Christmas Head Elf

Purpose of the role

The Magic of Christmas at ZSL London Zoo offers a whole host of festive activities to give our visitors everything they need for a jam-packed fun family day out! The event is made up of a Meet Santa experience, Arts & Craft/letter writing station and plenty of other activities to bring the festive cheer!

Purpose of the role
As a Christmas Elf at ZSL London Zoo you must be able to put the magic and sparkle into The Magic of Christmas event. As an Elf, you will ensure that every visitor both big and small has a truly special experience. You will be given an Elf name and it is essential that you remain in character at all times and have the commitment to the story and narrative to ensure we keep the believability of the magic of Christmas.

As an Elf one of the main roles will be working in Santa's Grotto delivering a paid for experience. Alongside this, you may also be located at our Main Entrance or around site giving all visitors a festive welcome.

As Head Elf, you will be accountable for overseeing a team of Christmas elves within the grotto, leading the team to delivery the highest standard of visitor experience to every guest. You will be the main point of contact for all grotto guest queries and troubleshoot these effectively and within a prompt timeframe. As Head Elf, you will manage the coordination of the Grotto's schedule, making sure that it runs to time and without delays.

Whilst in character as an Elf, you will be responsible for constantly engaging with visitors, even when just walking across site. Therefore, it is expected that you would have outstanding communication, excellent customer service and engagement skills to ensure that all visitors have the best day out! Of course, a love of Christmas and Santa is essential!

Hours per week range from 14-30.

Key responsibilities

• Play a Christmas Elf at London Zoo, primarily located in our Santa's Grotto but may be positioned around site at various other Christmas event locations.
• Assist children with the craft activity in the grotto, and ensure each child gets their magical time with Santa.
• Lead the supervision of a team of Christmas elves, ensuring they all deliver a high-standard of customer service.
• Take the lead in ensuring all guest queries within the grotto are troubleshooted effectively and managed within a prompt timeframe.
• Ensure the Grotto runs to time and on schedule.
• Assist with the delivery of an expanding programme of the Magic of Christmas event which reflects and supports the objectives and long-term strategy of ZSL.
• Assist the Events team in the set-up, running and de-rig of the event on site.
• Help manage visitors and assist with direction and participation in activities on event days.
• Record visitor data where required.
• Ensure the safety of our visitors and maintain the event to the highest standards.
• Ensure event materials are kept well stocked throughout event days.

The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and additional tasks may be assigned from time to time that are in line with the level of the role.

About You

• Experience working with the public in a face-to-face setting.
• Experience in delivering excellent customer service, particularly with children or young people.
• Previous experience working as part of an event.
• Previous experience in problem-solving in a customer- or visitor-facing role.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Confident in dealing with the general public.
• Flexible to adapt to a constantly changing environment and know when to escalate a situation to higher management.
• Ability to multi-task.
• Outgoing and able to create a positive and fun working environment.
• This post will require extensive outside working with direct exposure to the weather and animals.
• This post is zoo based.
• This post requires frequent work during weekends and occasional early mornings/evenings.
• Strong commitment to creating a culture that lives ZSL values and commitment to safeguarding, equality and diversity.
• Comply with and promote Health and Safety policies and procedures.

This role is subject to standard pre-employment checks, including the candidate's right to work in the UK.

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds and celebrate the value of having a team of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and heritage.

About Us:
We're ZSL, an international conservation charity. Through our unrivalled animal experts in our two zoos, the work of our pioneering scientists, our dedicated conservationists, our purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct.

What do we offer?

• Our vision and purpose - you'll work alongside colleagues who are passionate about science-led conservation.
• Pension scheme - we offer a generous pension scheme with up to 12% contributory pension.
• Flexible working - talk to us about your flexible working requirements.
• Holidays - 25 days annual leave allowance, plus UK bank holidays.
• Wellbeing - access to a blended programme of wellbeing initiatives.
• Life assurance - eligible employees will be enrolled in ZSL's life assurance scheme from their first day.
• Complimentary tickets - annual allocation of Whipsnade Zoo and London Zoo tickets.
• Family friendly policies - we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption packages.

NB: We reserve the right to close our advertisement early or extend the advertising date until a suitable candidate has been found.