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      Wilderness Guides

      Leading the Way

      Would you like to join the Wilderness England guiding team? Do you currently guide in the outdoors and have a passion for outstanding service and hospitality with a love of adventure?

      If the answer to these questions is a YES then keep on reading.

      The Wilderness Guide plays a pivotal role in the company, ensuring that our clients experience outstanding adventures throughout the UK & Ireland.

      What We’re Looking For

      Wilderness England is always keen to hear from guides who can demonstrate great knowledge and passion for England and Wales. Our guiding team have all been active in the outdoors for many years. Some of them hold multiple NGB qualifications while others specialise in a single activity. However, we view paper qualifications as only the first step in towards becoming a Wilderness England guide.

      More important is the ability to demonstrate great familiarity with many areas of England. Knowledge of local history, culture, environment, geology and geography is also important to us. Of course, we aim to provide our clients with the best possible experience, so our guides must take pride in their work and have a natural flair for customer care and hospitality.

      Such high standards mean that we are unable to offer work to instructors who have not worked in England and/or Wales before, or who have just graduated from an adventure tourism degree.

      We have grown considerably over the years, and with a growing number of trips requiring guides each season, we are now looking for guides to commit to guiding for a minimum of 4 weeks per season. We would love you to work more than this, and if this is of interest to you, we can work together to become a Core Guide (8+ weeks). There are benefits to becoming a Core Guide that can be discussed at the interview stage.

      As much as this will give you a good number of weeks with us it also will help in feeling more part of the team here. It is really important to us for everyone involved in Wilderness England to feel part of being one team; sweeping the floor and sweating the small stuff together to provide amazing experiences.

      If, however, you have the knowledge, character and experience to work for Wilderness England, we would love to hear from you and can offer you an excellent wage, good working conditions and the opportunity to lead superb trips in some of the most beautiful wilderness regions of England and Wales.

      While we have a lot of fun at Wilderness England, our team is 100% focused on delivering 5 Star world-class client experiences. As such, the successful guide will bring a professional and high-energy approach with an unwavering focus in all aspects of the client travel experience.

      What You Can Expect

      We offer a special combination of interesting work, career opportunity and supportive culture in which to thrive as a freelance guide. We have steadily grown over the years and plan to continue this growth path, which in turn, will offer a wide range of guiding opportunities, from those that are activity-focused to those which take on more of a cultural or family focus.

      We commit with passion to providing our customers with the most inspiring experiences of their lives, ensuring our experiences are delivered sustainability, promoting the value of wild places, setting new standards for tourism experiences and creating a rewarding, meaningful and truly fun place to work

      Being a guide for Wilderness England is more than just another freelance job. It means being part of a dynamic team that are always seeking new ways in which we can improve with guide feedback highly valued and acted upon. The successful guide will thrive in this fast-paced environment and within the wider Wilderness team but will be encouraged to bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the role and the company as a whole.

      The freelance benefits of guiding with Wilderness England are as follows:

      • Guiding opportunities on a freelance basis
      • Competitive daily guiding rates
      • Meaningful and rewarding work
      • Working in with quality equipment
      • Training and development opportunities
      • Support from our dedicated operations team whilst guiding in the field
      • Industry discounts on outdoor clothing & equipment (for core guiding team)
      • Opportunity to be part of an industry leading adventure travel company

      How to Apply

      Please fill in the application survey below. This will ask you a host of questions, from guiding/host interests to qualifications and geographical knowledge. It will also ask you to upload your C.V. and a Cover Letter.

      In the Cover Letter, we would like you to include:

        1. Why you wish to work for Wilderness in a guiding/host capacity
        2. What motivates you to guide in the UK
        3. Your interpretation of outstanding customer care and hospitality when with clients

      Please note that we receive many applications for guiding work, and if your application does not meet the above criteria, it will not be considered.

      If you wish to join us as a guide or host, you will be required to complete our application process, detailed below. We aim to take on guides who are looking to work with us for many years to come, and so we ask that you consider this with the best intentions when applying.

      To discuss guiding with us informally, please contact the UK Office Guide Team ([email protected]) or call. +44 (01) 479 420 040.

