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Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your interest in the post of EPOS Administrator based at Abbotts Hall Farm, Essex Wildlife Trust.

The successful applicant will work 37.5 hours per week, 9am – 5pm, across Monday – Sunday.

Please find enclosed with this letter a copy of the following information about the post and the Essex Wildlife Trust:

·  A Job Description for the post of EPOS Administrator

·  Terms and Conditions of Employment

Essex Wildlife Trust is the county’s leading conservation charity. It has more than 36,000 members, manages and protects over 8,400 acres of land on 87 nature reserves and 2 nature parks and runs 11 visitor centres. The aim of Essex Wildlife Trust is to Protect Wildlife for the Future and for the People of Essex. It is supported financially by members, local businesses and grant making organisations. It is one of the largest of the 47 county wildlife trusts that work together throughout the British Isles as The Wildlife Trusts.

Our 11 visitor centres are constantly growing and evolving, in order to keep up with the level of activity and income they provide we are updating our systems and processes accordingly.

As such we have successfully rolled out EPOS across all 11 centres and are looking to appoint an EPOS Administrator to maintain an accurate and up to date system.

The successful applicant will need to work closely with the retail and catering advisors in order to maintain an accurate and useable stock file.

The main aims of this post are:

·  To maintain an accurate and up to date stock file

·  To offer training and system support for retail and catering staff

·  To ensure consistency and accuracy of all information entered into the system

·  To oversee and assist with regular stock taking activity and spot checks

·  To produce reports and collate sales information for EWS Ltd Board, CMT and centre staff with retail and catering targets that will improve profitability

·  To work with finance team to ensure EPOS is working for the accounting system

·  To maintain and update training manual’s

To apply for the post please return the application form together with your CV and a covering letter explaining why you think you are suited to the job to HR Department, Abbotts Hall Farm, Great Wigborough, Colchester, Essex, CO5 7RZ or e-mail . Please name your documents with your full name.

Closing date, 9am, 9th October 2017

Interviews will be held on 16th October 2017 at Abbotts Hall Farm.

For further information please contact 01621 862960 or visit www.essexwt.org.uk

Thank you for your interest in the work of the Trust and I look forward to receiving your application.

Yours faithfully

Abby Bumstead – Visitor Engagement Area Manager

Essex Wildlife Trust Job Description and Person Specification

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: EPOS Administrator

Location: Abbotts Hall Farm

Reports to: Visitor Engagement Area Manager

Job Purpose: To maintain an accurate and up to date stock file that will enable analysis of sales data from the EPOS system. Generate reports that improve profitability of centres. To provide ongoing support and training for staff and volunteers.

Responsibility Areas and Key Activities

Service Delivery

·  Based at Abbotts Hall Farm, you will need to be a central contact point for all centres as well as Sites with Centres Management Team (SCMT) staff.

·  Work in visitor centres one day each week to offer support, training and advice and to establish more efficient processes and to play an integral part in ensuring centre’s stock levels are accurate.

·  Maintain a consistent and accurate stock file, ensuring all descriptions have the same formatting with correct spelling and categorisation.

·  Ensure all product authorisation forms are signed off by the retail or catering advisors before creation.

·  Maintain and create training manuals and guidance notes

·  Ensure that centres are following correct procedures including wastage, stock transfers and pricing changes which will be updated across all centres in a consistent approach

People

·  You will need to be an approachable and supportive guide to retail and catering staff and their teams

·  You will need to obtain and share system knowledge and efficient processes

·  You will need to be aware and considerate of the pressure and challenges of running a visitor centre.

Problem Solving/Innovation

·  To respond and resolve problems efficiently as they arise.

·  Offer solutions to problems which enable the centres to continue to trade effectively without impacting the accuracy of the system information

Planning/Organising

·  Manage your time effectively to ensure product creation requests are completed in a timely manner

·  Forward plan stock takes to ensure sufficient man power can be allocated and all equipment required is secured.

·  Diarise and record stock spot checks in centres – price correction actions, labelling, system changes or updates.

Communication

·  Liaise with finance and admin teams to ensure effective communication and that mutual objectives are being set and worked towards.

·  Distribute weekly, monthly and quarterly sales reports and any other reports agreed by SCMT

To undertake any other duties which are commensurate with the role.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Specialist knowledge and experience:

1. Extensive experience of managing an EPOS system to improve the success and profitability of a business.

2. Experience in the following areas:

a) EPOS within a retail environment

b) Data Entry and Administration

3. Experience of developing and delivering training sessions around EPOS systems and till functionality.

4. Experience of organising and delivering successful stock takes.

5. Ensuring best practice is being used to ensure accuracy and availability of stock at all times.

6. Ability to organise and prioritise your workload.

7. Experience of both working effectively as part of a team as well as on your own.

8. Knowledge of /or interest in wildlife and an interest in working for a charity which is determined to protect wildlife for the future and for the people of Essex.

Desirable knowledge or experience

9. Experience of managing on-line shops

10. Knowledge or experience of implementing a new EPOS system

11. Experience of working across multiple sites to ensure consistent accuracy.

Essential skills and behaviours:

1. Team working

·  Makes a positive contribution to the team, supporting colleagues in their day-to-day work.

2. Problem solving and analysis

·  Identifies potential difficulties and their causes. Generates workable solutions and makes rational judgements.

3. Professionalism

·  Able to produce accurate and high-quality information, with excellent attention to detail.

·  Communicates effectively with all colleagues

4. Determination

·  Demonstrates commitment to the organisation and task completion.

·  Able to remain calm under pressure.

·  Gets results and willingly tackles demanding tasks. Sets and exceeds challenging personal targets.

