Job Description

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Calling all great Managers and Business leaders!
We are recruiting for a Commercial Site Manager at our Thetford Site!
Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee a safe site, safe people (customers and staff), a safe course (infrastructure) and safe equipment.

• Employ, train and build a happy, engaged and professional team who can deliver amazing customer experience.

• Own your site, driving it forward commercially by finding ways to increase revenues and deliver efficiencies with a strong focus on the highest cost lines.

Commercial Management & Marketing
Increase revenue by attracting more customers and providing the availability required, upselling, increasing secondary spend and developing your site products.
Oversee efficient staffing and good returns on site expenditure.
Make Go Ape famous locally.
Specifically:

• build a good understanding of the commercial nature of your site. Then, in conjunction with the Operations and Finance Support Teams use this knowledge to help set realistic and achievable revenue and customer targets for each year.
• monitor and own the revenue and participant numbers for your site, seeking to undertake corrective action as required, with support from other support teams as needed.

• write and maintain the local marketing plan for your site, seeking support from the central marketing support team as required.

• ensure the completion of the Instructor Local Marketing tasks (LMI) in order to grow brand awareness locally and drive customer bookings

• maintain good relationships and have regular meetings with the site's stakeholder, landowners, marketing partners, local media to deliver PR, local businesses/corporates, schools and any other relevant prospective customer groups in the catchment area.

• be an active member of the local tourism bodies in order to build Go Ape's profile.

• build awareness and knowledge of local competitors monitoring products, pricing, advertising etc. to assist Go Ape in remaining an attractive proposition.
• help to identify opportunities to further grow the site business (be they additional activities that fit the customer profile, partnerships, new merchandising opportunities or upsell potential, etc).

Health and Safety
Operate the site in accordance with Company Procedures, including:

• Ensure a safe workplace environment without risk to health.
• Ensure that all Health & Safety policies, procedures, rules and regulations are adhered to and communicated
• Ensure the company meets its statutory obligations in all areas pertaining to health, safety and welfare at work.
• Operate the site in accordance with the Company Procedures and Operations Manual including:
• Delivering training at the beginning of the year, ensuring all new staff are fully aware of company policies and procedures
• Keeping risk assessments up to date
• Keeping records of all site checks
• Maintaining PPE and safety equipment in good order including records
• Maintaining your site in good serviceable order including the cabin
• Ensuring all participants complete a Risk Acknowledgement prior to participation
• Ensuring safety briefs, assessments, rescues and practices are carried out in line with Company Procedures.

Business Development

• Work with key support staff to develop opportunities at site by:
• Building and maintaining good relationships with key parties: Landowners, Go Ape personnel, Altus personnel, Insurers, HSE and Environmental Health Officers and Go Ape consultant
• Attending regular manager meetings in the UK
• Visiting other Go Ape sites when requested

Team Management
Develop and manage an effective site team by:

• Creating staff rotas, keeping and submitting records of hours worked, holidays and absence
• Recruitment of great staff with the support of the People team

• Conducting induction meetings to welcome new staff
• Conducting probation reviews
• Conducting annual and regular performance appraisals and creating performance improvement and training and development plans as required
• Managing performance, and where necessary disciplining staff in accordance with company procedures, with support from the People team
• Conducting regular team meetings
• Conducting exit meetings

Corporate Events:

• Work closely with the Events Team to ensure all events go smoothly by:

• Working with the events support team to meet customer needs, where practical.

• Liaising with caterers and external suppliers prior to all bookings to make sure everything is on order.

• Arranging for the delivery of the product by the site team.
• Providing feedback on the event to improve the process/product for the future.

General Site Operation
Operate a successful site by:

• Meeting sales and cost targets as agreed by the Directors
• Keeping receipts of all expenses and mileage as per Company Procedures
• Ensuring the office/cabin is run efficiently with all files kept tidy and up to date and responding promptly to all correspondence
• Banking as per company procedures
• Reporting to the Directors as required
• Proactively seeking advice, ideas, support and input from the support teams.

Person Specification
Essential

• Live within 40 minutes commute of site
• Previous management experience and must be able to show the ability to lead, manage and motivate your team to deliver a plan
• Business acumen, attention to commercial detail, statistically numerate
• An interest in, and appreciation of the impact that Marketing has on reaching targets
• Must be rescue trained (training to be given on the job)
• Excellent organisation and administrative skills
• Customer service background and excellent customer service skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and enjoys working with others
• Must be a team player and able to work with other colleagues and teams in a dynamic business
• Must like working outdoors and be confident working at height.
• First Aid At Work (to be obtained prior to start date)
• IT skills: Word processing, Excel, etc.
• H&S / Risk assessment skills
• Experience organising and delivering Training
• High energy levels with a positive approach and outlook
• Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
• Confidence to ask for assistance and support when required
• Full driving license and own transport

Desirable

• Corporate client experience
• Carpentry / practical DIY & Maintenance skills
• Marketing experience
• Recruitment experience
• Commercial business administration experience
• Ability to delegate correctly
• Demonstrable ability to maintain standards in other people's work

Training
All Commercial Site Managers are required to attend the Managers' Training Week each year. This pre-season training will:

• Bring you up to date with the latest business development and news
• Bring you up to date with Health & Safety and Company Procedures
• Enable you to network with colleagues across the whole company
• Enable the sharing of good practice
• Update you on any changes within the Operations Manual, IT, Marketing, People and Finance to enable them to develop and support you, your site and your team.

Contract
Contract Type: Permanent
Reports To: Regional Manager
Reward Package
Salary: Salary is dependent on skills and experience
Accommodation is not provided
Holiday Entitlement: 25 days holiday plus Xmas and 8 Bank holidays
Working Hours: Average of 37.5 hours/week
Flexible to meet operational needs
Weekend working will be required
Bank holiday work awarded time off in lieu
Benefits
Company Pension Scheme, Medical, Enhanced maternity and paternity, Cycle to Work Scheme, Tech Scheme, Various childcare assistance schemes, Retail Discounts, DRT day (Do the Right Thing), Expeditions, Adventure Fund.
Company Ethos
Our Values

• Keeping the adventure in adventure

• Encouraging 'I can't' to become 'I can'

• Always seeking to be two steps better

• Zero risk equals zero development

• To challenge, surprise and excite
• Build in customer delight

• Be socially and environmentally responsible

• Create worthwhile, rewarding jobs

• Do the right thing

Our Mission

• To be the best adventure company on the planet (where you can be home in time for tea).

Our Vision

• "Creating adventures; encouraging everyone to live life adventurously". If you feel as strongly as we do about encouraging everyone to live life more adventurously then this could be the perfect environment for you to work in

At Go Ape we are committed to our 'Working together to Safeguard Children' obligation for safeguarding and in this role you will be working in a position of trust.
Diversity, equity and inclusion matters at Go Ape. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our co-owners to thrive and achieve their full potential.
Our Glassdoor rating for Diversity & Inclusion is 4.8 out of 5, this is above the average for our industry and a company of our size.
As well as providing training, we issue a survey to our new co-owners at Go Ape to support us in monitoring equality, diversity and inclusion in the recruitment and onboarding process. We are pleased to hold a score of 4.88 out of 5 in response to the following question 'On a scale of 1 - 5, how accurate would you say the following statement is 'I feel welcome at Go Ape' (5 being very accurate)'.
As the above illustrates, we are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.
We will consider reasonable adjustments for all our roles.
Please note that all offers are subject to acceptable Right to Work documents being provided.