Vacancy at Wilderness Group
This is a great opportunity to work for a leading travel company as one of our Operations Managers. You will be responsible for leading and developing the team of Operations Coordinators, whilst supporting and playing an active role within the team.
This role can be based in our Aviemore or Kirkby Lonsdale office, however some field work will be expected including partner visits and trip recces.
Key Accountabilities:
- Overseeing a busy Operations team; leading and developing the team to achieve personal and company targets.
- Training and supporting the Operations Coordinators to ensure processes are followed to allow efficient delivery of our trips.
- Assigning responsibility for managing new custom and bespoke departures to individual Operations Coordinators.
- Ensuring the Operations Coordinators feel supported in their day to day work, including managing workload, reallocating tasks and arranging annual leave and time out of office.
- Managing the day to day trip operations of the business including our scheduled group trips and bespoke private itineraries.
Key Responsibilities:
- Managing the team's portfolio and allocation of trips throughout the season, ranging from scheduled group trips to bespoke private itineraries.
- Leading the effort and providing direction to review current work processes, procedures and policies, seeking efficiencies and effectiveness improvements to ensure company objectives are met.
- Completing and facilitating regular training to stay apprised of any new products or services.
- Working with the Sales Team to ensure trips meet Operational guidelines, sops and are delivered according to client or agent partner requirements.
- Building and maintaining good internal relationships with the wider team.
- Building and maintaining relationships with suppliers including hotels, activity providers and guides.
What we typically look for in successful candidates across all roles:
- A strong and clear commitment to customer service excellence and “extra mile” delivery.
- Strong administration and organisational skills, with the ability to maintain accuracy even when very busy.
- Consistently great attention to detail, even when faced with multiple tasks and deadlines.
- A natural collaborator who enjoys working in teams with a diverse range of individuals.
- A genuine interest, knowledge and passion for adventure in the regions where Wilderness operates.
- Is committed to sustainability and is an advocate for wild places and our planet.
- A commitment to some weekend work to support with any 'out of hours' operational requirements.
Preferred role-specific Skills, Knowledge & Experience:
- Relevant, demonstrable experience, typically gained over 5 years or more, ideally within the hospitality or travel and tourism industry, or relevant further education.
- Ability to lead a team effectively and make decisions appropriately.
- Ability to self-motivate and work independently using initiative.
- Proactive, positive and professional with the ability to work well under pressure.
- Ability to work on multiple projects and tasks simultaneously.
- Great interpersonal skills, awareness and emotional intelligence with an ability to develop and sustain business relationships.
- Excellent IT skills with experience of cloud based CRM systems, ideally Salesforce, as well as Google Apps and Mac applications.
- Attention to detail especially with Budgets, even when faced with multiple tasks.
- Practical experience of all or most of the activities offered by the Wilderness Group Ltd would be an advantage.
- Good knowledge of the areas where we operate, including England and Wales.
- A commitment to undertaking work-related trips, which may include overnight stays.
That said, a passion for what we are trying to achieve as a business coupled with a desire to help make this happen goes a long way, so please don’t be put off applying just because you don’t tick all of the above. What’s most important is that you believe you can fulfil this role and demonstrate this accordingly through your application and subsequent interview process.
How to Apply:
We’re really keen to hear from you so please send us your CV and 1 page Cover Letter in PDF format through our online Breathe HR recruitment portal detailing the following:
- Which role you are applying for.
- Relevant experience and transferable skills you can bring to this role, including how you manage a varied workload.
- How you will enhance the performance of our Operations Team.
- Additionally can you please explain how you would support our consistent quality delivery and efficiency across multiple trips and regions during our peak periods.
35 hour working week
31 days holiday + earn up to 12 rostered days off per annum
14 hours of volunteer leave to make a difference towards causes that are important to you and/or our business
Flexible / Hybrid working plus up to 2 weeks working from anywhere
Company Contributed Stakeholder Pension
Company Health Plan (after the qualifying period)
Occupational Maternity Pay (after the qualifying period)
Family and friends discounts
Training and career development opportunities
Team activity afternoons (Wilderness Wednesday)
Industry discounts on outdoor clothing and equipment
Cake on your birthday
Unlimited tea and coffee with only the occasional milk shortage emergency
The Wilderness group of businesses are committed to diversity through inclusive practices. We are looking to improve the diversity of our teams and believe firmly in the value of varied life experiences, backgrounds and cultures in our workplace.
We welcome and encourage diverse applicants for any advertised position and will consider all applicants regardless of age, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, health conditions, impairments or other characteristics.
• All application documents should be submitted in PDF format. Please have these ready to upload before you hit 'apply'.
• Incomplete/incorrectly submitted applications will automatically be rejected.
• A right to work in the UK is required in order to apply.
• All applications submitted through Breathe HR system will be auto-acknowledged
Any questions? Contact Recruitment@Wildernessgroup.co.uk