5. Persuasive communication

·  Identifies the key points to communicate on any interaction, selecting the right channel for the message and audience.

·  Produces written communication which is fluent, clear, concise and tailored to intended recipient(s).

·  Speaks clearly, fluently and in a compelling manner to both individuals and groups.

6. Customer focus

·  Works hard to keep visitors and customers as the priority

7. Planning

·  Able to organise time effectively, create work schedules, prioritise workload and meet deadlines.

·  Recognises priorities and deal with them effectively.

·  Sets achievable and realistic objectives when managing workload.

Special conditions:

·  Willingness to be flexible with working days.

·  Requirement to be able to drive and a current full UK driving licence with use of your own vehicle.


TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

Name of Employer: Essex Wildlife Sales Ltd

Title of Post: EPOS Administrator

A detailed job description is available but this does not form part of the terms of employment.

Responsible to: Visitor Engagement Area manager

Place of Work: Abbotts Hall Farm

Hours of Work: 37.5 hours per week, normally 7.5 per day. Normal office hours are 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, however, some work will be required outside these hours. Guidance and procedures on claiming time off in lieu are included in the Staff Handbook, located on SharePoint.

Itinerary: You must complete a staff itinerary in advance for each week for your Line Manager to read, this must show the days you are working, the hours you intend to work and indicate key jobs you are undertaking. This is held on Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Instructions are in the Staff Handbook.

Salary: £21,000 to £21,500 per annum. Salary is paid monthly in arrears. If for some reason it is clear that the Trust has over paid or under paid on one month it will adjust this by deduction or addition on the next month. Rates of pay are reviewed in November each year. Details of salary during Probationary period will be set out in your letter of appointment.

Travelling: When using your own vehicle on Trust business (excluding ordinary commuting) a mileage allowance may be payable (full details and current rates are available in the Staff Handbook). When you make a travel claim you will be asked to confirm that your private vehicle is appropriately insured, taxed and has an MOT (where applicable).

Travel at the beginning or end of the working day to/from your normal place of work is within your own time. It is not classed as working time and you are therefore not entitled to record time off in lieu for these journeys. If an employee travels from their place of work to another work related location or temporary place of work, this is normally in work time. If an employee’s role requires them to travel from home to a temporary place of work at the start of the day it would be reasonable for an employee to spend the first 30 minutes of the journey in their own time. The same would apply at the end of the day if an employee travels from a temporary place of work to home in that it would be reasonable for 30 minutes of that journey to be in their own time. Full guidance can be found in the Staff Handbook on SharePoint. Specific exceptions to this can be agreed by your Line Manager for going on a particular visit or training outside of Essex, where the length of the journey is more than a normal journey time you would do within Essex.

Annual Leave: Our holiday year runs from 1st January to 31st December. For a complete holiday year full-time staff are entitled to 23 working days in addition to days in lieu of statutory bank holidays rising to 25 days after 5 years’ service.

Holidays must be taken in consultation with other staff and with the agreement of your Line Manager. If you commence work part way through the holiday year, you need to base your entitlement on the remaining complete months in that holiday year.

You will not normally be able to take more than 3 consecutive weeks as holiday and at least three working days must be taken between November 1st and March 1st. Annual leave must normally be taken in the calendar year it is due, but some days can be carried over with agreement of the Line Manager providing they are taken by 31st March of the following year.

If you leave your employment your holiday entitlement will need to be recalculated for the completed months that you have worked in that holiday year. Discuss any over taken holidays with your Line Manager.

Probationary Period: 6 months during which time the employer or the employee may terminate the employment upon one week's notice.

Length of Contract: permanent

Other Expenses: Other legitimate claims for expenses on Trust business can be made on the appropriate claim form providing these have been agreed in advance by the appropriate Budget Head.

Pension: The Trust or its subsidiaries will offer a pension contribution of 4% to a pension scheme approved by Essex Wildlife Trust and which meets the criteria for auto-enrolment, providing that the member of staff also contributes 3% into that same pension scheme.

Notice: After the probationary period, one month's notice of termination of employment is required by either side. The Employer is required to give one additional week of notice for each completed year of continuous employment exceeding 4 completed years to a maximum of 12 weeks’ notice. The Trust may direct a staff member to take any outstanding holiday during the period of notice.

Disciplinary, Grievance and Appeals Procedures: Clear procedures for dealing with any Disciplinary matter or Grievance or Appeal are set out in a separate document as part of the Staff Handbook that may need to be updated from time to time and does not, therefore, form part of these terms of employment.

An employee should take any Grievance or Appeal in the first instance to the Line Manager to whom he/she is responsible. Any Disciplinary matter will, in the first instance, be raised by an Employee's Line Manager.

Retirement Age: The Trust does not operate a compulsory retirement age for its employees.

Sickness and Sick Pay:

A member of staff who is not able to attend work must notify their Line Manager as soon as possible on the first day of the absence. This notification should be before 10.00 a.m. except in exceptional circumstances.

A friend or relative may make contact on behalf of the member of staff, but the member of staff retains responsibility and must personally make contact with her/his Line Manager as soon as s/he is able.

The Line Manager must be informed of the reason for absence, the possible length and likely return date and any medical advice that has been given which relates to the return to work.

If it is not possible to give a return date, the member of staff should make contact at least every three days and must submit any relevant documentation as soon as possible.

Failure to follow the notification procedure given above may result in the absence being recorded as unauthorised.

On return to work the individual should participate with the Line Manager in a conversation to discuss the absence and the reason for it. One of the purposes of this conversation will be to establish whether the Line Manager can provide any support to the employee which could facilitate attendance at work in the future.