Zonal Operations Manager

Location: Thorpe Park Resort, Staines Road, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8PN

Hours: 40 hours per week, across a 7-day rota (any 5 days out of 7)

Contract Type: Permanent, Salaried

Here at Thorpe Park Resort we are busy preparing for our 2026 season, and we are recruiting for a Zonal Operations Manager to join our Resort Operations Team!

As a Zonal Operations Manager at Thorpe Park Resort, you will be responsible for the day-to-day running of an area of the Resort (known as a “zone”), ensuring the highest standards of guest interactions and health and safety are delivered every day. You will oversee all elements of your zone, including rides & attractions, commercial units, guest amenities, third party suppliers and, of course, cleanliness standards throughout.

You will manage a dedicated zonal team with a key focus on operational excellence, guest satisfaction, brand standards and driving your team to exceed our guests’ expectations with proven data metrics via our KPI surveys and NPS scores.

The Zonal Operations Manager exists to ensure our guests are enjoying their visit, all aspects of each zone are health and safety compliant, and our front-line teams are engaged, well managed and passionate about guest excellence. As a motivational leader you will empower your teams to seek new and innovative ways of making memories for our guests, celebrate success and promote engagement and development activities, alongside the management of any employee relations issues, conflict resolution and promotion of a coaching culture.

As the zone representative you will be out on the resort spending time with your team and our guests, taking in the moment feedback and resolving any guest escalations appropriately within our guest recovery frameworks. You’ll identify trends in feedback and take proactive steps to minimise guest disruption and enhance satisfaction, share best practice and collaborate with other Zonal Managers to achieve maximum attraction efficiency, commercial revenue, high cleanliness, team engagement and guest satisfaction.

The Zonal Operations Manager will form excellent relationships across the resort and within their own team to ensure training compliance is up to date and recorded, your team objectives align with the resort goals, development plans are in place and each individual zonal contributor is valued, engaged and delivering excellent guest service.

• Experience working in a theme park setting, ideally as an operational or rides manager, is essential
• Previous experience managing a team is essential
• Passionate about exceptional customer service, with the ability to develop your team to deliver the highest standard of guest interactions
• An excellent communicator with the ability to work alongside a diverse team of stakeholders, make informed decisions under pressure and champion a culture of inclusion and collaboration
• Awareness of HSG-175, risk assessments, COSWPs, COSHH and health and safety compliance legislation
• The ability to embrace our Merlin values - Own Your Craft, Go Together, Enjoy the Ride, Drive & Discover, and We Care - and empower the team around you to bring joy, create connections and make lasting memories for our guests, leading by example to guide the behaviours that set us apart as an employer, a community and a first choice destination for families.

• 40% discount off LEGO® sets and products on the online LEGO Store!

• Merlin Magic Pass: 20 free tickets for you, your family and friends to enjoy all of our Merlin Attractions across the world!
• 25% discount in Merlin retail shops and restaurants (a brilliant extra treat when you’re using your Magic Pass to visit!)
• “Enjoy the Ride” Merlin Annual Pass for you and five loved ones!
• Staff discount codes for Merlin Annual Passes to gift to loved ones!

• Private pension scheme
• Life assurance scheme
• Employee assistance programme
• Access to Perks at Work which 30,000+ national & local employee discounts
• Free staff parking
• Ongoing training & development

About Merlin

A job with Merlin isn’t like a job anywhere else. With attractions around the world, from rollercoasters to wax figures, we don’t trade in suits, handshakes or briefcases. We trade in fun. In smiles, shrieks and spine-tingles. In Memories. In magic. But there are no tricks behind our magic. Instead, there are people like you. Passionate, dedicated people who are committed to making sure our worldwide attractions and guests’ experiences are the best they can be.

If you have any questions or if you require any reasonable adjustments, because of a disability or medical condition, please contact us by email at recruitment@merlinentertainments.biz and one of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.