Visitor Welcome Officer

**GROW COOK LEARN**

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Job title**: Visitor Welcome Officer (Fixed Term) This post is for 12 months to cover maternity leave, starting w/c July 11th

**Responsible to**: Retail and Visitor Experience Manager

**Location**: Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, School Road, Craven Arms, Shropshire, SY7 9RS

**Salary and Hours**:£7561.00 p/a (FTE £19500.00). 14.5 hours per week over 2 days to include weekends on a rota basis, plus additional hours to cover annual leave.

**Company Overview**

Since 1st April 2014, the Discovery Centre has been managed by the charity Grow Cook Learn (GCL), which emerged from the successful horticultural, catering and training activities of the funded local Grow Cook Share project. GCL is maintaining and revitalising the Centre and its Onny Meadows so that it becomes a financially self-sustaining social enterprise. Our mission is to make it:

- an education and training centre for food-related skills;
- a visitor attraction linking food, history and landscape in the Shropshire Hills and;
- a leisure resource for visitors and local residents.

Our vision relates positively to the Shropshire Hills Sustainable Tourism Strategy identifying the area as “a destination of discovery, which involves some effort on the part of visitors but where the effort can be greatly rewarded”. It also supports the Sustainable Tourism Strategy objective of “Delivering the Local Food Experience” which includes:

- Raising the quality and accessibility of catering available throughout the area for all budgets;
- Promoting a range of opportunities for visiting, experiencing and purchasing from local food and drink suppliers; and
- Strengthening the availability and creative use of local produce in catering outlets.

Our plan is to build on the excellent facilities already available at the Centre while working towards a refurbishment that develops our main themes: “The Story of Food” and “Home of the Hillforts”.

**Job purpose**:
The core purpose of this role is to be the public face of Grow Cook Learn, providing a warm and friendly welcome, information about the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre and making sure each visitor has an enjoyable and memorable visit.

You will have a good local knowledge about what the Shropshire Hills has to offer providing advice and assistance to visitors. You will be the first point of contact for customers and telephone enquiries. You will deliver exceptional customer service to all of our visitors and clients, helping them by dealing with their enquiries or to enjoy their day. You will assist in carrying out routine administrative tasks. Your customer focused approach will help us realise our growth targets.

**Main responsibilities**:

- Assist in providing high standards of customer care pro-actively and re-actively.
- You will give a warm welcome and deliver excellent customer service, happy to respond professionally to visitor enquiries whilst providing information, direction and assistance as required to a diverse audience.
- You will assist in actively promoting the centre; up-selling the exhibition, café and activities to meet our charitable aims and commercial objectives.
- You will be a true advocate of Grow Cook Learn, the Discovery Centre, and the Shropshire Hills; with the ability to absorb information and communicate this in a positive and engaging way.
- You will maintain a high standard of personal presentation, appropriate communication and conduct when dealing with members of the public and clients.
- You will deliver a good reception service including dealing politely and effectively with all enquiries in person, by telephone, post or by electronic communication and adopting a friendly and helpful manner to all visitors and clients.
- You will assist with all necessary tasks associated with the shop, such as checking presentation and stock levels on shelves, sales, cash handling, till work and ordering / receiving / checking / pricing deliveries.
- You will assist in the operation of reception as required including dealing with enquiries, exhibition admission, event ticket sales, bookings, training courses and room hire.
- You will assist the public to access the information they need to have an enjoyable visitor experience at the Centre and in the wider Shropshire Hills area.
- You will keep up to date with local information and services and keep stocks of and display public information, keeping tidy all notice boards and displays.
- You will enrich the visitor experience by sharing your knowledge of the Shropshire Hills with the public.
- You will actively promote engagement in Grow Cook Learn activities, and assist administrative tasks associated with delivery of training programmes and community activities.
- You will complete routine administrative tasks allocated by Grow Cook Learn Management through for example (but not limited to) collecting visitor numbers, statistics, conducting surveys, issuing feedback f