Role Profile

Job Title
Position
Hours

Membership Manager
Permanent
Full-time 35 hours per week (including some evenings and
weekends)

Holidays

33 days including 8 public holidays

Manager
Location

Commercial Director
Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road,
London SW3 4HS

1.

Equal Opportunities

Chelsea Physic Garden is a place for everyone. As an equal opportunities’ employer,
Chelsea Physic Garden is committed to championing equality, diversity, and inclusion in
our workplace. If you are a suitably qualified applicant, we encourage your application
whatever your age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sexual
orientation or socio- economic background.

2.

About Chelsea Physic Garden

Chelsea Physic Garden (CPG) is an independent charity set up in 1983 to promote and
preserve the four-acre garden of the same name. The charity’s mission is to demonstrate the
medicinal, economic, cultural, and environmental importance of plants to the survival and
wellbeing of humankind. We are open to visitors six days a week, eleven months of the
year.  There has been a teaching Garden on our site since 1673, and today we hope that all our
visitors leave inspired, having learnt something new.

3.

Our Values

We have a set of five interlinked reinforcing values that support each other

Openness and
Transparency

Respect &
Care

Sharing and
being generous
with information
Being  open to
new ideas and
opinions

Respecting
others' roles
feelings and
opinions
Listening
sensitively and
encouraging
dialogue

Inclusion

Working
collaboratively
Reaching  out to
involve others in
and outside the
organisation

Discovery &
Enrichment
Actively seeking
out new
knowledge
Inspiring and
motivating
intellectual
curiosity and
learning

Sustainability

Embracing
change and
innovation
Working  to
build  on our
heritage

4.

About the Role

The Membership Manager plays a pivotal role in growing and developing CPG’s membership
community, supporting our organisational ambition to inspire wonder, wellbeing and discovery by
uniting people with plants that heal. With a strong focus on membership sales and retention,
customer engagement, and visitor conversion, the postholder will drive the growth of the
membership base and deliver an excellent standard of service across all membership
touchpoints.

Reporting to the Commercial Director and working in close collaboration with the Visitor
Experience Manager, the Membership Manager will develop and implement strategies to
increase membership acquisition, retention, and overall income to meet the Garden’s ambition of
growing membership by 10% over five years. This includes supporting the Visitor Experience &
Retail Assistants (VERAs) and volunteers to maximise on-site membership conversion, gift aid
participation, and upselling opportunities. The postholder will deliver training and guidance to
ensure the team understands membership benefits and can confidently promote them to
prospective members.

The Membership Manager is also responsible for maintaining accurate and GDPR-compliant
records of all membership data, ensuring smooth data entry, processing, and reporting. They will
develop and maintain strong relationships with members at all levels and work collaboratively
across departments to deliver membership benefits, communications, and events that add value
and drive loyalty. The Membership Manager will be responsible for reviewing the contract with
the third-party mailing house, ensuring service level agreements are met.

The postholder will lead on marketing campaigns related to membership, provide insights on
member behaviour and sales trends, and contribute to initiatives that improve the overall visitor
to member journey in coordination with the Visitor Experience Manager and Marketing team.

The Membership Manager will be available to work occasional weekends as part of a duty
management roster and will contribute to the delivery of major public events such as Spring
Open Days, Summer Lates, and the Christmas Fair.

5.

Key Responsibilities

I.  Membership Processing

The  Membership  Manager  will  ensure  that  all  sales  and  renewals  of  Friends  memberships  are
processed accurately and in a timely manner. This includes inputting data into the CRM (Raiser’s
Edge NXT), sending out Membership packs, processing Direct Debit claims and submitting Gift
Aid claims.

The  Membership  Manager  will  be  responsible  for  maintaining  the  Friends  database  including
updating  records  when  required  and  providing  reports  to  other  staff  when  needed  in  line  with
GDPR guidance.

The MM will work with the third-party mailing house to ensure that renewals letters are sent out
in a timely manner.

II.  Growth and Development

The Membership Manager will take a proactive role in identifying and developing opportunities for
membership growth, with a particular focus on new and underutilized segments such as corporate
memberships.  This  includes  researching  potential  partners,  designing  tailored  membership
packages,  and  collaborating  with  the  Commercial  Director  and  Fundraising  Team  to  launch  and
promote these offerings.

They will be responsible for developing strategies to diversify and expand the Friends membership
base,  analysing  data  trends,  and  proposing  innovative  approaches  to  increase  acquisition  and
retention. The Membership Manager will also monitor market developments and peer institutions
to identify best practices and inform long-term membership development plans.

