Compliance, Health & Safety & Regulatory:

• Own the estate compliance register and calendar, ensuring every statutory inspection, certificate, licence, and renewal is tracked and completed on time.
• Maintain risk assessments, fire safety records, COSHH records, and food hygiene documentation, working with the estate's external health & safety consultant.
• Administer contractor onboarding, permits to work, insurance certificates, and competency records.
• Manage premises licence obligations, temporary event notices, and associated records.
• Coordinate insurance renewals, claims, and correspondence with insurers.
• Maintain GDPR and data protection records and policies.
• Handle correspondence with external bodies, including the local authority, fire safety authorities, the Environment Agency, and listed building and planning matters, escalating to the Director where required.
• Monitor corrective actions and follow them through to closure.

Stock, Inventory & Asset Management:

• Own the estate's stock and inventory system across all categories: food & beverage and the wine cellar, event hire stock (furniture, linen, glassware, crockery), estate and maintenance supplies, cleaning consumables, wellness and retail products, and keys and equipment.
• Maintain the artwork and contents asset register for the Castle, including location, condition, and valuation records.
• Conduct scheduled stock counts, reconcile variances, and investigate and report discrepancies.
• Manage ordering, reordering, and receipt of goods within agreed approval limits.
• Maintain inventory records in Sortly and supporting spreadsheets, and standardise how stock is labelled, stored, and moved.

Systems & Process Development:

• Develop, document, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures across administration, finance, compliance, and inventory.
• Administer and build out the estate's core systems: Google Workspace, monday.com, Sortly, the accounting system, and HubSpot CRM as it is implemented.
• Design new systems and processes where none exist, and refine those already in place.
• Identify operational inefficiencies and propose practical system improvements.
• Support estate-wide projects and wider operational needs as required.

Measures of Success:

The role will be assessed against the following standards:

• Month-end bookkeeping closed and reports issued by the tenth working day of each month.
• Bank, card, and petty cash accounts reconciled weekly with no unexplained variances.
• Client invoices raised within five working days of an event; supplier invoices processed within five working days of receipt.
• No overdue statutory inspections, certificates, licences, or renewals on the compliance register; documentation audit-ready at all times.
• Full stocktake completed quarterly, with variances investigated and reported; asset register verified annually.
• Standard Operating Procedures covering all core administrative, financial, compliance, and inventory processes in place within the first six months, and reviewed annually thereafter.

Qualifications and Experience:

• 2–4 years' experience in office administration, operations, bookkeeping, or estate and hospitality administration.
• Practical bookkeeping experience across ledgers, reconciliations, and VAT-ready record keeping.
• An AAT or equivalent qualification is desirable but not required.
• Working knowledge of health & safety and compliance frameworks.
• IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent desirable.
• Experience maintaining stock or inventory systems.
• Proficient in Excel and Google Workspace, monday.com or comparable project management tools, and cloud accounting software.
• Experience with Sortly or HubSpot is an advantage.
• Full UK driving licence required.

Personal Attributes:

• Highly systems-oriented with exceptional organisational discipline.
• Detail-focused with a methodical approach to records, figures, and documentation.
• Reliable and consistent, following tasks through to completion without prompting.
• Calm under pressure and solution-driven in approach.
• Professional, discreet, and confident in high-standard environments, comfortable handling confidential financial, personal, and family matters.
• Interest in heritage properties, culture, literature, design and spatial presentation.
• Adaptable and flexible, understanding that operational needs will occasionally require hours beyond the standard working day.

Working Structure:

• 40 hours per week, Monday–Friday, based in the estate office at Chilham Castle.
• Predominantly office hours, with flexibility required in line with business needs.
• Additional hours are compensated through time off in lieu (TOIL).
• Some physical handling and movement of stock around the estate.
• Six-month probationary period.

Compensation:

• £27,040 – £29,120 per year (£13.00 – £14.00 per hour, 40 hours per week), commensurate with experience.
• 28 days' annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays.
• Scope for progression and increased responsibility as systems mature and responsibility grows.

Application Process:

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview, which will include a short practical exercise covering bookkeeping, spreadsheet, and documentation tasks.

Chilham Castle is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates and make appointments on merit alone.