Visitor Experience and Marketing Officer (maternity cover)

We are seeking a dynamic Visitor Experience & Marketing Officer to support and grow the work of the Hive, manage a seamless bookings process and customer experience on behalf of the Centre, and support the delivery of our marketing activity to increase our customer base and realise new opportunities and partnerships. 

Previously known as Suntrap Forest Centre, The Hive is Waltham Forest Council’s Environmental and Climate Learning Centre in Epping Forest, and a key delivery vehicle for our aspirations around tackling the Climate Emergency. With its rich legacy of over 50 years of environmental education, it’s a beautiful place to work, in a borough that is hugely ambitious about being a leader in Climate Action.  

The Visitor Experience & Marketing Officer will be the first point of contact for new and existing customers, primarily schools but also community and business groups, delivering an excellent customer experience and making improvements to current systems and practices. Will support the Centre & Partnerships Manager and teaching staff in the smooth and efficient running of the service. And will manage ambitious marketing campaigns which seek to grow the Centre’s customer base and explore exiting new opportunities to diversify and grow what the Centre offers. 

We are looking for someone who has been instrumental in supporting the growth of a service/organisation and supporting the achievement of ambitious goals for income generation.  

What will the Visitor Experience & Marketing Officer do? 

• Assist in the delivery of the marketing strategy through content creation and scheduling of marketing communications.  
• Take centre bookings from customers over the phone or online. Advise on suitability of programmes and available options, supporting achievement of income targets. 
• Identify & implement improvements to the current bookings process  
• In-person customer liaison e.g., welcoming visitors to site and giving induction tours to visitors  
• Collect & analyse customer feedback to improve site, services, and curriculum offer  
• Assist the Centre & Partnerships Manager in identifying Health & Safety issues or improvements required at the site 

What skills and knowledge make a great Visitor Experience & Marketing Officer? 

• Experience of planning and managing a mixed and varied workload of conflicting priorities responding effectively to the needs of all stakeholders under minimal supervision. 
• An ability to respond to the unpredictable with a positive and problem-solving attitude that always represents the organisation in the best possible light. 
• A confident people person and exceptional communicator, with a demonstrable ability to empathise with and engage customers, stakeholders, and business groups, influencing and gaining commitment to the organisations’ aims. 
• Possess strong organisational, attention-to-detail, reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. 
• Experienced in collecting and managing data, processing financial transactions, and feeding into monthly and annual reporting.  
• Experienced in dealing with and improving digital systems and processes, ideally with a customer focus. 
• Confident content-creator across a variety of channels, with proven success at engaging and growing a customer audience digitally. 
• Experience in the environmental, education/youth engagement, hospitality/events management or charity sectors. 

To give yourself the best chance of being shortlisted, it’s important that you do more than submit a CV telling us what you have done in the past. We want to know how you have applied your skills, knowledge and experience to achieve success and how this will help you succeed against all aspects listed in our job description. 

Should you have a question related to your application feel free to contact anna.gordon@walthamforest.gov.uk in advance of the closing date. 

For more information on the Hive go to https://thehiveintheforest.co.uk/