Wilderness Guides

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

• Scotland – all areas
• England – predominantly the north, including the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North York Moors. Also the Cotswolds and Cornwall.
• Wales – all areas

Wilderness Scotland guides are at the heart of the business. The success of anyone 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 guiding community – as a profession that 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 that 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.

We do ask that guides joining the team offer a minimum of 4 weeks every season to Wilderness Scotland. This can be made up of single & multi-days rather than always week long or longer length trips

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

To represent all aspects of Wilderness Scotland’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 Scotland and Wilderness Ireland.
5. Act as proud ambassadors for their country and the adventure travel industry.

To provide clients of Wilderness Scotland 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 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 Scotland’s or Wilderness Ireland’s insurance policies.

• Minimum of 2 years relevant guiding experience within Scotland/England.
• Detailed knowledge of Scotland/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 Scotland and England where Wilderness Scotland operates

• 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 Scotland/England, wild places and adventure.

Operations Managers & Guide Coordinator