Seasonal Zonal Operations Lead

Job Description

What you'll bring to the team

Zonal Operations Lead

Location: Thorpe Park, Staines Road, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8PNHours: Full time fully flexible, any 5 days out of 7Contract Type: Seasonal

We are recruiting for a Zonal Operations Lead as part of our AWESOME Operations Team on a seasonal basis! The Zonal Operations Lead will oversee mixture of key on‑park retail units and Guest Services, making this a perfect role for someone who thrives on developing people, driving world‑class guest service, and supporting commercial performance.

As a Zonal Operations Lead, you will support and influence the guest experience by dividing your time across multiple retail units and Guest Services, observing service delivery, coaching team members, and ensuring the highest standards of presentation, compliance, and guest engagement. You will act as a daily point of contact for the zone, representing not just yourself but your entire zone across the park, supporting communication between teams, and ensuring smooth operational delivery.

You will also be required to act as the department duty manager, supporting frontline hosts with guest escalations, resolutions, and on‑the‑day feedback, ensuring consistency of service recovery and alignment with park KPIs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Confidently handling on‑the‑day guest feedback and enquiries with excellent customer service
• Maintaining in‑depth knowledge of Thorpe Park, the brand platform, products, procedures, and guest expectations across your zone and park‑wide
• Supporting sales through commercial awareness, effective stock control, incentive implementation, and impactful team motivation
• Conducting audits and walk‑throughs to maintain consistency and quality across all zonal outlets
• Ensuring units are open, correctly staffed, and meeting standards for cleanliness, stock levels, presentation, and guest service
• Acting as the main point of escalation for your zonal hosts when they encounter guest situations requiring additional support
• Prioritising tasks and delegating to hosts where appropriate to maintain smooth daily operations
• Championing a culture of Guest Obsession through positive leadership and on‑the‑job coaching

Qualifications & Experience

• People management experience or a strong interest in coaching and developing others is desirable
• Strong communication skills and a confident communicator
• Ability to de‑escalate situations and manage difficult conversations with confidence
• Experience working efficiently both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to prioritise and adapt effectively throughout the day
• Experience suggesting improvements to enhance service recovery and feedback processes.
• Previous customer‑facing experience (theme park or similar environment preferred)

Benefits

• 40% discount off LEGO® sets and products on the online LEGO Store!

• Merlin Magic Pass: 20 free tickets for you, your family and friends to enjoy all of our Merlin Attractions across the world!
• 25% discount in Merlin retail shops and restaurants (a brilliant extra treat when you’re using your Magic Pass to visit!)
• Staff discount codes for Merlin Annual Passes to gift to loved ones!

• Private pension scheme
• Life assurance scheme
• Employee assistance programme
• Access to Perks at Work which 30,000+ national & local employee discounts
• Ongoing training & development

About Merlin

A job with Merlin isn’t like a job anywhere else. With attractions around the world, from rollercoasters to wax figures, we don’t trade in suits, handshakes or briefcases. We trade in fun. In smiles, shrieks and spine-tingles. In Memories. In magic. But there are no tricks behind our magic. Instead, there are people like you. Passionate, dedicated people who are committed to making sure our worldwide attractions and guests’ experiences are the best they can be.

If you have any questions or if you require any reasonable adjustments, because of a disability or medical condition, please contact us by email at recruitment@merlinentertainments.biz and one of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Pay Range

GBP £13.00/Hr.