Knepp Wildland & Garden Safaris Manager

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated person to manage our eco-safaris at one of the most well-known rewilding projects in the UK. With about 500 annual safaris and safari visitor numbers topping 10,000, it is a vibrant and uplifting place to work.

The successful candidate will co-ordinate a busy seasonal schedule of safaris with a team of twenty+ ecologists and garden guides in a well-established eco-tourism business, alongside other visitor opportunities.

The overarching aim of the Knepp Rewilding Project is to engage people with nature, stimulate broader public interest in nature recovery and species reintroductions, and collect and collate scientific data to demonstrate the biodiversity gains of rewilding. Knepp’s various forms of accommodation, tours and hospitality drive the revenue to ensure business sustainability.

With this core aim in mind the Safari Manager will work closely with Knepp’s co-owner Isabella Tree, the estate manager, ecology team, visitor manager and head gardener. The role is assisted by the safari administrative assistant and sits within the Knepp Wilding Safaris business.

The role is diverse and often office based but does need a significant amount of site work and flexibility. It will include everything from establishing new safari offerings to helping with marketing and comms to ensure satisfactory occupancy. Business performance and KPI management is crucial to the role. There is also recruitment and ongoing management of the safari guide teams, plus hands-on managing the various safari venues & equipment, in addition to organising catering and crucially; ensuring customer satisfaction.

The successful candidate will have exceptional organisational skills, have a good knowledge of visitor experience management, will be motivated by business success and will be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills. They will be hard working, conscientious, organised, and be able to trouble-shoot in time pressured situations.

They will be able to clearly and confidently communicate with the safari team and customers and help develop knowledge and enthusiasm within the teams with training and social events. An affable nature is vital, as is a passion for conservation, gardens and rewilding.

The role requires extra hours and weekend oversight (sometimes shared with others) to be worked during the tourism season, balanced by time off in the winter.

The Safaris Manager reports directly to Knepp’s Estate Manager and the Burrell family.

Key Work Areas

Event management

• Safaris, rewilded garden visits, workshops, corporate team days and foodie event scheduling; managing guide, venue, equipment and machinery availability to plan a full and varied annual calendar.
• Addition of more events in reaction to sales and forthcoming opportunities (e.g. national press or TV coverage).
• Organising and leading some specialist and bespoke safaris and events for visiting NGOs, corporate groups and government agencies.
• Development of new offerings which will include generalist and specialist safaris, professional workshops and food experience offerings in collaboration with the Knepp Wilding Kitchen.
• Development and implementation of new opportunities, such as photographic hides.
• Working with the Visitor Manager to create web pages for new safaris and optimise/update existing webpages.
• Working with the Garden Team to develop a rewilded walled garden visit programme.
• Working closely with the Marketing Team to promote safaris and improve visitor booking journey and marketing opportunities
• Oversee the smooth every day running of Wildland Safaris and Walled Garden Tours inc. venue set-up, catering, guest lists, IT set-up and troubleshooting.
• Oversee the co-ordination of speakers for external presentation

Team management

• Pastoral care and co-ordination of the safari and garden guide sub-contractors.
• Line management of the Safari Administrative assistant.
• Collegiate working with the Lead Ecologist and Visitor Manager, possibly covering each other’s weekend on-call supervision.
• Recruitment, induction and training of new guides.
• Continual professional development of the guides, inc. training days and trips.
• Health and Safety management, vehicle training and first aid training co-ordination.
• Invoices, timesheets and general HR management.
• Trouble-shooting safari guide illnesses and last-minute safari coverage.
• Dealing with emergency situations.

Venue, vehicle & equipment management

• Preparing venues and co-ordinating venue cleaning, pitching-in where appropriate
• Identification of venue modifications and repairs and liaison with maintenance foreman
• Oversight of venue IT and audio-visual equipment.
• Oversight of safari vehicle fleet

General administration

• Safari administration including keeping event spreadsheets and Outlook and Google calendars updated.
• Budgeting, safari/visit pricing, margin review; business planning & analysis.
• Regular occupancy analysis and other KPIs.
• Identifying cross-selling opportunities across Knepp businesses (leveraging our CRM) and establish partnerships beyond
• Helping to update and create new content for the website.
• Health and Safety including dynamic assessments on weather conditions and emergency protocols, alongside Knepp’s Health & Safety Administrator.
• Catering planning and liaison with Knepp Wilding Kitchen.
• Keeping safari and garden visit presentation content up-to-date and relevant.
• Managing and purchasing new safari kit.
• Safari vehicle administration and overseeing maintenance, cleaning & re-fuelling.
• Provide content for social media and press releases to promote Safari and Walled Garden businesses.
• Handling customer feedback.

Experience and Professional/Technical Expertise

Essential

• Experience in event management, from planning stages to delivery.
• Strong organisational skills and time management.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire others.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills, and the ability to communicate effectively with team, colleagues and customers.
• Calm and collected demeanour when dealing with emergency situations.
• Compassionate team player with a willingness to pitch in and help where needed.
• Proven time management skills and managerial skills.
• Budget management skills and financial acumen.
• Competent in IT – Microsoft Office, website content and social media.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Willingness/ability to work flexibly and during unsociable hours, including occasional weekend work when the job demands it, particularly during the main safari season (April to end-October).

Desirable

• Experience of working in a heritage or visitor attraction or in a visitor engagement role.
• Sound understanding of rewilding and a passion for nature and connecting people with nature and growing the following of people interested.
• Good at prioritising workloads.
• Experience in website content management/webpage creation.
• Knowledge of marketing and social media content creation
• Experience of working with and engaging the public in the context of nature and nature conservation.
• Good understanding and awareness of Health & Safety requirements.