III.

Communications and Campaigns

The Membership Manager will lead on the strategic communications with Friends and work closely
with the Fundraising Manager to support stewardship of the Patrons programme. Working closely
with the Commercial Director and Marketing Manager, they will agree the frequency and nature
of  all  communications  sent  out  to  Friends  across  the  year,  maintaining  a  calendar  of  key
information and messaging.

The  MM  will  work  with  the  Marketing  Manager  to  develop  a  schedule  for  membership
recruitment, including online and offline channels, and take account of key points in the year such
as Christmas and Mother’s Day

The MM will take ownership of relevant sections of the website, keeping information up to date,
accurate and effective. This will include utilising web analytics to understand and optimize user
journeys and support migration to Paperless Direct Debit.

IV.  Onsite Sales

Working  closely  with  the  Commercial  Director  and  Visitor  Experience  Manager,  the  MM  is

responsible  for  the  development  of  an  onsite  recruitment  strategy,  including  the  production  of
flyers,  forms  and  posters  in  the  house  style.  The  MM  will  also  support  the  training  of  Visitor
Experience and Retail Assistants (VERAs) on the process of selling and processing membership,
including upselling, converting day tickets to memberships and maximising direct debit and Gift
Aid sign up.

They  will  also  play  a  key  role  in  volunteer  engagement,  working  alongside  the  Retail  Buyer  &
Merchandiser and Visitor Experience Team to support a team of Retail & Membership Volunteers
in delivering excellent service and achieving targets.

V.

Stewarding

The Membership Manager will act as first point of contact for prospective and current members.
They will actively steward monthly Friends Coffee Mornings, and work on expanding the current
offering of Members’ events by devising additional opportunities for in-person engagement.

The  postholder  will  support  the  Fundraising  Team  through  the  administration  of  Raiser’s  Edge,
including  Garden  Patron  membership  renewals,  prospect  management  and  gift  aid  claims.
Additionally, occasional support will be required for donor events.

Person Specification

Skills and Experience

Experience working with members of charitable, heritage or arts
organisation
Experience working with Raiser's Edge
Knowledge of data protection legislation
Knowledge of Gift Aid legislation

Excellent communications skills (written and verbal)
Knowledge of MS Office programmes and ability to learn to work with
different systems such as Shopify
Knowledge of working in value-led organisations such as charities, or the
cultural sector
Experience of managing suppliers
Experience of processing financial information e.g., Direct Debits

Experience of producing letters and emails for mass distribution
Self-motivated and able to act on initiative

Strong organisational skills, able to manage multiple priorities
simultaneously
Experience of supervising volunteers
An interest in Gardens

Experience of copywriting

Competency  Framework

Essential/
Desirable
E

E

E
E

E
E

E

E
E

E
D

D

D
D

D

We have a set of eight competencies that are common to all employees and within the
framework each competency has four levels which relate to the level at which individual roles
need to operate.  The competency assessment for this role is set out below and more
information will be provided to support this assessment.

Competency

Descriptor

1  Leadership
2  People

Management

3  Analysis and use
of Evidence

4  Communication

Setting the pace and behaving with integrity
Making  clear  what  you  expect  and  what  is  to  be
achieved;  enabling  and  supporting  your  staff  to
deliver
Collecting, analysing and using information and
evidence, assessing risk and taking
decisions
Communicating with colleagues, visitors and
stakeholders

5  Collaborative
Working

Working together with people within and
outside of CPG to help us achieve our goals

6  Delivering
Results

Organising and managing the work to deliver
results

Using resources cost effectively

The knowledge, skills and expertise you need
to do your job and help others to do theirs

7  Using and
Managing
Resources
8  Know How

Terms and Conditions

Level for this
role
3
2

2

3

2

3

3

3

The post holder will be required to work an average of five days per week, but the nature of
the role means that flexibility over the days and hours worked is required to meet the needs
of the business.

There  is  a  requirement  to  work  regular  weekends  and  bank  holidays  as  part  of  a  roster
(approximately one weekend per month but varies with the season), for which time off in lieu
will be provided.

The Garden operates a salary exchange pension scheme currently with Royal London which
means that your gross salary is reduced by the amount of pension contribution made by the
employer and employee which is then paid directly into your pension.
The  equivalent  contribution  rates  are  5%  employer  and  3%  employee  at  the  end  of  the
probationary period.

Details of other employee benefits and rights will be provided to successful candidates and
include things like a season ticket loan, a cycle purchase scheme as well as an employee
assistance programme.