Adventure Operations Intern

Co-founded by Peter Duncan, ex-UK Chief Scout and BBC Blue Peter man, and Alex Pazderski, an avid hiker and acclaimed expedition kayaker, we are among the best experts in organizing walking & cycling holidays and adventure trips for independently-minded people. Starting in 2009, by developing several pioneering trekking itineraries in the Balkans, we now offer 500+ self guided walking holidays and cycling tours as well as a range of meticulously curated small group and privately guided tours, family and discovery trips. Having principal offices in London, Dublin and Sofia and 50+ field offices/representatives worldwide, we can serve our customers anywhere they go, providing 24/7 support.

The position’s primary purpose is to learn to provide exemplary post-booking service to our customers, most of which are located in the UK and Ireland. Successful interns will be offered a full-time Adventure Operations Specialist position after completing their 3-month internship.

The Role

Your role will be to ensure that the customer has an unforgettable experience with us after booking confirmation to trip completion. An Adventure Operation Specialist will mentor and guide you during the entire internship period.

You will work closely with our Adventure Sales Specialists, who will handle new enquiries and bookings from initial enquiry to booking confirmation. After a booking is made, they will be arranging all the elements of the booking with our local suppliers (including hotels and local transfer companies) until booking confirmation.

Once the booking is confirmed, it is the Adventure Operations Specialists who take over from the Adventure Sales Specialists:

• You will be dealing with all customer support requests and questions related to their trip during the entire period between booking confirmation and departure
• You will handle all booking change requests by customers and make the necessary rearrangements with our local suppliers (including making sure the changes are properly invoiced both by the local suppliers to us and by us to the customers)
• You will be resolving trip issues effectively with minimum disruption to the customer
• You will be quickly finding solutions to situations such as mistakes in the the local supplier arrangements, accommodation closures and disruptions to travel schedules
• You will be monitoring balance payments and making sure they are paid on time and the amounts are correct
• You will be preparing and sending pre-departure materials and travel documentation (including uploading them to our mobile Nav app) and making sure everything is properly organised and documented for the customer's trip
• You will be taking shifts on the emergency phone line for customers who are currently on a trip
• You will be the first responders to post-trip customer feedback and communicate it to the Sales and Products teams so that we constantly improve our products and service
• From time to time you will be supporting our sales team by preparing and sending custom itineraries and travel documentation to customers
• You will be building relationships with existing local suppliers to ensure we are their partner of choice

Requirements

• No prior experience in the field is required
• Passion for adventure travel is mandatory
• Recent graduate or last-year student, preferably with a major in Tourism
• Understanding and sharing of our values related to Responsible Travel is mandatory
• Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, English must be native or of equivalent level
• Excellent email and phone manner and technique
• Ability to work under pressure while maintaining accuracy
• Ability to work efficiently without supervision
• Friendly attitude and personal integrity

Benefits

• Work from home
• Flexible working time
• Great discounts for you and your friends/family members on all Natural Adventure trips
• Outstanding learning and development opportunities
• All successful interns will be invited to join our team as full-time Adventure Operations Specialists after 3 months
• Great multinational team and a rapidly growing company

After successful completion of your initial paid three-month training and onboarding period, you will be promoted to an Adventure Operations Specialist with an annual income of £28,000-30,000, including the annual performance bonus.

Note: the above levels apply to UK-based employees; if you are located in another country, they will be adjusted based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). As the position is remote, you could be located anywhere in the world, but due to time differences we would prefer candidates based in the GMT or CET time zone.

The deadline for applications is 1 November 2024.