      Apply Now

      Guide/Host Selection & Application Process

      We believe our guide selection process offers a robust and transparent approach to guide recruitment, selection and subsequent work allocation. A fundamental principle of the approach is that it’s a two-way process; offering the potential guide the opportunity to learn as much about Wilderness as Wilderness learns about them.

      Our application window is open from January to July each year. We will then review applications over the summer and be in touch with an update retarding your personal application.

      Stage 1 – Application Read More

      Potential guide applies through the website application survey. We will review each application towards the end of the summer.

      We consider the business’s needs and the current guide team’s capacity before reviewing individual guide applications. It might be that you are a standout candidate, but if there is not enough capacity to be able to confidently consider you as part of the team with the type of work you are looking for, then we would rather hold off until we can engage you more successfully with us.

      Stage 2 – Informal Call Read More

      The Office Guide Team will be in touch to introduce ourselves and have a general chat with you.

      Stage 3 – Interview Read More

      Potential guides are invited to meet for an interview/chat in the Autumn, preferably in person, but an online interview will be considered. This follows a pro-forma with set questions. This interview helps clarify whether the candidate should be invited to the next stages of the application process.

      Please note that we may change the interview style to incorporate an active guiding element. This will be communicated to you with plenty of notice.

      Stage 4 – Guide Selection Event Read More

      At times, dependent on business need and the type of recruitment we are undertaking, Wilderness hosts a 2-day guide selection event. The application process will be explained to you upon being invited to an interview.

      It is emphasised that the selection is a two-way process as outlined above. At any point, a potential guide should feel free to leave the process if they don’t think guiding with Wilderness is for them. Likewise, please don’t be offended if we don’t think you are the right fit for us.

      We will spend the whole selection event together – inclusive of lunch and dinner on the first day and breakfast and lunch on the second day – with both days being spent largely outside. After a brief introduction from the office team on Day 1, we will split into groups and head out following an itinerary we use on one of our live trips.

      You will not be leading all day, each day, but every applicant will take the lead at times throughout the 2 days. The group will be made up of members of the Wilderness Scotland office team, some of the selected guides, and will be facilitated by a senior guide.

      Hospitality will be as much a part of the two days as guiding the activity. You will be expected (with your fellow groups) to look after your assigned group when at the hotel, including hosting dinner on the evening of day 1.

      We will discuss all aspects of what is involved in guiding for Wilderness Scotland throughout the two days, but for the most part, you will be leading both individually and with fellow guide applicants.

      At the end of day 2, each guide candidate will have a review with the WS team and will receive recommendations on next steps. These would likely be summarised as follows:

      • The potential guide is ace and could go out with a group asap.
      • The potential guide would really benefit from working alongside a senior guide on at least one trip to learn more about WS and guiding.
      • The potential guide is not quite the right fit for us, and we will not be taking the application further.
      Stage 5 – Guide Induction Day (Mandatory) Read More

      This one-day event is mandatory and will provide a more in-depth understanding of Wilderness and your role as a guide with us. The morning will involve providing an orientation to the company and guiding in general. The day will then be structured so that, as well as meeting the team, you will learn about the processes and procedures we require guides to follow pre, during and post-trips. The aim is for each guide, on leaving this one day, to feel much more comfortable with guiding for us and the requirements before heading out on a guided trip.

      These typically take place in November and/or February/March. Dates will be made available to you if you are invited to an interview.

      Stage 6 – Guide Allocations & Support Read More

      The hard work of getting through recruitment is over, and we can now allocate you to trips.

      Trip availability for the initial season following recruitment is unknown, and the offer of work following these steps depends heavily on the volume of work available and the availability of guides; it is not guaranteed. Our existing core guiding team will be given priority; however, we are in this for the long game, and hopefully you are too!

      You will also be invited to attend further guide training and have access to further onboarding resources to help you feel part of the team and our culture from the get-go!

      Job Description

      Whilst the details below do not cover every element of the freelance Wilderness Guide role, they do provide a general overview of what you can expect

      Seasonality Read More

      April – October is the mina season during which we run trips in England with the majority of trips taking apace from May-September. Outside of this time we have very limited guiding work available.

