Our visitor services officers are usually based at our forest centres. They oversee the day to day running of the visitor centre and support wider engagement opportunities on the site such as running family events and welcoming school groups.
It's a busy customer facing role, working in a lively outdoor environment where no two days are the same.
What it takes
A visitor services officer’s role involves working with the public at our forest centres. They are part of the recreation team helping to deliver a quality visitor experience. Working patterns vary and generally include working during the busy periods such as weekends and school holidays. This role may include:
inspiring and enthusing visitors about what they can do in the forest (such as walking and cycling) and sharing how they can care for it during their visit.
communication skills to help deal with public enquiries by phone, email and face to face. This may include managing complaints.
providing emergency assistance to visitors and staff including first aid and finding lost children.
operating tills and cash handling and supporting visitors with car parking payments.
supporting the delivery of events and sometimes managing volunteers.
helping to carry out basic maintenance tasks and supporting the recreation team with keeping the forest site tidy and safe for visitors, which includes litter picking, emptying bins and toilet inspections.
Skills and qualifications
We recommend that you gain experience and certificates where you can. This may include volunteering to gain practical knowledge, completing a relevant college course or apprenticeship and achieving appropriate certificates such as first aid, handling complaints and dealing with difficult conversations. The role involves working directly with members of the public and requires good communication skills.
You can get into this job through:
seasonal roles.
volunteering.
shadow volunteer and trainee programmes.
gaining relevant visitor services experience in visitor services or customer relations.
Salary
Starting from £20,000.
Typical hours
Varies due to nature of the work. Requires weekends, bank holidays and school holidays.
Forestry England offers flexible working patterns where appropriate and lots of other great benefits to support a healthy work/life balance.
How you can grow with us
Your career could progress into:
- community or recreation ranger.
- volunteer co-ordinator.
- visitor experience supervisor or manager.
- an apprenticeship. Discover more about apprenticeships at Forestry England.
Applying to work at Forestry England
You can find all our current vacancies on line at Civil Service jobs.
Our frequently asked questions will help in your application.
