Learning Officer

This role sits within the Learning team, which is part of the Community & Learning Department. As a Learning Officer you would be part of the team responsible for supporting the young people and school groups we engage with, ensuring they have positive learning experiences. This will primarily involve delivering and supporting activities for school audiences and other youth groups, developing new activities and resources where required, and working with colleagues across London Zoo to maximise the learning experience.

This is an operational role and will require the post-holder to be onsite at London Zoo, often working outdoors. The working pattern is predominantly Monday-Friday although occasional weekend working may be required. This is a full-time position, but we would be open to job sharing opportunities for the right candidates.

Key responsibilities:  

1. Delivering and supporting educational activities for school and youth groups, to help ensure they have positive learning experiences during their time with us, supporting the development of new activities where required.
2.  Facilitating school and youth group visits to the zoo, including supporting teachers/group leaders and students throughout their time at the zoo, supporting and coordinating volunteers, assisting teachers to plan their time at the zoo and working collaboratively with colleagues across London Zoo to maximise the visitor experience for educational groups.
3.  Developing, maintaining and reviewing resources and activities that support educational visits and events.
4. Supporting Senior Learning Officers and other colleagues where required on development projects related to educational audiences and career courses.
5.  Working to improve the experience for schools and other educational groups engaging with us, including through reflective practice, evaluation and meetings.

You will have experience working with children and young people of a variety of ages and abilities, teaching learning programmes in either a formal or informal setting and delivering presentations/talks/events to a range of different audiences. You would be able to effectively use your communication skills, knowledge of current environmental issues and sustainable actions, pedagogy and engagement strategies to deliver engaging learning experiences to our educational visitors on topics related to the work of ZSL.

Training will be provided but the post holder would be expected to take responsibility for their own knowledge development in order to learn several different educational activities, such as workshops, tours and courses, within a strict time limit.

This role is subject to standard pre-employment checks, including the candidate's right to work in the UK. As the post involves working with children an enhanced DBS check will be required.  

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds and celebrate the value of having a team of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and heritage. We are committed to ensuring our teams can bring their authentic selves to work without fear of discrimination. ZSL has active equality networks for our staff with lived experience and those who provide active allyship in Race and Culture, Team Pride, Disability Network, and Menopause Network, complemented by our strategic EDI Steering Group. 

We’re ZSL, an international conservation charity. Through our unrivalled animal experts in our two zoos (London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo), the work of our pioneering scientists, our dedicated conservationists, our purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct. Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives and we’re working every day to achieve this. From investigating the health threats facing animals, to helping people and wildlife live alongside each other, we are committed to bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction.  

What do we offer?  

At ZSL, we are proud of our approach to employee benefits. Our benefits include: 

• Our vision and purpose - you’ll work alongside colleagues who are passionate about science-led conservation, knowing that you will help us to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wildlife going extinct  
• Pension scheme - we offer a generous pension scheme with up to 12% contributory pension
• Flexible working – talk to us about your flexible working requirements and we will do everything we can to make sure you work in a way that suits you  
• Holidays – 25 days annual leave allowance, plus UK bank holidays  Wellbeing – access to a blended programme of wellbeing initiatives, including confidential access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme  
• Life assurance – eligible employees will be enrolled in ZSL’s life assurance scheme from their first day 
• Complimentary tickets – annual allocation of Whipsnade Zoo and London Zoo tickets, with a 30% discount in online and retail shops  
• Cycle2Work - our cycle to work scheme enables you to lease a bicycle  
• Season ticket loan - we offer an interest free loan for eligibly London-based employees to buy a season ticket for travel between home and work 
• Family friendly policies – we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption packages