Retail Development Ranger

We are looking for an passionate and highly motivated retail development specialist to join the ranger team at Moors Valley Country Park. Moors Valley is situated on the Dorset Hampshire border, in the south of England and boasts a wealth of adventurous play, waymarked walks and cycles, a ‘Go Ape!’ high ropes course, narrow-gauge steam railway and an abundance of health and wellbeing opportunities.

The park and Visitor Centre are looked after by a team of rangers employed by Dorset Council. They are responsible for the management of the Country Park area including the play areas, lakes, rivers, meadows and woodland extending north up to and including Potterne Wood. They also provide environmental education sessions for school groups, operate a fleet of hire bikes, manage an 18-hole miniature golf course and electric land rover experience for children, organise and run an events programme, provide visitor services in the Visitor Centre and operate a highly successful Gift Shop.

You will get involved in all aspects of this busy Country Park, with primary responsibility the day to day running of the Gift Shop and its associated functions. This facility currently features over 2,000 separate stock lines, consistently working with over 40 different suppliers and selling over 60,000 items per year.

You will be responsible for coordinating and managing this high-quality retail area, including purchasing, stock lines, income and expenditure budgets, displays, retail security and researching and identify other retail opportunities. The role will also be central in ensuring the wider team is aware of the opportunities, operational processes and retail performance and provide appropriate training where relevant. 

This role is designed to help ensure the efficient delivery of an effective and reputable Gift Shop within a highly successful Country Park, so being organised with excellent customer service skills and the ability to manage a substantial and varied workload is essential. Other duties; general running of the Country Park, including daily site checks, facility inspections, litter picking and being involved in site wide procedures such as lost children.

The ideal candidate will have; experience of retail purchasing, ideally in a busy visitor destination, alongside experience of working in a busy customer facing environment, excellent communication and organisation skills and a proven background in the retail sector. Onsite training will be provided to the successful candidate, along with practical training and knowledge.

This post will involve working 37hrs per week, spread over 5 days, to include varied weekends and evenings. You must be willing to wear a uniform and work during school holidays.

Internal candidates expressing an interest must do so by: 08.04.25, via email; [email protected]. 

Interviews for external candidates would be expected to take place the week commencing 05.05.25.

For an informal confidential discussion about this role, please contact Kerri Downton 01425 470721. 

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits 
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply.