Hainault Forest Visitor Centre Assistant

The Hainault Forest Visitor Centre Assistant is an integral part of the team delivering a welcoming and memorable experience for visitors to Hainault Forest. Working in the Woodland Trust’s visitor centre, the role will assist with retail operations, provide excellent customer service, support various visitor engagement activities, and promote ways that visitors can support our cause - including Woodland Trust membership. This role contributes to enhancing the visitor experience while supporting the Woodland Trust’s mission. Our work at Hainault Forest is delivered in partnership with London Borough of Redbridge and Vision RCL.

The Role:

• Provide a warm, welcoming experience for visitors by sharing information about the forest, facilities, activities, and key site features, and responding to general enquiries.
• Promote the Trust’s membership offer and actively encourage sign-ups as part of the visitor experience.
• Support the delivery of events such as local walks workshops, often with children on an occasional basis.
• Work as part of the Visitor Centre team to manage building operations, including opening and closing procedures, upkeep of shared spaces, and handling financial transactions and cashing up.
• Deliver high-quality retail service, including operating the till efficiently, maintaining the retail area to a high standard, restocking and rotating stock, and ensuring strong visual merchandising.
• Contribute to retail performance by supporting stock selection and stock level decisions, monitoring sales, and helping to develop the retail offer to maximise income generation at the forest.
• Provide occasional support with social media by creating content and posting on relevant platforms to help promote the site and its activities.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, volunteers, and external partners, while following all health and safety procedures and adhering to data protection regulations when handling personal information
• This role will be based in the Hainault Forest Visitor Centre. You would be expected to live locally or within a reasonable travelling distance.

The Candidate:

• Experience working in a retail and/or customer-facing environment, with knowledge of point-of-sale (POS) systems, visual merchandising and stock management processes.
• Ability to manage your own time effectively within agreed working hours, balancing multiple tasks and priorities.
• Comfortable working independently using your own initiative, while also being a reliable and collaborative team member.
• Strong communication skills, able to engage confidently and appropriately with a range of audiences including children and young people.
• A basic understanding of health and safety practices relevant to public-facing environments.
• Confident using MS Office applications, including Word, Excel, Teams, and Outlook.
• A welcoming, organised, reliable, and passionate approach, with a genuine enthusiasm for nature and a desire to connect people with Hainault Forest and the Woodland Trust’s mission.
• Willingness to learn about Hainault Forest and the Woodland Trust, and subject to pre-employment checks including right-to-work, references and an enhanced DBS check.
• The successful candidate will be required to be over the age of 18 and required to undertake an Enhanced Background Check, as part of our pre-employment screening.

Benefits and Wellbeing:

Joining our team means you’ll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:

• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
• Generous Annual Leave - 25 Days Plus Bank Holidays (pro rata’d for part-time)
• Buy and Sell Holiday Scheme
• Enhanced Parental Pay
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Us:

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. We want to see a world where trees and woods thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make their difference tackling the nature and climate crisis helping protect, restore and create our vital woods and trees.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.

People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply.

Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application Advice:

For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, and CVs are redacted until after shortlisting is complete. Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role. Even if you don't meet every requirement of the role, we would encourage you to apply.

Acceptable Use - Artificial Intelligence (AI):

We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications-for example, to help structure or edit written responses. We welcome the use of AI in this way, particularly where it helps improve accessibility, such as for neurodivergent applicants. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools. If you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please contact recruitment@woodlandtrust.org.uk

Apply Now:

If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete. For queries relating to this new opportunity please email recruitment@woodlandtrust.org.uk

Interviews will take place at the Hainault Forest Visitor Centre.