Are you a passionate, commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader? Do you possess an entrepreneurial spirit with a forward-thinking and growth orientated vision, keen to deliver quality within all areas of the visitor experience? Come and join our leadership team to help shape the future direction of our Charity and visitor attraction.
Job title: Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Hours: 37.5 per week. Flexibility will be considered working a minimum of 30 hours per week / 0.9 full time equivalent. Salary and pay will be adjusted accordingly.
Work pattern: 5 days per week. The majority of hours will be worked during office hours Monday to Friday, however Winchester Science Centre offers a 7 day a week experience with events on several evenings per week. To best support the team there will be occasional work, meetings and events in evenings, early mornings and at weekends which will be compensated by time off in lieu.
Salary: £60,000-£70,000 per annum depending on experience (pro rata if working fewer than 37.5 hours per week)
Contract: Permanent
Line manager: CEO
Responsible for: Head of Visitor Experiences, Head of Events, Head of Marketing and Head of Curiosity
Holiday: 27 days per annum plus bank holidays based on working 37.5 hours per week. Option to buy/sell some leave and gain additional days for continuous service after four years.
Location: Winchester and Eastleigh. Occasional travel within the UK will be required.
Benefits: Cash health scheme, life assurance, buy/sell annual leave, long service holiday bonus, café and shop discount, free tickets to WSC and partner attractions, family friendly leave, wellbeing policy, mental health first aiders, cycle to work scheme, financial loans, flexible IT, casual dress, staff events, free parking, pension contribution, inflationary pay rise and more.
Application deadline: 6th January 2025 09:00
About us
Wonderseekers (the Charity behind Winchester Science Centre) strives to engage all children with science so they can live happier, healthier and more sustainable lives and contribute to improving life on earth. The Charity runs Winchester Science Centre – a vibrant, hands-on experience for young children. Promising an exciting day out for families, with curriculum-linked trips for schools and an evening events programme, the Science Centre welcomes over 170,000 visitors every year. Through our magnificent planetarium and live science experiences, science is brought to life in imaginative, fun and accessible ways that means everyone is included.
The Role
Are you a passionate, commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader? Do you possess an entrepreneurial spirit with a forward-thinking and growth orientated vision, keen to deliver quality within all areas of the visitor experience? Come and join our leadership team to help shape the future direction of our Charity and visitor attraction.
This is a key period of growth for our Charity, with the delivery of our new strategy and exciting capital and activity Masterplan in the pipeline. This will be the single largest development in our 38 year history, whereby we are investing over £6m in further expanding our base of operations in driving further financial resilience and reducing risks to the charity. The growth will enable our Charity to maximise its social impact: empowering thousands of children to develop the science skills and nature agency to act on the climate and biodiversity crises.
This newly-created role will play a vital part in enabling and shaping the very exciting future of Wonderseekers.
The post-holder will lead all of our of Charity operations at Winchester Science Centre including;
Working alongside the Chief Financial Officer, the post-holder will deputise for our CEO from time to time representing the charity to external stakeholders and partners.
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) will be a commercially astute and visitor focused operational leader who possesses an entrepreneurial spirit. Through their inspirational, values-based, and collaborative approach, they will always look for new opportunities to innovate and drive growth.
The post holder will bring their wealth of experience as an operational leader with a proven track record within a large visitor attraction to provide expert knowledge to lead a large and diverse team to success.
The COO will be an integral part of the SLT to support business planning by translating the vision, goals, and strategy for the Charity into operational and business plans. They will demonstrate strong financial leadership helping to provide best value and deliver on agreed targets.
Key accountabilities
Main responsibilities
Interview process:
Provisional interview dates are 14th or 23rd January (stage one), 27th, 28th or 29th Jan (stage two)
We look forward to getting to know you through our friendly and welcoming two-stage interview process. This will include panel interviews with Ben (CEO), Lizi (CFO) and some Trustees. There will also be a pre-interview task / presentation and the opportunity to informally meet the wider senior leadership team (SLT).
We can’t wait to hear from you! Please contact us if you’d like to arrange an informal chat, or have any questions about the role before applying.
Ready to Apply?
When you are ready to apply, please submit your application through our recruitment portal https://www.wonderseekers.charity/vacancies.
You will be asked to submit your contact details and answer a few questions so we can get to know you.
Please keep your responses concise, this is your opportunity to really stand out. After answering these questions, please upload your cover letter and CV.
If you have any other questions or wish to arrange an informal phone call prior to applying, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Need information in a different format or would like to apply in an alternative way? Just get in touch using the email address above, or call our office and book a call with HR.
No recruitment agencies, thank you.
C1OO