Sheffield is an amazing city with a proud heritage, a vibrant future, and some of the UK’s most cherished green spaces. As The Outdoor City, we’re known for our lively urban culture and outstanding natural environment, from our boundary with the Peak District to having the highest proportion of green space of any city worldwide.

Our Parks and Countryside Service manages over 4,130 hectares across 800+ sites, including 95 parks, 150+ playgrounds, 181 woodlands, 262 nature conservation areas and 16 Green Flag sites. We also run three Visitor and Education Centres that help people learn, explore and connect with nature.

We work closely with more than 100 fantastic Friends groups, volunteers, community organisations and partners, whose passion and commitment strengthen everything we do.

We’re now looking for an experienced, people focused Partnerships and Visitor Experience Manager to lead our Visitor & Education Centres and grow the network of volunteers, groups and partners who help care for Sheffield’s green spaces.

About the role

This is a key role within the Business & Partnerships Team, responsible for shaping, delivering and championing the visitor, education and engagement offer at Ecclesall Woods JG Graves Discovery Centre, the Dorothy Fox Centre at the Botanical Gardens, and other sites.

You’ll ensure our centres are welcoming, well-run, financially sustainable and play an active role in delivering Sheffield’s Green and Open Spaces Strategy. You’ll also lead partnership development, support volunteering, and help ensure communities enjoy high-quality, meaningful experiences across our destinations.

Key Responsibilities

You will lead and develop our Visitor and Education Centres by managing facilities, programming, marketing and business planning, overseeing budgets and income generation, and managing contracts, partnerships and third party arrangements. You will also ensure a strong education and engagement offer is maintained, including supporting the Botanical Gardens’ “Botanical” status through effective partnership working.

You will grow volunteering, partnerships and community engagement by developing the service’s volunteer and engagement programme, working closely with Friends groups, community organisations and partners, acting as the lead contact for the Sheffield Green Spaces Forum, and enabling communities to play an active role in caring for their local green spaces.

You will drive commercial and strategic development by managing venue lettings, leases, licences and charging mechanisms, supporting income generation, fundraising and sponsorship activity, and contributing to service planning, performance management and improvement.

You will lead people and operations by managing Business Development Officers, Business Support staff and volunteers, supporting educational and engagement programmes across centres and wider sites, representing Parks & Countryside internally and externally, and ensuring compliance with safeguarding, health and safety, finance, procurement and wider Council policies.

About you

You’ll be a collaborative and engaging leader who enjoys working with people and building strong partnerships. You will bring experience of partnership working with community groups and stakeholders, facility management and development, visitor experience, income generation and fundraising, and developing and supporting volunteers.

You will have strong people management skills, excellent communication and organisational abilities, and the capacity to manage multiple projects and deadlines. Flexibility to work evenings and weekends is essential, as is a Level 4 qualification or equivalent relevant experience. Above all, you’ll be passionate about connecting people with nature and helping Sheffield’s green spaces thrive.

Why join us?

You’ll join an award winning service recognised for excellence, innovation and partnership working. You will play a key role in shaping Sheffield’s visitor destinations, working across some of the UK’s most iconic parks and green spaces, while helping to deliver the Green and Open Spaces Strategy and strengthening engagement across the city.

For more infomation about our service click here

For more information about our Green and Open Space Strategy click here

How to apply

If you’re excited to lead our Visitor & Education Centres and grow partnerships and volunteering across Sheffield’s outstanding green spaces, please visit our website and search ‘Partnerships and Visitor Experience Manager’.

For an informal chat, please contact Jo Pearce, Business and Partnerships Service Manager via jo.pearce@sheffield.gov.uk

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more here