Visitor Experience & Retail Assistant

 Role Overview

Job Title
Position
Hours

Salary
Holidays
Manager
Location

Temporary Visitor Experience & Retail Assistant
Fixed-term contract (5 months)
380 hours over 5 months, typically 3 days/shifts per
week although this may vary throughout the contract
due to the seasonality of our opening (Sundays and
some evenings required as part of a roster)
 £14.78 per hour
7 days including statutory holidays
Assistant Visitor Experience Manager
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 inter linked reinforcing values that support each other

Openness &
Transparency

• Sharing and

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

Respect &
Care

• 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

We want to make Chelsea Physic Garden, a welcoming garden for all and our visitor
experience team, as the visitors’ first point of contact, are essential to delivering this
successfully. The Visitor Experience & Retail Assistant is a customer facing role that
engages with everyone who visits the Garden and delivers the daily running of the
Visitor Welcome Area and Garden Shop. The role provides an exceptional welcome
and level of customer service. The posts support the Visitor Experience Manager to
achieve annual targets for visitor admissions, membership conversion, direct debit
sign up and gift aid donations. The Visitor Experience & Retail Assistant will also
support our daily retail operations, uphold retail presentation standards, support
visitors with sales enquiries and process purchase transactions.

We currently have x1 contract available which equates to 380 hours worked across the
5 months. We are open to visitors on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The Garden opens
for some evening events and occasional Saturdays.

5.

Key areas of responsibility

5.1   Visitor Experience: The VERA’s are responsible for delivering a high-quality
visitor experience to all of our visitors. They will need to resolve visitor enquiries
where possible and passing enquiries on to relevant colleagues when necessary. The
VERA’s need to maintain a good knowledge of the Garden and the seasonal highlights
of the Garden as these change, as well as our wider public offer including our Public
Programme of events.

The VERA’s regularly liaise with visitor facing volunteers, such as Tour Guides and
Stewards to update them with any last-minute updates and to know how many tours
will be taking place, when, etc. to best inform visitors.

VERA’s support the Visitor Experience Manager and Assistant Visitor Experience
Manager to deliver the Visitor Experience Plan at Chelsea Physic Garden and must
take an interest in the Audience Development Plan, to help us be a welcoming site to
all. Where possible, the VERA’s will deliver small scale projects on an ad hoc basis in

line with personal development plan e.g. ‘How To Guides’ on processes for new staff
members.

VERA’s need to maintain a good knowledge of operational procedures including
health and safety, safeguarding and lost children, to ensure that everyone at CPG has
as safe a visit as possible. The VERA team need to effectively support the operational
management team in the event of an emergency or fire evacuation. Training will be
provided.

5.2  Retail:  The VERA team must provide exceptional customer service to visitors in
the Garden Shop and develop a good understanding of the products on sale and their
relevance to the Garden to help meet monthly sales targets. They must proactively
ensure that the retail spaces are well stocked and presented in line with Presentation
Guidelines outlined by the Retail Buyer & Merchandiser.

5.3  Membership: The VERA team need to help CPG achieve monthly targets set for
gift aid, membership conversion, retail sales, etc. To do this, VERA’s take the
opportunities to upsell and cross-sell where possible. This includes Membership.

5.4  Opening & Closing: The VERA team are responsible for the opening and closing of
the Visitor Welcome Area & Garden shop, and clearing the Garden of visitors at the
end of day. Presentation standards need to be maintained in these areas, including
remerchandising the shop throughout the day, keeping family trails and membership
leaflets topped up. The VERAs need to work with the Duty Manager and inform them
of any Health & Safety, Security, Fire or Safeguarding concerns. At end of day the
VERA team make sure that all visitors have left the site safely.

5.5  Administration & Cash Handling:  The VERA team need to maintain a good
understanding of how to use our online ticketing systems, and Shopify for retail and
onsite ticket purchases. Maintain up to date knowledge in relation to Gift Aid to help
increase conversion. Ensure floats and cash are prepared and accounted for each day.
Account for all tickets sold, retail sales transactions, cash received and PDQ
transactions. Reconcile these with the till end of day report, noting and explaining all
discrepancies.

6.

Person Specification

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Customer Service and Retail experience
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and
oral)
Strong organisational skills
Self-motivated and able to act on initiative

Essential/
Desirable
E
E

E
E

Knowledge of current trends, resources and information relating
to the visitor sector
Ability to work as part of a small team
Knowledge of working with till systems
Excellent communications skills (written and verbal)
Knowledge of MS Office programmes and ability to learn to work
with different systems such as Shopify
Cash handling
Knowledge of working in value-led organisations such as
charities, or the cultural sector
First aid qualification
Knowledge of Safeguarding
Knowledge of GDPR
An interest in Gardens
An interest in working sustainably in a time of climate
emergency

D

E
E
E
E

D
E

D
D
D
D
E

7.

Competency Framework

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

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

4  Communication  Communicating with colleagues, visitors and

5  Collaborative
Working
6  Delivering
Results
7  Using and
Managing
Resources
8  Know How

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

Level for this
role
1
1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8.

Terms and Conditions

This is a temporary part-time post. The post holder will be required to work an
average of 2 - 3 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 Sundays, Bank Holidays and evenings as part
of a roster.

The Garden operates a salary exchange pension scheme with Royal London.  The
equivalent contribution rates are 5% employer and 3% employee at the end of the
probationary period.

Holiday entitlement is 7 days based on a full time entitlement of 33 days holiday
including statutory holidays.

The role is based at Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS.

Returning your application:

Please complete the job application form and equal opportunities form and
email them to jobs@chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

Dates:

Closing date for
applications:

Sunday 10 May 2026

1st Interview:

Thursday 14 May 2026