Emerging Talent Scheme: Consultant

Embark on a career adventure with African Conservation Experience!

• Do you want to make a positive impact on our planet and directly help endangered species every day?
• Are you passionate about funding wildlife conservation through meaningful travel?
• Can you identify what customers are looking for and connect with them so they truly value a conversation with you?
• Would you enjoy promoting conservation experiences that are life-changing?
• Can you create engaging stories and content that people really care about?

We’re looking for people who are as passionate about wildlife conservation and making a difference as we are. The perfect candidates are people who are enthusiastic about ethical travel and want to make a positive impact on Africa’s wildlife and people’s lives every working day.

A Consultant will gain hands-on experience in a variety of departments, while always improving their conservation knowledge and sales and marketing skills. We’re a company with a positive growth mindset - our Emerging Talent Scheme seeks people who are excited to grow with us.

About the role

As the interest and need for genuine conservation travel grows, we’re seeing more people than ever reaching out to us from all four corners of the globe.

On this two-year scheme, you’ll work in a dynamic role with a focus on customer happiness and sales, marketing communications, travel operations, and product research.

Our in-depth Talent Training Programme will enable you to confidently educate customers about wildlife conservation and help them plan a trip that perfectly fits their goals. Your ongoing training will provide you with environmental and conservation insights, giving you the confidence to advise and guide prospective travellers. Our knowledge is always evolving, and you’ll liaise with various experts, including conservationists, to ensure best practices are always being followed, with regular team meetings and briefings. You do not need a working knowledge of conservation to apply - only a genuine passion for meaningful and life-changing experiences!

During the scheme, you’ll work on a key project focussed on innovation and driving the business forward. You’ll discuss your proposal with members of the ACE Management Team and then present it at the end of your scheme.

Upon successful completion of the scheme, we’ll review your role, based on your interests, experience and overall performance, and you’ll become a permanent member of the ACE team. Our team includes people from many different countries and backgrounds, united by a passion for wildlife conservation and travelling.

Job description

Taking a consultative and proactive approach to sales and customer communications, you’ll act as your traveller’s advisor, helping them at every step from initial interest to purchase and beyond. Your main goals will be to increase sales and awareness of the ACE brand. You'll build supportive relationships across a variety of channels, including one-to-one phone conversations, email, video calls, face-to-face meetings, and social media messages. You'll also create relevant content for our travellers who are part of a global audience passionate about wildlife and conservation.

Day-to-day you’ll collaborate with the wider ACE team, supporting one another and encouraging development through regular feedback. By sharing information and ideas, you’ll help the whole business achieve its objectives for growth and, most importantly, conservation impact.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities outlined below apply to individual travellers and educational institutions from all around the world.

Customer happiness and sales

• Work as a team to track all enquiries efficiently, responding to queries promptly and energetically, both verbally and in writing
• Implement the appropriate sales processes to maximise lead-conversion rates, ensuring a seamless and supportive customer experience throughout
• Build rapport and maintain customer relationships, making sure they feel supported, engaged and fully prepared
• Using the CRM system, enter and retrieve information about bookings and customer communications
• Monitor and report on sales activities and trends, providing relevant information to team members

Marketing communications

• Help to identify content gaps in our offering and suggest new ideas that would promote ACE trips throughout the year
• Support with planning and designing social media content for relevant channels
• Respond to community engagement and reviews on relevant marketing channels
• Support with planning, writing and uploading optimised content onto the ACE website, including blogs
• Update advertising sites with new content and help identify new third-party advertisers
• Support with relevant outreach and PR activities
• Proactively source new tools and software to improve overall marketing processes
• Share after-sales feedback and testimonials for use in various marketing channels, assisting with gathering content from travellers after their trips
• Deliver sales presentations when required, ensuring the content is consistent with other marketing communications and personalised to the nature of the audience
• Organise and attend talks and marketing events, as and when required

Travel operations

• Prepare itineraries and quotes (including flights, insurance and payment methods) for customers in an organised, accurate and timely manner
• Administer confirmed bookings in a logical manner and following company procedure:
• Process customer payments (including deposits, balances and insurance) via our CRM and payment platform
• Review customer documentation
• Organise bespoke departure packs for prospective travellers prior to their trips
• Ensure relevant partners have all the required information about your prospective travellers

Product research

• Continuously build your knowledge and keep up-to-date with news about our partner projects so you are equipped to explain and describe the experience to customers
• Support the wider sales team and directors with research into potential new conservation projects for ACE to support, as and when required

About the candidates

The ideal candidates for our Emerging Talent Scheme are people who are excited about wildlife conservation and travel and want to work for a values-led organisation. You’ll need an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in any subject, and a passion for making a difference.

