Permanent – Full-time – 40 hours per week

We are Chester Zoo, and for 90 years we have been a leading conservation and education charity, and an amazing, award-winning visitor attraction.

We’re also a team of passionate, talented, enthusiastic and expert people, doing everything we can to prevent extinction, from caring for animals to discovering new conservation ideas, and giving our visitors an inspirational day out.

We work hard because we love animals, we care about nature, we love Chester Zoo and, despite all the recent challenges thrown at us, we still want to be the best zoo in the world! If you think you can help us to achieve that, then we’d love to hear from you.

We currently have an exciting vacancy for a security officer to join our security team on a permanent basis.

The Role:

As a Security Officer, you will be responsible for the security of Chester Zoo and its wider estate and work alongside our operations team to ensure the delivery of a “World Class” experience to all our guests through exceptional customer service.

By supporting the Security Management Team conducting security operations both by day and night, you will provide a safe and secure environment for both employees, visitors and the collection

You will help to deter crime, reduce risks of perceived threats and provide an effective response to incidents where required.

You will help to ensure we provide a safe and secure environment for our staff, visitors and animal/plant collection 24 hours a day. Duties will include conducting site patrols, CCTV operations, access control, control room operation, dealing with lost children and providing first aid while at all times ensuring that a world class service is provided. You must be physically fit, as your patrols will mean that you will regularly walk many miles each day around the zoo and wider estate.

We are looking for candidates who are outgoing and personable, someone with experience in providing high level security and excellent customer service is essential. Candidates in this role will be expected to work in a control room environment so an ability to work under pressure, strong IT and communication skills are a must. You will be driven by doing the right thing to get things resolved quickly and efficiently.

The successful candidate will have:

• Previous experience as a Security Officer, preferably within a high visitor environment such as leisure or visitor attraction, stadium, airport, large shopping facility etc.
• SIA front line door supervisors licence
• Full driving licence
• Exceptional customer service skills within a customer focused environment
• Operational experience in a range of security systems
• Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to liaise at an organisation level with various stakeholders
• Computer literate with working knowledge of Excel and other Microsoft products
• Ability to conduct effective security provisioning including surveillance, foot and mobile patrols during the day and night

It would be advantageous to have:

• SIA public space CCTV licence
• First aid at work

Due to the nature of the organisation and the role, this post is subject to a DBS check.

The salary is £23,031.05 per annum (this includes our 2022 pay award which is effective from 1 January 2022), working 40 hours per week, on a rota basis which will include day shifts, night shifts, weekends and Bank Holidays. Candidates are expected to have a flexible attitude to enable cover within the department.

In addition we offer a range of amazing benefits which can be found at www.chesterzoo.org/work-with-us/staff-benefits/

To apply for this position, click ‘Apply Now’ to provide your current CV, covering letter and complete the application form highlighting your skills and experience including why you believe you should be considered for our Security Officer role.

Shortlisting of applications and interviews for the role will take place while the advert is live; the advert will close once the successful candidate is found. Interested candidates are therefore encouraged to submit applications as quickly as possible.