      Location Read More
      • England – predominantly north, including the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors. Also the southwest, including Cornwall and the Cotswolds.
      • Wales – all areas
      Expectations Read More

      Wilderness England guides are at the heart of the business. The success of any one trip depends upon many people, arguably none more so than the commitment and performance of the guide. We’re dedicated to achieving greater recognition for the guide community – as a profession which is respected by our clients and the wider tourism industry. This recognition starts with doing the highest quality job on each and every trip – be that the first outing of the season or the last when you may well be running on empty. We expect our guides to be dedicated professionals and committed to the relentless pursuit of amazing client experiences. In return, we strive to offer working conditions which lead the way for the adventure travel industry.

      Many of the team who work full-time in the office have worked as guides and continue to do so. We are therefore aware of all of the issues that relate to the guiding role and we continue to make every effort to ensure that robust and thorough procedures are in place.

      Guiding Roles & Responsibilities Read More

      The role and responsibilities of a Wilderness guide are as follows:

      To represent all aspects of Wilderness England’s operation in the field. This requires guides to:
      1. Embody the Wilderness Values of Inspiration, Professionalism, Sustainability and Innovation.
      2. Be totally focused on delivering amazing customer experiences and embracing the concept of sustainable tourism.
      3. Foster strong relationships with our partner network of hotels, transport, activity providers, other services and the rural communities where we work.
      4. Develop familiarisation with the products and services of Wilderness England, Wilderness Scotland and Wilderness Ireland.
      5. Act as proud ambassadors for their country and the adventure travel industry.
      To provide clients of Wilderness England and our partners with a professional, inspiring, informative and entertaining outdoor experience. This requires guides to:
      1. Be professional at all times, in appearance, behaviour and conduct.
      2. Be open, honest and approachable with all clients.
      3. Be flexible and responsive and realise that no one trip is the same.
      4. Undertake to develop knowledge and skills beyond technical capability.
      5. To be conversant with the content of the Guide Manual plus all the resources provided for the successful running of a trip.
      To deliver to clients an adventurous yet safe outdoor experience, having regard to Health and Safety and Risk Assessment procedures. This requires guides to:
      1. To be fully conversant with all of the Standard Operating Procedures contained in the Guide Manual.
      2. Be familiar with the Risk Assessments for the relevant activities and be confident in their dynamic application in the field.
      3. Carry out the necessary equipment and safety checks as required by the activity.
      4. Obtain relevant weather forecasts & other meteorological information on a daily basis.
      5. To follow the emergency procedures and incident reporting procedures in this manual whenever required.
      To be committed to the on-going maintenance and improvement of standards in all respects. This requires guides to:
      1. Provide trip and client feedback by completing a Trip Report immediately after every trip.
      2.  Make a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development, including attending Training Events where requested to do so.
      3. Provide the office with photocopies of all qualifications in an electronic form relevant to guiding with Wilderness England, Wilderness Scotland and Wilderness Ireland.
      4. Ensure that any renewable qualifications are up to date e.g. First Aid. 4
      5. Hold appropriate public liability insurance to protect against any claim not covered by Wilderness England’s, Wilderness Scotland’s or Wilderness Ireland’s insurance policies.
      Skills, Knowledge & Experience Read More
      • Minimum of 2 years relevant guiding experience within England and/or Wales.
      • Detailed knowledge of England and the travel and tourism industry, ideally possessing a good understanding of the adventure travel sector.
      • Experience in dealing with all parts of the tourism supply chain including accommodation, transport and other service providers.
      • Good ITC skills with experience of cloud applications and Google Apps.
      • Good knowledge of England where Wilderness England operates
      Core Competencies Read More
      • Highly developed inter-personal skills, awareness and emotional intelligence with an ability to develop and sustain business relationships.
      • A natural collaborator who enjoys working in teams with a diverse range of individuals.
      • A strong and clear commitment to customer service excellence and “extra mile” delivery.
      • Excellent attention to detail, even when faced with multiple tasks.
      • A genuine interest and passion for England, wild places and adventure.
      Reporting To Read More

      Operations Managers & Guide Coordinator

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