service and ensure all members of the catering team do the same.
• Delivering high standards and a consistently warm welcome within the catering department
• Act as one of our duty manager team, responsible for ensuring a safe and smooth visitor operation, opening/closing and security of buildings, addressing issues and emergency procedure and providing relief cover, as required.

Catering operation
• Lead with menu development ensuring presentation of a high-quality food and drink offer.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety, food hygiene, food allergen, licensing, and environmental health standards, completing all related record-keeping.
• Accountable for cost-effective stock management, ordering, storage and wastage control.
• Create & run food led events throughtout the year to support the overall business goals.

People management
• Supervise the activities of a team of permanent and seasonal Visitor Service Assistants (VSAs), achieving excellent staff performance and motivation through effective induction, training, task-setting and coaching on front and back-of-house routines.
• Prepare catering rotas and holiday allocation to meet business needs.
• Work closely with specialist advisory colleagues, i.e.our Trust-wide Catering Development team
• Instill a Health & safety and Environmental health culture throughout the catering operation

Finance Management
• Share responsibility for achieving the catering budget together with the F& B Manager
• Monitor commercial performance and adjust activities to capitalize on sales opportunities and run a cost-effective catering operation.
• Supervise daily café till operations and perform end-of-day income reconciliation
• Assist the F&B Manager with menu costing and stock-taking.
• You may have delegated tasks within other departments and you will understand and help deliver the overall property business plan
• This role is one for which the duties, responsibilities or accountabilities of the role require you to undertake a criminal records check, specifically a Standard Disclosure.

Performance indicators and targets

• Weekly, monthly and annual sales and cost of sales targets
• Food compliance standards and record-keeping
• Visitor enjoyment reviews and ratings from visitor surveys and visitor feedback

Tools / equipment / systems

• Access to laptop and relevant online people management, training, financial monitoring and stock ordering systems, including NTS intranet and Microsoft 365.
• EPOS tills and chip and pin machines.
• Fully equipped commercial catering kitchens.

An interesting role responsible for the maintenance needs and health & safety compliance the Brodie Castle & Estate portfolio that encompasses, Historic Listed buildings, modern visitor centres, tenanted dwellings, Holiday Cottages and estate infrastructure.

This requires an organised individual with understanding of facilities management and practical maintenance skills. Experience of supervising contractors, managing budgets and small projects, and setting up safe, risk-aware working environments is essential.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Achieve high standards of maintenance and presentation for estate buildings and infrastructure

• Manage and deliver an annual programme of planned preventative and reactive maintenance, to time and budget, with priorities set through systematic conditions monitoring. Property assets include:

o Brodie Castle, Playful Pavillion, Playful Garden structures, Adventure Playground, car parks and surrounding landscapes
o Residential tenanted property
o 4 Holiday lets
o Bird Hides, Agri shed, Gardeners Bothy and buildings
o Sewage treatment facilities and Septic Tanks

• Responsible for the appointment, co-ordination, and supervision of qualified works contractors on site.

• Work with estate tenants and regional rural surveyor to ensure that residential properties meet relevant condition compliance standards.

• Enable visitor centres and parking facilities to open all year round through proactive cold weather planning, e.g. gritting walkways, access roads and car parks.

• Operate fit-for-purpose workshop and storage facilities, including maintaining and servicing tools, equipment, vehicles, and other estate plant.

• Work closely with Head Gardener on joint initiatives within the wider landscape and path network, including tree management and maintenance of paths, fences, and other estate infrastructure.

• Work closely with Head Gardner to ensure all vehicles and equipment on site are fit for purpose and compliant with all H&S practices and compliant with Vehicle laws.

• Ensure all customer touch points of bins, car parks and back of house areas are kept to an excellent standard.

Take a lead in ensuring compliance with health and safety, security, managing risks and establishing safe systems of work

• Conduct planned and dynamic risk assessment of maintenance tasks, for staff and contractors, adhering to the properties’ safe working procedures and reducing the likelihood of incidents or accidents.

• Manage our preparedness for emergencies, including the testing and maintenance of fire, security and emergency lighting systems and equipment, plus the induction of staff in response procedures.

• Maintain comprehensive documentation of our compliance routines and report on these as required.

• Contribute to cyclical reviews and audits of our risk assessments and emergency processes, and progress with identified actions.

• Undertake duty management and first aid cover as required, including occasional weekend working.

• Provide out-of-hours emergency cover for the visitor centre and wider estate, including responding to alarm calls.

• Monitor staff exposure to vibrating work equipment and test machinery in line with the Trust’s Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVs) policy.

• Prepare COSHH assessments and the safe management of chemicals.

• Monitor and manage the control of access to areas or activities that may pose a danger to staff, volunteers or visitors.

Provide effective financial, people and project management

• Work within agreed budgets, negotiating costs with external contractors, ordering goods and services, and monitoring spend to ensure efficient use of charitable resources.

• Lead a motivated and effective maintenance team, through task-setting, performance management and personal development. Recruit and support volunteers, work placements and apprenticeships.

• Develop and deliver projects to make a step-change in our properties’ maintenance, conservation, environmental and visitor experience standards. Work in line with CDM regulations, as required.

• Champion environmentally responsible practices to minimize our wastage, carbon footprint and impact on the landscape.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

Essential

 Substantial experience in a wide range of maintenance/DIY tasks, including practical skills in basic plumbing, electrical, joinery and grounds-keeping.

 Degree or vocational qualifications in a relevant discipline, like facilities management, building work, project management or health and safety.

 Experience of leading, managing, and motivating staff and/or volunteers.

 Excellent interpersonal communication skills with experience of engaging with a variety of audiences, including colleagues, contractors and the public.

 Strong organizational, forward planning and multi-tasking skills with an ability to prioritise and respond to emergencies.

 Experience of risk management and championing health and safety at work.

 Driving license and competence with off-road and winter driving, use of trailers and ATVs.

 Computer literacy, including email, internet, word-processing, spreadsheets and online Microsoft finance and HR systems.