We also welcome applications from people who are now looking to build upon their current skills and work for an organisation with a purpose.

Who you are

• You have a passion for conserving the natural world. Whilst you don’t need any specific qualifications in this area, a genuine interest in the natural world is essential to engage in successful conversations with our travellers and community
• You’re driven and proactive, comfortable stepping outside your core role and getting involved with everything from marketing to admin to sharing insights with the wider team
• You thrive in a customer-focussed environment and can speak confidently and enthusiastically to customers, leading them to commit to a wildlife conservation trip that is perfect for them
• You have clear, concise and effective communication skills, both over the phone, over email, and face-to-face. You’re able to deepen relationships and make each conversation valuable
• You’re detail-oriented, methodical and meticulous in your approach to ensure that all communication to customers and colleagues is articulate, accurate, and without error
• You’re highly motivated and strive for success; to exceed customer expectations, company targets, and deliver the best possible outcome
• You’re commercially minded with an entrepreneurial spirit and problem-solving attitude
• You take pride in being an integral member of a high-performing and supportive team
• As a business with a growth mindset, we have fluctuations of busy and quiet periods, so you must manage well under pressure and prioritise your workload accordingly

Need to have

• A desire to make a difference
• Undergraduate university degree or equivalent
• Proficiency in PC and / or Mac

Nice to have

• Experience or knowledge of wildlife conservation
• Experience or knowledge of the travel industry
• Experience or knowledge of customer sales
• Experience of Google Applications
• Experience of a customer relationship management system (CRM)
• Experience of a website content management system (CMS)
• Experience of creating content for social media channels
• Clean driving licence

Working hours

You’ll work five days a week (40 hours). As we are speaking to people from all over the world, our opening hours are 8:30am - 8:15pm, Monday - Friday. You’ll work two or three days a week 8:30am - 5:30pm and the other days 11:15am - 8:15pm.

We offer hybrid working on a two-week shift pattern, applicable to all UK staff, where you will be required to be in the office for two days on Week One, and three days on Week Two. The office is located in Bradley Stoke, Bristol, with free parking available and nearby bus links.

Benefits package

• Starting salary range £26,500 to £30,500, depending on previous experience
• Membership of our profit share scheme in the second full financial year of employment
• 25 days of leave per year plus UK public holidays
• A company laptop
• Ongoing personal training and opportunities to progress in the company as we grow
• Hybrid working
• Genuine opportunity to shape the future of the business

Job progression

We’re a driven team with ambitious and realistic growth plans. You’ll have the opportunity to work for a company with an outstanding reputation and reach your potential among talented and passionate people in conservation travel who encourage open direct communication and honest feedback. We’re committed to employing, training and retaining the very best people in their chosen fields and we provide personal training and opportunities to progress in the company as we grow. We’re looking for entrepreneurial team members who can develop and shape their role within the company.

HOW TO APPLY - Click APPLY NOW to submit your application.

About African Conservation Experience

Founded in 1999, we’re southern Africa’s original conservation travel and volunteering company. Headquartered in the UK with full-time teams on the ground in The Netherlands and South Africa, we play an active role in supporting genuine wildlife conservation work through organising conservation travel experiences. We do this by embedding ourselves in the region’s conservation community, providing equipment, money and guidance to projects and even pioneering our own where needed.

Our team are not only experienced in travel management but also carry zoological and conservation-related qualifications, providing outstanding personal consultation to our travellers. This conservation-first approach makes us a very different breed to online booking agents and volunteering platforms. It’s also one of the many reasons why thousands of people around the world have enjoyed an unforgettable experience travelling with us.

We’re the only organisation of our kind that has been offered membership of ABTA, one of the world’s most recognised quality standards for travel and we financially protect trips for all of our travellers through ABTA or ATOL.