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Winterbourne House and Gardens

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £20,405, with potential progression once in post to £21,418

Band: 200

Part Time - 1258 hours per annum (17 days per month on a rota basis) - Permanent

Closing date: 27th April 2023

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Job context

The post-holder is part of the Visitor Services Team at Winterbourne House and Garden, part of Campus Services.

Job Summary

The post-holder will assist with Visitor Reception and occasionally in the Shop, welcoming visitors to Winterbourne House and Garden, issuing tickets and providing excellent customer service. They will be the first point of contact for a wide range of visitors.

Winterbourne House and Garden is owned by the University of Birmingham and sits under the Campus Services directorate. In addition to winterbourne Campus Services are responsible for a huge range of services including student accommodation, catering, cleaning and waste management, conferences and events, delivering the University’s post, day nurseries, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre, security and also Sport and Fitness.

Restored to its Edwardian Arts and Craft splendour, Winterbourne House is a unique heritage attraction – set within seven acres of beautiful botanic gardens. Only minutes from Birmingham city centre, Winterbourne is a hidden gem – home to beautiful antiques and over 6,000 plant species from around the world.

Working on Visitor Reception you will be the welcoming face of Winterbourne, issuing tickets, promoting Gift Aid on Entry, selling memberships and Guidebooks and ensuring a warm and informed welcome to our 75,000 visitors a year.

Part of the Visitor Services team you will also assist in our shop and be involved with the staffing of our annual programme of events. Regular weekend and Bank holiday working is required.

Main duties

Front of House

• Working in Visitor reception or the shop, be familiar with and implement agreed Winterbourne House and Garden Service Standards, projecting a welcoming and friendly presence to all visitors to the site.
• Open the Reception and prepare the house daily for visitors.
• Welcome all visitors to the property, issuing tickets, checking Membership cards etc.,
• A c tive l y p r o m ote Gift Aid on Entry, Winterbourne Membership and Guidebook sales.
• Mon i tor visitor f low i n o r der to e ff iciently m in i m ise queu e s and prevent overcrowding.
• E n s u r e t h at t he va r ious c ons t r ain t s on visi t o r s , w hich a r e e ssen t i al to the s a f e k eep i ng o f the p r o pe r t y and its exhibits , a r e app l ied i n a s y m pathe t ic m an ne r .
• Op e r ate e l ect r onic cash r e gis t e r/card transaction machines w i t h the appropriate levels of skill and accuracy .
• A c q u i r e a sound k no w ledge o f the House and Garden so as t o ensu r e all visito r s r e c e i v e app r op r iate w e l c o m e a n d a r e p r o v i ded wi t h ac c u r ate i n f o r m a t i on .

Administration

• Inputting data onto our Membership CRM
• Answering the telephone, transferring calls to the appropriate person in a professional and timely manner.
• Dealing with queries and taking details of the query to escalate where appropriate; this may include dealing with complaints where possible.

You will be expected to treat everyone with dignity and respect, supporting equality and valuing diversity.

Any other duties as may be reasonably required within the grade of role.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Literacy and numeracy skills which may be evidenced by GCSE Maths and English D-G/1-3 or similar level 1 equivalent qualification. Where no equivalent qualification is held, relevant work experience evidencing the skills and ability to undertake the role will normally be required.
• IT skills - familiarity with Microsoft office programmes including word, excel, and Outlook. Training will be given on allocation systems.
• Excellent face to face communication and interpersonal skills
• Accuracy and attention to detail is essential
• An ability to organise your own activities within a schedule
• A customer focussed approach
• Previous experience of working on a busy reception desk is desirable.
• Ability to learn and understand how diversity considerations affect own area (e.g. dietary requirements/dress code).
  

Informal enquires to Tessa Lovell, email: [email protected]

View our staff values and behaviours here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.