Centre Assistant (Retail)

Centre Assistant (Retail)
Location: RSPB Minsmere, IP17
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part-time, minimum of 5 hours per week
Salary: £13.45 - £14.35 Per Hour
Benefits: Pension Scheme, Life Assurance Scheme, 26 days' Annual Leave (pro rata)

Are you passionate about delivering great customer experiences and inspired by the natural world? Join us at Minsmere Reserve and play a key role in welcoming visitors while supporting vital conservation work.

We’re looking for a positive and adaptable Centre Assistant to join our retail team. In this role, you’ll help create a warm, welcoming environment for visitors, ensuring everyone enjoys a memorable and engaging experience at the reserve.

As a Centre Assistant, your primary focus will be supporting visitors in our retail space-offering friendly, knowledgeable service and helping people make the most of their visit. You’ll also contribute to the smooth day-to-day running of the visitor centre, which may include supporting the café and front-of-house activities when needed.

Working on a busy nature reserve means no two days are the same. You’ll be part of a collaborative team, helping to ensure our facilities run efficiently and continue to inspire people to connect with and care for nature.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide a welcoming, inclusive and informative experience for all visitors.
• Deliver day-to-day retail operations, including serving customers and handling transactions.
• Help maintain attractive, well-stocked and commercially effective retail displays.
• Process deliveries and support stock management activities.
• Respond to visitor enquiries in a clear, helpful and professional manner.
• Support other visitor centre areas when required, including reception and café services.
• Follow organisational procedures for cash handling, health and safety, and retail operations.
• Contribute to team objectives, including supporting income generation and visitor engagement.

Why Join Us?

Our visitor centre plays a vital role in connecting people with nature and supporting conservation. By joining our team, you’ll help create meaningful experiences for visitors while contributing to the protection of wildlife and habitats.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. If you’re enthusiastic about working with people and interested in nature, we’d love to hear from you.

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Demonstrates functional literacy and numeracy sufficient to complete day-to-day tasks such as communicating with visitors, interpreting instructions, and handling basic calculations; achieved through GCSE Maths and English (or equivalent qualification or demonstrable experience).
• Uses standard digital tools (e.g. email, point-of-sale systems, basic office software) effectively to complete routine tasks, access information, and record transactions accurately.
• Communicates information clearly and accurately in both spoken and written form, adapting style to suit different audiences (e.g. visitors, colleagues) and ensuring understanding.
• Works collaboratively with others to deliver a consistent service, sharing information, supporting team activities, and contributing to team objectives.
• Provides customer-facing service in a fast-paced environment, responding to queries, giving information, and ensuring a positive visitor experience.
• Handles payments and operates tills or equivalent systems accurately and securely, following established procedures for cash and card transactions.
• Demonstrates the ability to promote products, services, or experiences by engaging with customers, identifying needs, and supporting sales or upselling activity where appropriate.
• Shows reliability and a positive approach to work by completing assigned tasks, adapting to changing priorities, and maintaining professional behaviour in a public-facing role.

Additional Information:

• Full training and ongoing support will be provided, giving you the opportunity to develop your skills, build knowledge of our operations, and contribute to our wider conservation mission.
• Our work in the visitor centre is planned via the use of rotas and will include weekend and bank holiday working.
• This is a permanent, part-time role for a minimum of 5 hours per week, flexibility is important as additional hours will be available to meet the business need and cover annual leave. The successful candidate must be available to work during the day (no evenings), and weekend and Bank Holiday working will be essential.

Closing date: 23:59, Sunday, 5th July 2026
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position on 14 July 2026.

Interested?

If you would like to apply and find out more about this position, please click the apply button to be directed to our website.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship - the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.

As part of this application process you will be asked to provide a copy of your CV and complete an application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above.

Contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.

No agencies please.