Property Operations Manager

Job Title:
Responsible to:
Salary:
Hours:

Property Operations Manager
Executive Director
£38,000 per annum
9am to 5.30pm, 5 days per week, 37.5 hours including weekends.

Strawberry Hill House & Garden (SHHG) is a Grade I listed building set within a Grade II
listed landscape, created by Horace Walpole in the 18th century. The House is world-
renowned for its unique architectural style and is one of the first examples of domestic
Gothic architecture. Having been extensively restored in 2010, the House now
welcomes around 20,000 visitors per year.

Strawberry Hill House was built with extraordinary creative and artistic imagination. We
aim to recapture that vibrant atmosphere and enthusiastic energy as we reinvigorate the
House’s creative spirit. As an Accredited Museum, we are stewards of the House and
garden, together with a collection of paintings, miniatures, prints, books, works of
decorative art and furniture.

Purpose of the Role

The Property Operations Manager is responsible for the operational management of
Strawberry Hill House & Garden as a leading heritage attraction. The postholder ensures
the site runs efficiently, safely, and profitably; leads an exceptional visitor experience;
oversees a large and diverse volunteer team; and manages organisational infrastructure
and systems. The role works across departments to ensure financial sustainability,
physical care of the House, Garden and Collection, smooth office functions and
inclusive public engagement.

Direct Reports:

Assistant Property Operations Manager, Interim Learning
Coordinator, Head Gardener, Community Development Manager,
Property Operations Management Assistant, Cleaning Contractor

Liaises with:

Executive Director, Senior Curator, Head of Finance, Education
Freelancers, Café Concession, Volunteers, Visitors, Contractors

Key Responsibilities

Operational and Facilities Management

•  Oversee the daily running of the House and Garden, ensuring smooth, safe, and

welcoming operations for staff, volunteers, and visitors.

•  Manage all aspects of the site including security (physical, practices, CCTV,
alarms), fire safety (testing, drills, and compliance), lighting, conservation
heating, and waste management.

•  Supervise cleaning regime and contracted cleaning services. Oversee prescribed

conservation cleaning.

•  Oversee maintenance of the House, car park, waste collection, bins, and garden

areas including the children's play area.

•  Line manage the Head Gardener, supporting the horticultural vision and

presentation of the Garden.

•  Support the Executive Director and Senior Curator in the delivery of restoration,

conservation and site interpretation.

•  Support the installation and de-installation of exhibitions and collection moves

and ensure maintenance of visitor interpretation and lighting.

Health, Safety and Compliance

•  Act as lead for Health & Safety, ensuring organisational compliance with training,

policies, procedures, risk assessments and incident reporting.

•  Regularly provide H&S Reports to SHT Board.

•  Act as Safeguarding Lead for the organisation.

•  Maintain first aid cover and ensure contingency planning is in place across the

team.

•  Lead the rollout of emergency and safety training for staff and volunteers.

•  Maintain all necessary documentation and ensure staff awareness of

compliance procedures.

•  Fire prevention including overseeing contractor and system tests.

Financial and Commercial Oversight

•  Participate in the annual budget setting rounds and project budgets where

delegated. Support financial forecasting and monthly performance reporting.

•  Oversee daily financial procedures including takings, till reconciliation and

income reporting.

•  Conduct sales analysis to support retail and ticketing strategy.

•  Lead on the use of the ticketing system (Digitickets) with Marketing and oversee

Front-of-house volunteers in its use.

•  Oversight of commercial activity including overseeing filming and photoshoots
(via FilmFixer), venue hire, weddings, and corporate/private events, supporting
Assistant Property Operations Manager (Commercial).

•  Support strategic café operations through collaboration and partnership activity,

including seasonal promotions and visitor engagement initiatives.

Visitor Experience and Public Engagement

•  Lead the delivery of a high-quality visitor experience across the House, Garden

and events programme.

•  Act as regular Duty Manager; provide support and cover for the Operations

Management team as needed.

•  Ensure the physical presentation of all visitor areas is welcoming, accessible,

and engaging.

•  Maintain and develop Front-of-House practices to support the ticketing process

through encouraging gift aid, membership and programming sales.

•  Lead on the design, delivery and evaluation of the Guided Tours programme.

•  Oversee a seasonal programme of public events including concerts, family

activities, community outreach, open air theatre, and large-scale events like the
SH Flower Festival.

•  Monitor visitor feedback and ticketing data to inform operational decisions and

continuous improvement.

Volunteer Management and Development

•  Oversee a volunteer team of approximately 200 individuals across stewarding,
Front-of-house, garden, conservation, events, education, administration and
creative projects.

•  Lead on organisation-wide communications to promote a positive and

supportive workplace culture.

•  Provide a welcoming, inclusive and supportive volunteer culture; deliver training

and inductions; respond to feedback.

•  Coordinate volunteer rotas and ensure daily coverage for all public operations.

•  Support the training and operation of a volunteer House conservation cleaning

regime in collaboration with the Senior Curator.

Oversight of Education and Learning offer

•  Oversee the management of the Education Programme, coordinating with
freelance educators and volunteers to deliver KS1–KS5 school sessions,
university visits and lifelong learning groups.

•  Line-manage the Learning Coordinator, who handles bookings, scheduling and

freelance contracts.

•  Support special projects and curriculum-linked activities that contribute to the

charitable and public engagement aims of the House and Garden.

Office and IT Management

•  Oversee office systems, including digital filing, and document management.

•  Manage IT infrastructure in partnership with Qlic, including hardware, user

support, and system functionality.

•  Manage visitor-facing communications, developing the online enquiry resource.

•  Support HR functions including recruitment administration, inductions, rota

planning, and internal communications.

•  Renegotiate service contracts and source appropriate suppliers as needed.

•  Process and distribute incoming post.

•  Maintain digital SharePoint structures for effective document sharing and

archiving.

Strategic Development and Organisational Support

•  Act as a key advisor to the Executive Director on operational, staffing and

infrastructure development.

•  Support internal change management processes, including space planning,

systems upgrades, and procedural rollouts.

•  Lead the development and embedding of new ways of working across staff and

volunteer teams.

•

 Play an active role in strategic planning and trustee reporting.

Sending us Your Application

Please send your CV and a personal statement explaining how your skills and
experience match, and why you would like this role, by email to
jobs@strawberryhillhouse.org.uk

Closing date for application: Friday 13 February 2026 at 5pm.
Interviews: Week commencing Monday 23 February 2026.