General Manager

Job Description

Summary Our careers are as varied as the places we care for and that’s why we look for people from all backgrounds, with a variety of skills and abilities to help us maintain our places ‘forever for everyone’. As our General Manager for the Wimpole Estate, you will be responsible for ensuring this place is cared for with the highest conservation standards, accessible to all and are run in a financially sustainable way.Interview Date = Thursday 25th March What its like to work here As one of the National Trust’s flagship properties in the East of England, Wimpole Estate has big plans to deliver an amazing visitor experience that truly engages our members and visitors. Building on recent significant investment in new car park, visitor infrastructure, 5km multi-user trail and welcome facilities – this estate close to Cambridge has the potential to be one of Trust most significant sites.We welcome over 350,000 visitors every year and have the potential to reach more than 400,000.Wimpole is a rare example of a full working estate; the stately mansion at its heart boasts one of the most significant libraries in the National Trust’s care, a striking Soane bathhouse and evocative basements. A favourite with families, the historic Home Farm is unique in the National Trust, getting visitors up close to our collection of rare breed farm animals, learning about food, historic farming and farming today. The extensive 2,500-acre estate includes tenanted farms and cottages, large grazed historic park and important SSSI/SAC woodlands. In addition to the tenanted land Wimpole also boosts the Trust only in-hand lowland organic arable farm. Run by our Farming and Ranger team this farm demonstrates best practice and is an opportunity to showcase our LON strategy beyond our boundaries.It is an exciting time at Wimpole: we have big ambitions to connect our audiences to Nature, History and Beauty, in a truly inclusive way – making the most of new facilities and our wonderful historic components. We are also passionate about delivering our conservation ambitions, whether that’s protecting and enhancing our collections in the house, continuing to expand the walled garden offer, or establishing new habitats across our farm and estate for wildlife. This year alone we have a £1m+ project to create over 150Ha of new woodland habitats and pilot carbon reduction across the whole business.To make this happen, a team of around 80 staff and over 500 volunteers work here, in a wide range of roles: from farming to retail, catering to forestry, collections conservation to gardening, facilities management to visitor engagement. The General Manager is at the heart of this and is pivotal to ensuring ambitions become reality. What youll be doing We are looking for a General Manager to Lead the team across this diverse estate; with its Hall, Parkland, Gardens and working farm diverse with a of opportunities and challenges, no two days are ever the same!At the heart of this role is ensuring the highest standard of care over all parts of the estatewhilst delivering a first-class welcome and great experiences to our visitors. You’ll be at the centre of managing both the natural environment, historic properties, and our visitor services, you will be a key decision maker and influencer to ensure these assets are cared for and accessible to all and the NTs wider strategy is delivered.In addition, you’ll work in partnership with our commercial Whole Trust Delivery Teams, liaising with Area Manager to ensure high standards and commercial return in Food and Beverage and Retail, as well with the Let Estate commercial team, managing a complex mix of tenancy agreements and licences.Wimpole has a large team of staff and volunteers and you will lead this team with skill and confidence, enabling them to shine in their various fields of expertise. In addition, you’ll liaise with and respond to the concerns of the communities that live and work around the property.You will work with complex and sometimes controversial issues and have the stamina to progress challenging objectives. You will be an enthusiastic advocate for inclusion and diversity and able to adapt your thinking and approach to perform brilliantly in an array of formal and informal settings.If you’d like to work in this exciting and rewarding place, with a team of highly competent, dedicated and inspirational people, where you can learn from each other and use your talents to drive the delivery of great things for people, for places and for nature, then this is the portfolio for you.Please also read the full role profile, attached to this advert, include a covering letter and CV with your application. Who were looking for In your application please provide details of how you meet the following minimum criteria:

Substantial general management experience within a business or third sector environment.

Experience of managing budgets, business strategy and planning.

Track record of delivering challenging performance targets and improving results.

Under pinning commercial awareness and sound knowledge of finacial and business practice.

Stronge leadership and management skills with experience of managing mulit-disciplinary teams including volunteers and consultants.

Evidence of determination and creativity in setting direction and getting others to follow. Able to identfy and impliment tranformational change.

Strong networking and stakeholder management skills. Track record of successful influencing and negociation skills.

High level proplem solving and innovation.

Project management skills and experience.

Experience of working in partnership, managing external stakeholders and managing reputational risk.

Operational risk management. Such as health and saftey, fire and environmental practices.

Good resilence.

Able to meet travel requirements across portfolio and region.

The package Benefits for working for The National Trust;

Flexible working whenever possible

Free parking at most locations

Discounts in high street stores, cinemas, National Trust Shops & National Trust Cafes

Free entry to our properties for you, a guest and your children (Under 18)

Generous annual leave

Cycle to work scheme

Subsidised health cash plan

Free 24-hour support service

Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% of basic salary

Training & Development tailored to you

Up to 5 days of paid volunteering per year